When you have the attitude throughout the Restaurant that the "Customer is Always Right!", it creates a powerful feeling with your Employees. They feel good about it. They know that it will eliminate a lot of hassle in their job. They feel better and do a better job because of it. If you empower your Employees to handle these kinds of problems and then reward them for doing it instead of criticizing them for taking care of the Customer, your Guests will know the difference.

I was in a Restaurant the other day and we sat near a table of twelve elderly people. The Server was delivering their food when one of the ladies said: "I didn't order this big salad. I only ordered a small one." To which the Server replied: "Oh, I'm sorry. I made a mistake. I probably misunderstood what you said, my error. I'll tell you what, go ahead and enjoy whatever you want of this big salad and I will only charge you for the small one. And I'm sorry we had this problem." That was the end of it. Well, this lady, who was in her eighties, just glowed with approval.

It turned out that my wife heard the lady order the large salad and the Server verified the order, so it was obvious that the elderly lady probably misunderstood the menu. But, you know what? "The Customer is Always Right!" And I'm sure that the Server knew that she had verified the order, but she handled it beautifully. "The Customer IS Always Right!"

The Server was not interested in "who's right," she was interested in "what is right". It was definitely in the best interest of the Restaurant to have it handled the way that the Server handled it. In fact, one of the other people in the party told the woman that she ordered the large salad. But, the Server did the right thing, she was interested in building a strong relationship with the entire party and making every single member of the party "feel good".

I can think of many times that when I have ordered food, the order has come out wrong. I generally will order cole slaw OR a salad as a substitute for french fries with my hamburger. Most of the time, the order comes out wrong. When I bring this to the attention of the Server, they take the food back to the kitchen to correct it while everybody else in my party is enjoying eating their food.

Now health laws require them to throw away french fries once they've been out to the Customer, so why not just leave them with the Guest with a comment: "Maybe some of the other folks at the table would like to enjoy these french fries, while I'm getting your cole slaw. I will get your cole slaw immediately, but at least you can go ahead and eat your burger." That way everyone is happy and eating while the mistake is being corrected.

"This will be with our compliments, I'm sorry we had a problem." The Customer is Always Right! is the way that you need to train all of your Employees.

Evaluate the last two problems. What if the Server said: "I verified your order and you ordered the large salad." would anyone have benefited from that approach? What if, the Server took the burger order back to the kitchen for correction, would the Restaurant had benefited at all? It is very important that common sense and logic be used in every situation. You need to create an environment within the Restaurant where the most important thing is to make the Customer "feel good".

Remember, "The Proof of the Pudding is not in the Tasting, but in whether people return for a second helping." Getting the Guest in the Restaurant the first time is important, but if they don't come back, you're in big trouble. SO, MAKE THEIR DAY!