Author: Shep Hyken
This may seem like a rant, because it is. The other night I was out with my wife and some friends for dinner. It was taking a very long time to get our food. At one point we wanted to talk to our server, but she was nowhere in sight. After ten minutes I finally saw a server from another table. I motioned him over and he said he would be just a moment. Several minutes later he came back. I nicely asked him if there was something wrong in the kitchen, as it had been a long time since we had ordered. His response….
This may seem like a rant, because it is. The other night I was out with my wife and some friends for dinner. It was taking a very long time to get our food. At one point we wanted to talk to our server, but she was nowhere in sight. After ten minutes I finally saw a server from another table. I motioned him over and he said he would be just a moment. Several minutes later he came back. I nicely asked him if there was something wrong in the kitchen, as it had been a long time since we had ordered. His response….
“You’re not in my station,” and he walked away.
I went from Mr. Nice to Mr. Unhappy in one short moment. I asked him to come back, which he did reluctantly, and requested to speak with the manager who eventually came to our table and apologized. This reminded me of a training video I did for the restaurant industry and our extreme example of this was a guest asking the waiter what time it was and the waiter saying, “I’m sorry, you’re not in my station.” I guess I wasn’t too far from the truth.
Was it appropriate for the server to be friendly to just the guests in his station? No! The server is working for the restaurant and all of their guests.
Imagine a company that gets a call from a customer and the receptionist inadvertently connects the caller to the wrong department. Does that person hang up on the customer because “it is not my department?” I hope not.
Dr. Ted Levett of Harvard Business School said, “The function of every business is to get and keep customers.” My take on that is that it is also the function of every employee, no matter what their department or responsibility, to do the same.
Disney says that every employee (cast member) is to do the job they were hired to do – and always take care of the guest.
This is a lesson for everyone in any business. In addition to any responsibility you have, you are always your company’s ambassador. Always!
Editor's Note:
What Shep is talking about is referred to by the Ritz-Carlton hotel chain as "owning the complaint." For more information about how the Ritz handles issues like this, check out the article, "Puttin' on the Ritz...Building a Customer Service Culture," specifically Ritz-Carlton Basic #8.
Shep Hyken works with companies who want to build loyal relationships with their customers and employees.
Copyright 2005-2013 by Shep Hyken. Used with permission.