Sorry Isn’t Enough
Recently my family and I, along with a couple of our friends, visited the 6th Ave district of Tacoma, WA and tried out an Argentinian restaurant called Asado. Since we just moved to the city we 
were trying to find some new restaurants and this one looked like a good place to start. I ordered the Sea Bass for my main course and a half a dozen oysters for an appetizer. The main courses came out from the kitchen and I noticed that I had never gotten my oysters. So, I asked the waiter and he admitted that he had completely forgotten. Now at this point the night could have gone two ways:
Option A: The waiter could have said, “I’m very sorry, I completely forgot,” and left it at that. He could have just gone on with the meal and I would receive the check and walk away feeling that while I had a great meal, it was just a bit off. Even with this option, the experience would have been a positive one overall and I probably would come back.
The waiter could have said, “I’m very sorry, I completely forgot…would you like to have them with your meal or would you like a complimentary dessert instead.” I would choose the dessert and at the end of the meal our whole party would enjoy a great chocolate souffle cake with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce. I would then pay and leave the restaurant having had a great meal and knowing that Asado had great service and valued my experience as their customer. Asado would have just made me their new fan and spokesperson.
The waiter at Asado was wise and chose Option B. To be honest, I really didn’t care that he had forgotten my appetizer, I was too busy enjoying my Sea Bass, but the fact that he didn’t just stop at sorry and instead took the extra step of correcting the situation made a huge impact on me and won a new customer for the restaurant.
What happened at Asado happens everyday and raises an important question, “How do you react when you fail?” If you are in a service-related organization whether it be a restaurant, retail store or professional service, this is such an important principle to understand. And it’s deceivingly simple.
If you mess up and fall short of the customer’s expectations, sorry isn’t enough. Even if it is sincere and the mistake was honest, people only feel valued if they believe an organization is working hard to make up for their mistakes. Don’t just say “sorry,” DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!
By choosing Option B, a company is making an incredibly lucrative investment. For the price that it cost to make a dessert (approx $2 if I had to guess), they got an enthusiastic customer that will not only come back himself and purchase many more meals (approx $50-$70 for 2 people), but will tell friends to go as well. For a $2 investment they received a return of at least $50 and likely much more over time. What organization wouldn’t want a return of 2,300% (feel free to check my math, I did this early in the morning).
This principle doesn’t only operate in the business-customer relationship, it has consequences inside the organization itself. As a young employee there is no doubt that you will make mistakes. In fact, as I have been exploring lately, it may be beneficial to fail in certain situations. But, when you fail and have to explain yourself to your boss, remember that sorry isn’t enough. Have a plan to fix the problem and already be in the process of implementing it.
It’s not hard to do the right thing, but it starts at the top of the organization and works its way down. And if the employee interacting directly with the customer doesn’t understand this philosophy, doesn’t feel empowered to implement it, or worse doesn’t care enough to do anything when mistakes are made, the organization suffers more than just a slight mess up, they lose the very people they are trying to serve.
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8 comments
By the same token, sometimes “thank you” isn’t enough if it’s a really loyal customer/client. ; )
Hi Cam,
Just got back from the wedding and honeymoon!
I enjoyed this post because it fits with my lifelong philosophy of “Whatever you are, be a good one.” I stress this with everyone I meet and I love hearing stories and having personal encounters with people that correct mistakes and do their best to be their very best.
It is tough; however, to get buy-in from the top on down. Those at the bottom have a tough time taking personal ownership in an organization. Any tips on this?
Take care. Hope you are enjoying your new surroundings!
-Brian
I agree with you on this and have had numerous experiences where this has been the case… I have wondered why some restaurants truly cater to the customer and some can be infallible. I do think however that to put a small amount of money toward your customers to solidify their return seems to make much more sense than the converse!
Well done! This hits home with me because I’m so justice driven.
Ha, ha, wow, this is so true! Working in a technical care center for cell phones, people only call me when somethingis broken on their phone or down in the network. I learned very quickly that even though they do want to hear the words “I’m very sorry”, that is not enough! They want to hear, “I’m very sorry, and this is what I’m going to do make up for it because I really appreciate your business!” If I had a quarter for every guy who cut me off saying, “I DON’T CARE if you you’re sorry!” Ha, ha, good post, Cameron.
I agree. It’s most unfortunate that too often an employee does not have the authority to make such a decision. The best example is the store clerk that cannot void a wrongly-entered item. Seriously.
@ Brice,
That is really too bad. A company is shooting themselves in the foot when they don’t give their employees the authority needed to serve the customer properly. Good point!
@ Tiffany,
It’s good to get the perspective of someone who is on the front-lines of customer service everyday. I’m sure you get an earful everyday. I salute you for your patience, haha! Great point on what the customer wants to hear!
Yes, in the end I guess we are all judged based on what we do rather than what we say (and what we say we will do and don’t). Not that saying “sorry” (or showing sympathy, or pride, or what-have-you) isn’t important, but in the end, saying you are sorry is often an empty gesture if it’s not backed up by some evidence of remorse. I was watching Shattered Glass yesterday, a film about The New Republic reporter who faked his stories. At one point, after telling lie after lie, and getting caught in them, he is incredulous that his apology isn’t enough to save his job. The principle is differeing in tis case, since that’s a deliberate deception; but too often, I think that we are conditioned to believe that simply saying “I’m sorry” makes everything better. Good article.
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