Don’t Be Cheap
Posted by estiator at 6 April, at 05 : 14 AM Print
MANAGING FOR SUCCESS By CONSTANTINE N. KOLITSAS Business Coach
The title of this month’s column is a bit crass, but it fits because in it we will be addressing our instincts, which can sometimes be crass. As restaurant owners we understand that success is largely predicated on our ability to contain costs and squeeze as much value from every nickel as possible. In so doing, however, we sometimes fall into a pattern of making poor decisions that hurt our business. It’s important, then, to find the balance—to protect the assets of the business while providing value to our guests and not offending them when something goes wrong.
I get it; we are wired to calculate the cost of every morsel of food that comes from our kitchen, and to make sure that we are properly compensated. But our guests don’t understand this, and sometimes we do give an impression that we don’t respect the fact that our customers are spending their own hard-earned money to patronize our restaurants. Now, this isn’t to say that our instincts aren’t good, but that in many applications they create ill will with the customers that we fight every day to bring into our establishments.
The biggest area where we fail is in not making things right when we make a mistake. And we need to begin this part of our conversation by accepting that all mistakes are ours, regardless of whether or not we did something wrong. Here’s a good example: A delivery customer called back last night because he ordered spaghetti with broccoli rabe and was upset because it did not have the sausage and white beans that were on the menu. The girl taking the order was relatively new and she entered the order as he gave it to her, understanding that the restaurant didn’t have a spaghetti with broccoli rabe dish on the menu but could create what the guest wanted because it serves broccoli rabe as a side dish and has spaghetti on the menu. The customer was, in fact, ordering from a menu that was two years old (and the dish in question was no longer served), but the girl taking the order understandably did not have knowledge of that menu.
When the order got to the customer, he was justifiably upset because he simply received a plate of spaghetti with broccoli rabe, olive oil, and garlic. What’s the right thing to do in this case?
It’s not the customer’s responsibility to understand how to order but, rather, our responsibility to understand how to interpret his request and deliver the meal he expects.
My approach was to apologize, and to promise a complimentary meal of spaghetti with sausage, broccoli rabe, and beans the next time the guest called. What approach would you have taken?
Would your instincts tell you that it’s the customer’s fault for ordering from an old menu? How does the customer know how often you change your menu?
Would you fault the customer for asking for spaghetti with broccoli rabe without mentioning the sausage and the beans? I would argue that it’s not the customer’s responsibility to understand how to order but, rather, our responsibility to understand how to interpret the customer’s request and deliver him the meal he expects.
Are you concerned that the customer is just trying to get a freebie from you? I would counter that he simply wants the meal he thought he was going to receive. Do your instincts tell you that if you give away this meal, you’ll be giving away dozens of meals every day? Well, if this is the case, then you’ve got greater problems to deal with. At the end of the day, these types of mistakes happen two or three times a week at most. If you have to give away three meals a week from the hundreds or thousands that you serve, is it going to hurt you? The $75 you give away is far less expensive than the loss of a single customer, or, worse, the cost of bad social media exposure when the unhappy guest posts online about his experience.
Perspective is an easy thing to consider, but because we are so in-the-moment when these things happen, it seldom factors into the equation. We all know that the cost of a spaghetti dinner isn’t going to break our bank, but too often we fight with guests over things like this. In fact, I’ve seen restaurant owners arguing with guests over a plate of nachos or a small pizza. Step back and look at it as an objective observer. Who looks right and who looks wrong? If you don’t immediately understand that almost everyone will sympathize with the customer, then this column will have been a waste of your five minutes.
By CONSTANTINE N. KOLITSAS Business Coach Don’t Be Cheap Constantine Kolitsas is the president of CNK Consulting, a restaurant consultant and coaching business. he can be reached at 203-947-6234 or at ckolitsas@gmail.com.
