The missed steak of a mistake: the meatiness of miscalculation

Life is unpredictable. I’m not even talking about the current economic/political/whatever climate out there, I’m talking about the everyday life stuff.

First and foremost, we’re human [until the robot overlords come for us, anyways]. Being human is acknowledging our faults and finding joy or lessons in them. Or being an example to others.

As a small business owner, you're going to make mistakes... accept that it happens, and it's how you handle it that makes the difference. 

Story time!

Let me tell you a couple of stories that happened to me a few weeks ago that are a study in customer service. 

I went to a well-known steakhouse at an early time and I ordered my usual: medium rare prime rib (closer to rare than medium). I get my dinner and DEFINITELY not medium rare, more like medium well. Our server came over and asked how everything was. I pointed out that it wasn’t what I ordered and he agreed, whisking it away. 

He comes back with my new one that also was definitely NOT medium rare. He puts it down and bolts. I waited for him to come back. Instead, the manager came over and asked how we were. 

I asked, "is this medium rare?" 

She immediately said “No, it isn’t” and then explained that my server had sent her over.

"He mentioned he got a second one from the kitchen and still wasn't happy with it so he asked me to come over and take a look. That's definitely not good. I'll get you one from our new batch", she said smoothly. 

She comes back holding one that's *less* medium but still not medium rare, saying "ok... so this one is from our medium section, it’s the best we can do. See if this one's ok, I'll come back in a couple minutes and if it's not, I will replace it with any steak on the menu."

It was still too cooked but the edges were good. 

When she came back I explained that it wasn’t better, but that I don’t like the other options on the menu so I was just going to eat the outside bits that were, and call it a night.

She asked if I wanted an app or anything else, and then apologized again. She thanked me for my patience, and said she would take the prime rib off my bill.

Annoying - but the manager made the entire experience as pleasant as possible. 

We both knew that I hadn’t gotten what I wanted, but she sought to alleviate my concerns and leave me with the best possible impression

In contrast, I order delivery a lot from a staple in Canadian rotisserie chicken, and they often completely mess up my order. The restaurant forgets the sour cream for a baked potato, they add bacon when I say no bacon (I don't eat pork), forget to send buns... you get the picture. 

When I call, the staff acts annoyed, and my options are either a $5 credit or they will resend just the missing item (at their convenience). 

Zero care or concern for the customer, or the overall experience. No effort to ensure that I would return with my business, or leave a positive review. 

The steakhouse and the chicken restaurant both happened the same week. I left the steakhouse smiling and laughing. I ate my rotisserie chicken MAD because I knew they wouldn't do anything useful to fix the errors that the order contained, but mostly because I know that they don’t care.

The lesson here is that mistakes happen.

As a small business owner (and human), you're going to make mistakes... accept that it happens, and it's how you handle it that makes the difference. 

Expecting perfection isn’t possible, because life is all about the unexpected. 

We all know that we have to roll with the punches. 

People forget a lot of things, but they never forget how you made them feel. 

Word of mouth is just as important, if not more so, as the overall marketing budget.