Small things-BIG Impression
Mea Culpa.
At our son’s wedding, we selected a wonderful caterer- excellent reputation- nice people. So, at the event, when we realized that some of the delicious meals were not hot enough we were a bit disappointed. We didnt know if ours were the only ones that were not up to par.
We did what we usually do in this situation- we sent a letter out the next day- a nice letter informing them of our observation, simple feedback.
That same week we received a letter from them- thanking us for the feedback, discussing the situation, apologizing for our dissatisfaction and, taking responsibility.
Oh, they also sent a bottle of red wine. The lable? In big gold letters- Mea Culpa.
How cool is that?
Stuff happens when you’re preparing and serving lots of meals at once. They were prepared for the occasional service lapses.
In my book on service, Psyched On Service, I offer a step by step service recovery plan which works. This is an example of ‘give the customer a little extra with your apology even if it’s no more than honest eye contact’. Im going to love that bottle of Mea Culpa Red.
