The Valentine’s Day Nightmare
I could have just as easily titled this story, “How NOT To Treat Your Customers”.
You’re not going to believe what happened to Lisa and I on Valentine's Day.
But…
In order to set the stage, I need to give you some background.
This story actually begins last December, right before Christmas, when my brother and his girlfriend invited us to dinner at this high end restaurant called The Melting Pot.
Kyle (my brother) had been raving about how great this restaurant was. Since Lisa and I had never been there, or even heard of it for that matter, we were excited to go try something new.
And though it was more than an hour’s drive away, I have to say, I was really impressed with the place.
The restaurant certainly wasn’t cheap, but the food was excellent and the experience was one to remember.
The Melting Pot is a fondue restaurant, and you cook your own meal, at your table in a fondue pot.
Your table is equipped with a heating element and the server brings your food on a beautiful platter, pre-cut into bite size pieces.
It includes steak, tuna, salmon, prawns, chicken, lobster, potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, etc.
You then use skewers to cook your food, one piece at a time, in the fondue pot.
As you can imagine, it takes awhile to eat dinner, but the food is incredible. And needless to say, it’s quite a unique experience.
And for desert, they bring you another platter, only this time it’s filled with strawberries, bananas, pineapple, cheesecake and pound cake.
They also bring you another fondue pot, full of chocolate… for dipping all those deserts in.
Lisa and I had a great time, and though it cost us $44 each for the meal, we knew we’d go back again some day.
Now…
This is where the story gets REALLY scary!
That “some day” was sooner than later.
In fact, that “some day” came less than two months after our first visit when Lisa and I made plans to take her two oldest sons (and their girlfriends) to The Melting Pot for Valentine’s day.
Like my brother Kyle… Lisa too had been raving about the restaurant, which naturally made the kids want to experience it for themselves.
But…
After making the hour-long trip to the restaurant, our Valentine’s Day experience seriously paled in comparison.
For starters, the restaurant had drastically increased the prices for this special day, while simultaneously decreasing what was included with your meal.
The meal that Lisa and I had paid $44 each for in December, was now $65.
And it didn’t even include a lobster tail.
If we wanted a lobster tail with our meal, we’d need to pay an additional $22, bringing the grand total to $87… per person.
That’s twice the price we paid in December.
Needless to say, we felt taken advantage of. But because we had the kids with us, we decided to stay (even though they felt we shouldn’t)
The final cost for the 6 of us… $518.67.
I’ve gotta be honest here, we felt completely ripped off.
As we were driving back home, I swore to Lisa that we’d NEVER go back to The Melting Pot again!
Fortunately…
This ain’t the end of the story.
As a business owner myself, I do everything possible to go the extra mile and always give my clients more than they expect.
But even at that, I drop the ball every once in awhile. And had the client not let me know, I would’ve never even realized it.
So I got to thinking.
Rather than bad mouthing this restaurant to everyone on the planet, I should at least let them know what happened, and give them a chance to fix the situation.
And that’s exactly what I did.
I called back to the restaurant and asked to speak with the manager.
After telling him our story, he came through with flying colors and took care of everything.
In fact, you can Eavesdrop In On The Entire Conversation.
All of this brings up four very important questions.
1. What do your customers REALLY think about your business?
2. Are you meeting (or even exceeding) their expectations?
3. Would they tell you if they weren’t happy with you, your product or your service?
4. Or would they just write you off, never do business with you again, and bad mouth your company to everyone they come in contact with?
It’s vitally important that once you set your customers expectations, you continue to deliver on those expectations.
Don’t drop the ball when they come back to spend money with you a second, third or fourth time.
Make sure you ALWAYS give them what they’ve come to expect.
Better yet…
Give them MORE than they expect.
And here’s why:
A happy customer will tell their friends, family and neighbors about you and send business your way, which is a very good thing.
But an unhappy customer…
They’ll scream your shortcomings from the rooftops, and they’ll do it with a vengeance.
They’ll tell everyone they come in contact with, about how you took advantage of them.
And trust me, it’ll cost you more in lost sales and referral business than you’ll ever know.
But on the other hand, when you take care of your customers, they’ll love you for it, and more importantly, they’ll provide you with the lifestyle you’ve always dreamed of, for years and years to come.
Would you like to have this kind of a business - a business like mine – a business like my clients? If so, get ready to Start Making Your Dreams A Reality.
Here’s to your success,
Kevin Thompson
P.S. Don't put off til later what you know you should, And CAN Do Now.
