Recently my wife picked up dinner for 4 on the way home from work. We had ordered online from Swiss Chalet (Canadian Rotisserie chicken franchise). Swiss Chalet is known for their dipping sauce, which is included with every signature meal.

When she arrived home, we discovered that the “special sauce” was not included in the order.

I called the order desk to report this lapse and the conversation went something like this.

First she confirmed the order by asking for my phone number.

My thought: Doesn’t every order come with Chalet sauce? Why would I be making this up?

Then she apologized — a number of times.

My thought: Good, you should. Our dinner has been ruined because Swiss Chalet didn’t execute the order correctly.

Then she indicated that I could return to the store to pick up the sauce.

My thought: But what about our dinner now getting cold in the kitchen? Not much of a solution.

I declined to return to the store, indicating the solution wasn’t very practical because our dinner wouldn’t taste very good cold, while waiting for me to head back to the store

She apologized again and offered me a $6.00 credit on my next order (the initial order was approx $30.00)

My thought: Would $6.00 really inspire me to return when the product had disappointed me. No!

My Perspective: We all know that a good recovery can actually have a positive impact on loyalty after the initial disappointing customer experience.

However, what happens if the recovery is also disappointing?

It further reinforces the negative experience and drives a further wedge between your company and a repeat visit.

Swiss Chalet clearly didn’t think their recovery process through from the customer perspective.

In my mind 2 options were appropriate.

1. First choice: Replace the entire meal and have it delivered to the customer home. Woo Hoo!
2. Provide a credit for a full meal to entice me to return and experience how great their service/food should be. At least I might give them a second chance.

Great service will make up for a miss with the product. But mediocre service will only reinforce the poor product.

Three Tips:

1. Make sure you review your recovery processes from the customer perspective.
2. Ask the customer. Do this when determining your recovery process and again after each recovery to ensure that you have indeed recovered.
3. Make sure your people are trained to ask for customer feedback and empowered to make it right. Every customer is not equal — don’t treat them like they are.

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Bill is recognized as the Performance Excelerator™ because of his uncanny ability to create profound change and deliver extraordinary results with the most demanding organizations.

For additional information please visit www.billhogg.ca or email: bill [at] billhogg [dot] ca

When was the last time you re-evaluated your value offering?

When did you last sit down expressly to think about the value you offer to both your customers and your employees?

What does your organization offer that sets you apart from your competition? And remember competition is not just others who offer the same service — but others who compete for the same dollars.

Value is the real heart of why people buy from you. And regardless of the economy, if you have a real and compelling value proposition, they will continue to buy. That’s why some companies continue to do thrive and grow — regardless of the economy.

A good example of this is restaurants. When restaurant spending declines by 20%, it doesn’t mean that everyone’s business declines by 20%. It means 20% (or more) of restaurants disappear and the balance keep or grow their business because they have a better value offering. When people make choices, they choose the organizations that offer the best value.

Spend some time with your employees. Ask you customers. List all the things they place value on, then list them in priority.

Lastly, figure out what you can do better than your competition — and then take it to the next level. Be outstanding!

My Perspective: Deliver real value every day — be outstanding in ways that are relevant to your employees and customers. And regardless of the economy – your business with thrive.

Sign-up for my Monthly Newsletter to have 1 article with tools & techniques for excelerating high-performance cultures delivered to your inbox each month.

Bill is recognized as the Performance Excelerator™ because of his uncanny ability to create profound change and deliver extraordinary results with the most demanding organizations.

For additional information please visit www.billhogg.ca or email: bill [at] billhogg [dot] ca

Here in Toronto, our public transit system — the TTC (Toronto Transit Commission) is currently the focus of considerable negative attention by the public. The public is lashing out at the union as well as management — pointing fingers and making suggestions about how they should each do things differently.

General discontentment was smouldering because of a fare increase earlier this year, but their outrage escalated when a picture was posted on Twitter which showed a ticket agent sleeping in their ticket booth.

The public was rightly outraged.

The senior union official chastised the public for assuming the person was sleeping and not having medical difficulties (he was sleeping). His focus is on protecting his members — regardless of the issue.

Management is focused on having trains running on time, on budget. Noble objectives — but only part of delivering customer service.

No one seems to be focused on understanding or delivering good, consistent customer service.

The issues here are complex, but one fundamental truth is at work. People within the organization are not aligned with a focus on the customer.

The problem isn’t with either the unions or the management. This organization needs a complete change in culture and no one seems to be willing to work together and make the hard decisions to change the current culture.

They need to start by getting aligned around a common goal — defining and delivering an exceptional customer experience.

Once that happens, the various combative elements can begin to start focusing on the common goal instead of their individual goals.

My Perspective: Regardless of our business, we too often get caught up focusing on our department goals and forgetting the overall organizational goal which is serving customers.

By creating this common focus we break down our silos and start working together towards a common goal.

Sign-up for my Monthly Newsletter to have 1 article with tools & techniques for excelerating high-performance cultures delivered to your inbox each month.

Bill is recognized as the Performance Excelerator™ because of his uncanny ability to create profound change and deliver extraordinary results with the most demanding organizations.

For additional information please visit www.billhogg.ca or email: bill [at] billhogg [dot] ca