a fresh response to something not so fresh!

I'll admit it... I'm a die hard bargain hunter, a total sucker for a red tag. Here in Indiana we have a great chain of stores from Michigan called Meijers. Meijers carries everything from from clothing to groceries. (Its my preferred alternative to the world wide chain out of Arkansas) One of the things I enjoy is doing my grocery shopping on Monday after the weekend rush. On Mondays I can get meat on clearance at because it didn't sell over the weekend. I have made many purchases like this and never had a negative experience...until last week. I bought a chicken and went to use it the next day but discovered it did not smell like anything I cared to eat. I threw the meat away and decided to just count it as a loss since I had not kept my receipt (I'm not in the habit of keeping my grocery receipts). Later that week I was in my Meijer store (Goshen, Indiana) and decided to just let the service desk know what had happened. I told the employee there that I expected nothing, but was simply letting them know that they might want to be more careful in the future. She promptly called her manager and asked him to come talk to me. I told him what had happened and assured him that I expected nothing in but was simply informing him. He asked me what I had paid for the meat and I told him it was merely $4 and no big deal. He turned to the customer service desk and told them to take $10 from the drawer and give it to me. Now THAT'S customer service. As far as he was concerned I could have been making the entire story up, but to him it was more important to him that Meijers go the extra mile and retain a loyal customer than to require me to have a "receipt". By the way, before he offered me the $10 I had already told him that this single "bad meat" experience would not keep me from shopping at Meijers in the future.

Thank you Meijers for a FRESH take on customer service!!!

http://www.meijer.com/home.jsp

Bentwood Tavern

In my line of business I travel a lot around the area. Last week my partner and I stopped in at the Bentwood Tavern in New Buffalo, Michigan. The Bentwood is situated in the Marina Grand Resort. http://www.marinagrandresort.com/?mth=bentwood

It wasn't a busy night at the Tavern, but we were greeted by Lee, the food and beverage manager who quickly sat us. Lee stopped by later in our meal to see how we were doing and seemed genuinely interested. He was great! He had that perfect balance of being friendly and conversational, but not intrusive. He also made two great drinks for us! The blood orange martini was almost like eating a piece of orange candy.

Hillary was our server. She was personable and knowledgeable. She provided excellent service to us throughout our entire meal.

We had the opportunity to meet Chef Jenny Drilon who has put together a declicious assortment of entrees suitable for any budget. The tilapia was cooked and seasonsed to perfection! At the end of our meal Chef Jenny sent desserts to us. The bread pudding had a caramel sauce that I could drink by itself! The cuban coffee chocolate cake was light and tasty, just the perfect balance of coffee and chocolate.

The entire evening was very delicious and pleasant, but it was the outstanding customer service that left me with a reason to return!

Brand Autopsy

Last week I heard a presentation by a man who worked in marketing for Starbucks for many years. It was a tremendous presentation! I wanted to share his website with you.

http://www.brandautopsy.com/

I'll try to write some more on this subject later, but in the meantime, go look at this guy's website.

No explanation needed.

Okay so this is how I imagine this conversation went:

Walmart Employee: 'Hello, Walmart Bakery, how can I help you?'

Customer: ' I would like to order a cake for a going away party this week.'

Walmart Employee: 'What do you want on the cake?'

Customer: 'Best Wishes Suzanne' and underneath that 'We will miss you'.

another GREAT experience!

Today my work colleagues and I were treated a tour and lunch at Swan Lake Resort in Plymouth, Indiana. We were given a complete tour of the incredible facilities by Corporate Sales Manager, Jeanette. I have to give rave reviews to Jeanette. She demonstrated impecable customer service. She was genuinely excited to show us her "domain". She demonstrated the five stars of customer service that I teach. I'll be sharing those with you soon. But for now, Jeanette, you were fantastic!!

look to the right for a link to their website.

That's what I'm talking about!!

My partner and I decided to do something different for Thanksgiving. Since my children were with their mom this holiday we decided to head to Chicago and eat out. I'm a member of opentable.com (which I highly recommend) and I get regular e-mails from them highlighting new restaurants. I should mention that I am a total "foodie". I am NOT afraid to try new things. I like full flavors and beautiful presentation served in a great atmosphere. But all of that MUST be accompanied by outstanding customer service!!

We chose to dine at Vermilion in downtown Chicago. ttp://thevermilionrestaurant.com.
The reservations were made via the website. We arrived in Chicago early, only to discover it was quite the ghost town on Thanksgiving day! We decided to go the restaurant early and have a drink before dinner. I called to see if they were open yet. The enthusiastic voice on the other line was more than gracious and descriptive in telling me about their lovely lounge area that was open. I immediately had a good feeling about the evening.

We arrived and took a place at the bar for a pre-dinner drink. Malaura was the bartender. She was friendly and helpful. She gave us some tips on which drinks she recommended. I always appreciate it when a server is honest with me. I WANT to know their opinion, their honest opinion, not their sales pitch! She was great. I found the Cucumber Mint Martini served up in a metal martini glass to be most refreshing!

After finishing our drinks we were seated and introduced to our server Milah. I can't say enough good about her! I applaud her! She KNEW THE MENU! I counted on her to give me descriptions, explanations and recommendations. She did all of the above. She was personable and knowledgeable. When we inquired about what wine would be good with our meals she didn't just recommend one, she explained the wine and why it would be good with our choices. I loved it! In fact, thanks to Milah I experienced two of the best wines I have ever had.

Congratulations to Vermilion for training a great staff! Milah - you are awesome!

A new low in Customer Service

Last week my partner and I decided to use a coupon from the Sunday paper to dine at a mainstream franchise restaurant. I guess we fell for the glossy pictures and of course using Wanda Sikes' voice on their commercials didn't hurt either (I LOVE Wanda!).

After being "greeted" (I use that term very generously) by the two teenage girls at the hostess station we asked to wait until a seat became available. We sat there watching and listening to the two girls (about 5 feet away from us) as they discussed hair styles while running their hands through their hair. I felt like I was in the hall of a Jr. High School.

It was a brief wait till they called out, "David. Party of 2." Which seemed unnecessary since we were the only two guests in the waiting area, but we gladly followed the host to our booth.

We couldn't help but notice the little black gadget on our table. When we asked Curtis, our server, we were told that it was for us to use to summon him if we needed anything. He then told us that it did other things too, but he didn't seem to know exactly what those things were.

I can only imagine how this gadget was marketed to the national restaurant chain. The sales pitch must have pointed out that this little black button was going to solve all customer service problems. Never again would anyone be left trying to flag down a server, instead they could simply press the black button and the server would magically appear. Sounds good? On the surface it would appear to be the ultimate solution to insuring that you have satisfied customers.

What we quickly discovered was that with this new technology the server no longer needed to pay any attention to the guest. "If they need anything, they'll buzz me." At the end of our meal the table had been cleared of all but our drinks. We were talking and drinking, but soon our drinks were entirely empty and we were ready for our check. I put the system to the test. We decided to wait and see if our server would come to our table on his own or wait till we pressed the button. He passed our table at least three times and even glanced at our empty drinks, but never stopped. Instead he joined the other servers by the bar to resume their lively chat. After the third time of passing our table, glancing our way and not stopping, I decided to press the button. Sure enough, he was quickly there to see what we needed.

My partner said to me, "What are we tipping for?" Good point! A server's job is to anticipate and fulfill the needs of the guest. If I am responsible for looking after my own needs and notifying my server when I need him.... maybe he should tip me!

I call this a NEW LOW in customer service!