This post was informed and inspired by Frank Sonnenberg. You can follow him on Twitter here (@FSonnenberg).
My family and I recently visited a well respected chain restaurant in Chicago to celebrate my birthday. We had been to this restaurant several times over the last few years and had always experienced good service and quality food.
We had made reservations and arrived on time. When we were seated, I noticed there were many empty tables (clue #1). We were seated. Our waiter arrived in about five minutes (five minutes can seem like a long time - clue #2). We placed our drink order. Then we waited. Waited. Waited. Approximately ten minutes later some of our drinks arrived (see previous comment re a five minute wait - clue #3). Another five minutes or so passed, the waiter arrived with the remaining drinks. My son-in-law told the waiter he had a chipped glass (clue #4). The waiter whisked - literally whisked - the glass away without saying a word and went to service another table.
Well, by this time, we were not happy campers, as they say. T-minus twenty five minutes and the waiter comes back with a glass and asks for our order. I ask the waiter if he does not want to wait on us as it has taken twenty five minutes to get to this stage of the food ordering process. I tell the waiter that we are leaving and need the ticket to pay for the drinks. I hand him a credit card and my frequent diner club card (this is a chain owned by a large restaurant conglomerate).
At this point the service improves noticeably. The manager comes to our table to apologize. I say we just want to pay our bill and leave. He says he is picking up the tab. I am not impressed. On the way out, I tell the manager that we will never be back.
The point of this story is it only takes one bad experience to lose a customer for life. Customers hold grudges and have long memories. This one experience has colored my opinion for all restaurants owned by this company, not just this one brand.
Customer experience is everything. In the restaurant industry, it is the holistic experience that customers remember, from the valet parking to the coffee and dessert. Any weak link in the chain can be costly, from chipped glasses to apathetic wait staff.
Cheers.
