Awww, shucks...

We love positive feedback.

• "Thank you for the wonderful feedback! I am very impressed with Marketing Endeavors.  The assignments are challenging and rewarding, and working with you and Ryan has been a pleasure!" -Vicky

The Sweet, Misunderstood Waitress (from Hell)

Courtesy of Ziggy Zubric at our parent site--The Magnetic Group. 

Maybe it was the way you buried your face in your hands when we said, “Party of ten.”

Or maybe it was when we had to ask you for chips and salsa that other tables had, and you sort of groaned before begrudgingly conceding that okay, you guessed we could have some.

Or maybe it was finding one of your hairs in our chips.

Or perhaps it was when your co-workers auctioned-off our food, forgot a few items, and messed up some entrées, because, as you later explained, you were “sitting out back, taking a break.”

It could also have been our need to request silverware so that we could eat, the way you disappeared during long stretches of the meal, or the general lack of attention we received in a restaurant otherwise empty.

Whatever the cause, I felt like you didn’t care about our comfort at all.

But then I got your check with the sweet hand-written note wishing me a great day and thanking me for coming in.

And so I lingered behind my group to talk with you, and I realized that you didn’t hate us at all.

You had started your shift at 7am, and we walked in at 1:30 with a daunting group of ten. You were tired, ready to go home, and eager to enjoy the holiday weekend.

And after talking with you, I truly believe that you sincerely, genuinely hoped we enjoyed our meal at your restaurant, and that you really wanted it to be an enjoyable experience for us.

But I have to ask: Other than your heart being in the right place, what did you do to make our stay enjoyable?

* * * * * * *

And once again, I’m reminded of why feedback is so crucial.

You never realized how unwelcomed we felt because of your poor body language, ungracious behavior, and inept apologies.

You had no idea how frustrated we were, being neglected at some moments and poorly serviced at others.

And you have no idea that I’m writing this in complete sympathy, because your employer is clearly not investing in any sort of mystery shopping or customer feedback program to give you the tools you need to improve.

So you remain unaware of your flaws and ignorant of the negative perceptions you create.  

I’ll probably never visit El Patron again. But I hope this gets to you somehow.

Because you’re a sweet kid who wants to give good service, but hasn’t received the resources and feedback to provide it just yet. 

Mystery Shopping Gone Awry!

Great post on our parent site about what happens when mystery shopping programs go awry.

Key takeaway: Make sure your customers are defining and validating the goals of your mystery shopping program.

Don't know her!

If you haven't seen the "McNugget Rage," prepare yourself.

Also, we have scoured our data base thoroughly and can positively assert that this is NOT one of our mystery shoppers!

Shenanigans!!!

Courtesy of Ziggy Zubric at our parent site--The Magnetic Group. 

Last week, Bruce Temkin discussed the ins and outs of tying employee compensation to customer feedback scores.

He offers a few observations on the issue, my favorite of which is:

• "If there is significant compensation tied to any metric (including customer feedback), then people will look for ways to manipulate the measurement."

We have seen this in action, and it’s sort of like the People of Walmart site, in that you sort of need to see to believe.

Not too long ago, we worked with a national restaurant chain that performed several in-store assessments per month.

For one section of the assessment, the evaluators were asked to identify the manager, and note whether or not the manager was seen visiting tables and talking to guests.

One night, at a particular location, one of our evaluators was approached by a young employee wearing a manager’s shirt.

After a short conversation about how the dining experience was going, our evaluator commented to the manager that she seemed awfully young to be managing a restaurant.

To which the employee replied:

• “I’m not actually a manager. Our secret shopping program gives us more points if managers visit the tables, so the real manager has me wear this shirt and visit all of the tables.”

So yes, tying compensation to customer feedback will definitely lead to some degree of shenanigans, and the challenge is to develop feedback programs that offer as little opportunity for manipulation as possible.  

It’s definitely a learning experience (as opposed to the People of Walmart).