A friend of mine was on a flight recently, enjoying the extra perks and comfort of First Class. At breakfast time, the flight attendant moved through the cabin, asking passengers for their choice of quiche or French toast. When she reached the last row, where my friend and her husband sat, the attendant presented their choice: French toast or French toast. In other words, NO MORE QUICHE. The flight attendant apologized, with a sincerely caring attitude and a healthy dose of empathy, which helped to soften the breakfast blow.
Before breakfast was served, the First Class passengers were offered a warm biscuit or a cinnamon roll. But by the time the bread basket reached my friends, the choice had deteriorated into biscuit or biscuit. The biscuits were served with another sincere apology, but by then my friends’ patience had grown thin, and their opinion toward the airline took a nose dive.
When we’re flying first class, staying at a luxury hotel or shopping at a prestigious store, we pay for and look forward to a level of service that exceeds the no-frills, ho-hum everyday transaction. We want service providers to hit it out of the park every time. Granted, airplanes have limited space, but with only 16 passengers in first class, you’d think measures would be taken to afford all first-class passengers their choice of meal.
But here’s the happy ending for all concerned: The flight attendant soon returned, offering my friends the PILOT’S quiche. This demonstrated a great deal of caring-both on the part of the attendant, who went to great lengths to please the passenger and of the the pilot, who put himself in second place to make a passenger happy. Both did a great job in representing their company in a favorable way, more than making up for my friends’ initial disappointment. In fact, thanks to their teamwork, my friends felt more positively about the company than they might have if the quiche had been available initially.
The lessons here are twofold. The first, of course, is to be equipped to deliver the service we promise to our customers. Whether it’s a cinnamon roll or a sincere smile, we need to keep them coming–all the way back to the very last row. Secondly, if we somehow do fall short, we can use our deep desire to serve and our problem-solving skills to save the day, turning complaints into compliments.