Marshal Field, one of the greatest merchants of the 20th Century, tells us why we should seek-out all complaints: "Those who enter to buy, support me. Those who come to flatter, please me. Those who complain teach me how I may please others so that more will come. Only those hurt me who are displeased but do not complain. They refuse me permission to correct my errors and improve my service." Marshall Field taught us that "Those who complain teach me how I may please others so that more will come." Certainly if we have the opportunity to correct Guest Satisfaction issues and we do then it will have a positive effect on Word of Mouth Advertising.

Remember what Marshall Field stated? "Only those hurt me who are displeased but do not complain. They refuse me permission to correct my errors and improve my service." This is certainly true and we cannot afford to allow this to happen. We must take a very Pro-Active approach, keeping our eyes and ears open to any possibility or hint that a guest is not satisfied. This is a very important skill that must be taught to every employee. We Must Welcome Complaints as part of our restaurant marketing program.

In my lifetime, I have been very involved in many business and major personal transactions, buying homes, cars, equipment, furniture, etc. I can only remember a couple of times that I was ever asked my opinion and if I was satisfied with their services or if I had any suggestion wherein they could improve their services. When were you last asked, "How did we handle your purchase?" "How comfortable did we make you feel during the loan transaction?" "Is there anything we could have done to make this deal go more smoothly for you?" Businesses just don't ask. Most of the time, I (like most of you) didn't feel it was my place to tell these businesses how they might have improved - if they didn't care to ask, why should I have volunteered an opinion?

It is difficult for most folks to complain. It is much easier to just go away and never return. Try as you will, you cannot win every one of them, but, you can minimize the problems by asking questions correctly.

It is also interesting to note that when you discover and then solve guest problems, the guest will actually be more loyal to you than a guest who never had a problem at all. According to statistics, you will only hear from 4% of your dissatisfied guests. The other 96% just quietly go away and 91% of those guests never return.

You've probably all heard the following story:

• "I'm a nice guest. You all know me. I'm the one who never complains, no matter what kind of service I get. I'll go into your restaurant and sit quietly while the service staff gossips and never bothers to ask for my order. Sometimes a party that came in after I did gets served before me, but I don't complain. I just wait.
• "I never kick. I never nag. I never criticize. I wouldn't dream of making a scene as I've seen some people do in public places. I think that's uncalled for. No, I'm the nice guest ... and I'll tell you who else I am.
• I'm the guest who never comes back!"

When a guest "Never Comes Back!", you are a big loser. And you can count on a lot of negative Word of Mouth Advertising because of it and your restaurant marketing program is going the wrong direction.