How To Get The Customers You Deserve

You’ve heard a version of this story before. It goes something like this. The customer leaves the restaurant a little disgruntled after a Friday evening dinner. The service had been particularly slow, his table had waited an hour for their meal and the waitstaff hadn’t nipped his complaint in the bud. His next move is to contact the owner to give his feedback. The owner’s response.…

“If you wanted fast food you should have gone to McDonald’s” and “I don’t need you or want you to come back”.

When the customer shared his story online and the reporter came knocking the restaurant owner told her the complaint was representative of a trend in people expecting too much from restaurants.

“We’re in the business to make money, we’re not there just to be a convenience to people who want to eat out.” he said.

In a city where cafe culture is thriving this posture could be one of the reasons our owner has to fill his restaurant with people who have bought a discount deal from a group buying website.

The flip side for him and the takeaway for you.…

You have the opportunity to tell the story of your business to the people who you want to hear it. You get to shape the kind of brand you’d like to become. You can build your business for the customers you really want to serve.

But your customer’s experience is part of that story and they have a hand in creating the ending. If your story sends the good ones away you’ll get the customers you deserve.

Image by Steve Rhodes.

http://twitter.com/thethrivingsolo Yoneco

I’m mortified, but not surprised by those quotes. When people show you they don’t want your business (despite what they may say), believe them.
- http://thestoryoftelling.com/ Bernadette Jiwa
  
  Yes!
  His last reason for being in business should be his first Yoneco.
tomRmalcolm

OMG! What a fantastic way to frame up how it really is!

“But your customer’s experience is part of that story and they have a hand in creating the ending.”

THAT is brilliant! And a big DUH!

That restaurant owner is a.…, well, you know.

Tom
- http://thestoryoftelling.com/ Bernadette Jiwa
  
  Thanks Tom, glad it resonated.
  
  What’s ironic is that the customer experience which he’s describing and the expectations he wants to deliver on are less than you’d get at a fast food restaurant.
  - tomRmalcolm
    
    Ha! So true. And if he’s only in it for the money, the jokes’ on him anyway.
Adiazpaz

and yet… it’s so easy to say, while serving the first drinks and starters “we don’t rush in the kitchen because we want to make your experience more enjoyable, we cook our meals the time they need while you are enjoying the company of the person(s) you came with”.
- http://thestoryoftelling.com/ Bernadette Jiwa
  
  So, so easy to turn it around and tell the story you want to tell and your customers to remember. I love your take on it Adiazpaz.
  
  Or something like.….
  
  “Because we cook everything fresh, our food takes time if you’re hurrying off to the theater please let us know so that we can let you know about our cold pre-theater specials.”
  - Adiazpaz
    
    well, if I have little time and hungry I grab a bite in a coffee shop… but eating out at a restaurant should be a different experience, a full on one which includes not only the food but also the people you are with. Perhaps I think so because when I grew up the 1970s’ Havana going to a restaurant was always a special occasion… and you had to make the most of it.