You’re not going to believe what happened to Lisa and I on Valentine's Day.
But…
In order to set the stage, I need to give you some background.
This story actually begins last December, right before Christmas, when my brother and his girlfriend invited us to dinner at this high end restaurant called The Melting Pot.
Kyle (my brother) had been raving about how great this restaurant was. Since Lisa and I had never been there, or even heard of it for that matter, we were excited to go try something new.
And though it was more than an hour’s drive away, I have to say, I was really impressed with the place.
The restaurant certainly wasn’t cheap, but the food was excellent and the experience was one to remember.
The Melting Pot is a fondue restaurant, and you cook your own meal, at your table in a fondue pot.
Your table is equipped with a heating element and the server brings your food on a beautiful platter, pre-cut into bite size pieces.
It includes steak, tuna, salmon, prawns, chicken, lobster, potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, etc.
You then use skewers to cook your food, one piece at a time, in the fondue pot.
As you can imagine, it takes awhile to eat dinner, but the food is incredible. And needless to say, it’s quite a unique experience.
And for desert, they bring you another platter, only this time it’s filled with strawberries, bananas, pineapple, cheesecake and pound cake.
They also bring you another fondue pot, full of chocolate… for dipping all those deserts in.
Lisa and I had a great time, and though it cost us $44 each for the meal, we knew we’d go back again some day.
Now…
This is where the story gets REALLY scary!
That “some day” was sooner than later.
In fact, that “some day” came less than two months after our first visit when Lisa and I made plans to take her two oldest sons (and their girlfriends) to The Melting Pot for Valentine’s day.
Like my brother Kyle… Lisa too had been raving about the restaurant, which naturally made the kids want to experience it for themselves.
But…
After making the hour-long trip to the restaurant, our Valentine’s Day experience seriously paled in comparison.
For starters, the restaurant had drastically increased the prices for this special day, while simultaneously decreasing what was included with your meal.
The meal that Lisa and I had paid $44 each for in December, was now $65.
And it didn’t even include a lobster tail.
If we wanted a lobster tail with our meal, we’d need to pay an additional $22, bringing the grand total to $87… per person.
That’s twice the price we paid in December.
Needless to say, we felt taken advantage of. But because we had the kids with us, we decided to stay (even though they felt we shouldn’t)
The final cost for the 6 of us… $518.67.
I’ve gotta be honest here, we felt completely ripped off.
As we were driving back home, I swore to Lisa that we’d NEVER go back to The Melting Pot again!
Fortunately…
This ain’t the end of the story.
As a business owner myself, I do everything possible to go the extra mile and always give my clients more than they expect.
But even at that, I drop the ball every once in awhile. And had the client not let me know, I would’ve never even realized it.
So I got to thinking.
Rather than bad mouthing this restaurant to everyone on the planet, I should at least let them know what happened, and give them a chance to fix the situation.
And that’s exactly what I did.
I called back to the restaurant and asked to speak with the manager.
After telling him our story, he came through with flying colors and took care of everything.
In fact, you can Eavesdrop In On The Entire Conversation.
All of this brings up four very important questions.
1. What do your customers REALLY think about your business?
2. Are you meeting (or even exceeding) their expectations?
3. Would they tell you if they weren’t happy with you, your product or your service?
4. Or would they just write you off, never do business with you again, and bad mouth your company to everyone they come in contact with?
It’s vitally important that once you set your customers expectations, you continue to deliver on those expectations.
Don’t drop the ball when they come back to spend money with you a second, third or fourth time.
Make sure you ALWAYS give them what they’ve come to expect.
Better yet…
Give them MORE than they expect.
And here’s why:
A happy customer will tell their friends, family and neighbors about you and send business your way, which is a very good thing.
But an unhappy customer…
They’ll scream your shortcomings from the rooftops, and they’ll do it with a vengeance.
They’ll tell everyone they come in contact with, about how you took advantage of them.
And trust me, it’ll cost you more in lost sales and referral business than you’ll ever know.
But on the other hand, when you take care of your customers, they’ll love you for it, and more importantly, they’ll provide you with the lifestyle you’ve always dreamed of, for years and years to come.
Would you like to have this kind of a business - a business like mine – a business like my clients? If so, get ready to Start Making Your Dreams A Reality.
Here’s to your success,
Kevin Thompson
P.S. Don't put off til later what you know you should, And CAN Do Now.
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