This Could Be Your Last Chance To Keep Me As A Customer
Seth Godin wrote a post that reminded me of one of our only ways to send word of our dissatisfaction to companies that don’t earn our hard earned dollars. Stay the heck away ! Boycott !
You can’t hardly even think of arguing with people anymore. A waitress asked me the other day if I wanted a box to take home the bowl of baked beans that I seemingly hadn’t touched. I told her, ” No, I don’t want to take then home. If they were any good, I would have eaten them here. ”
Did she say I’m sorry you didn’t like them ? No.
Did she ask if she could have them removed from my bill ? No.
She said she liked their beans and I must not know what good beans taste like !
There were 5 of us at the table and all 5 people left their beans.
She missed her chance to ever get me back in the building….ever.
I try to treat every sale ( in my daytime life as a Masonry Consultant/Salesman ) as if it’s the last one I’ll ever get.
A wise old feller ( Shout out to Gene Wilcox ) once told me something I’ve never forgot.
” When you deal in products that last for generations, like brick and concrete block, they’re only gonna build that building once in your lifetime, so go after every sale as if it’s the last one you’ll ever have a chance to make. “
Wise word those. See if you can work them into your method of operation.
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4 Responses to “This Could Be Your Last Chance To Keep Me As A Customer”
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Mike,
There has to be more to this story than that. Of 5 people eating a meal simultaneously, nobody had previously complained about the beans? It sounds as if you laid the complaint on that waitress out of left field affording her no dignity at all. Had she had any opportunity to correct the problem with the chef/cook?
Had you ambushed me like that I might have reacted also and told you you didn’t know what good beans tasted like, especially if I’m reading your “tone of voice” correctly.
A wise old feller told me something once also - do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
Of the 5 people who were there at my table, all 5 thought the beans tasted like crap. Not one of us took a second bite from their bowl. 3 of the 5 had to spit their bite into a napkin. Sorry to disappoint you, but it’s really pretty simple. They were horrible.
The fact that the first time she came back past our table was to drop off the check and give a cursory ” How was everything ? ” speaks of one of 2 things.
1) they were incredibly busy…
or
2) she really didn’t care to do any better…
Since I was there, I’ll tell you it was both. She seemed to be a zombie of a waitress. Maybe she’d had some problems that I don’t know about, but that means little to the taste of the beans.
My friend, if you eat out 5 or 6 days a week, as I do, you’re gonna come across horrible food. I regularly get sick 1-2 times a week after having eaten at a clients favorite spot.
I didn’t do or say a thing to hurt the waitress, she didn’t cook the beans, she just brought them to the table.
I never, repeat, never treat food handlers poorly. If asked my opinion about the food, I will give it..usually with some tempering, as it’s never the servers fault.
If you think what I said was an ambush, I’m sorry that it seems that way to you. If she had not asked me about the beans, I would have never said a word. Neither would any of the others. Ain’t our style to complain. But if asked, it would be wrong/rude not to tell the truth.
To say we had not previously complained only shows that you weren’t privvy to the fact that she’d never came back by after having served the meal. If she had come by and refilled our sweet teas, which would have been nice, she might have found out then that the beans sucked.
Thanks for coming by and for the comment. Here at Simplenomics, we don’t mind if you disagree…just be respectful.
Hey Mike,
Well, now I certainly understand it better than I had from what you originally wrote, thanks.
No disappointment at all. I’m not one who gets all happy when I’m served bad food either.
BTW - I learned a long time ago that if I get sick at a restaurant, I don’t go back, no matter what the reason
Take Care,
Mark
Sorry I wasn’t clear enough the first time.
Your comments and visits are always coveted here !