HANDLING GUEST RECOVERY
Guest recovery is an essential part of a leader's skillset in any business. No organization is perfect (including ours) and when you are serving guests, there will be times where we may not provide products or service to our normal expectations. In fact, 7% of Chick-fil-A guests report some type of issue with their product or service during their visit. In one year, that is over 43,000 guests who require some type of potential guest recovery. If these guests aren't highly satisfied with their guest recovery process, then they are over two times less likely to come back and dine with us as compared to normal guests. But more importantly, we have a chance to make someone's day better and build loyalty with our guests when we successfully handle guest recovery. As part of our vision, we want to have a positive influence on all who come into contact with Chick-fil-A, especially if we are recovering them as a guest from a poor experience.
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Think through the following questions:
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Think about the last time you had a poor experience eating out at a restaurant (wrong order, poor customer service, slow speed, dirty restaurant, etc.)? If you brought it to their attention, how was your dissatisfaction handled? What made you feel better and what left you feeling more frustrated?
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How do you currently feel you handle guest recovery? Do you think guests leave highly satisfied after interacting with you during a guest recovery interaction? Do you see guest recovery as an opportunity to go above and beyond to serve a guest, or just as a burden that you have to deal with as a leader?
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Do you utilize any type of system or process for guest recovery? Do you feel confident in handling guest recovery or do you feel nervous and unprepared when a complaint is brought to your attention?
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Not only is customer recovery an integral part of living out the vision of our business, but it is also a crucial part of our sales growth as a business. On average, if our guests are not highly satisfied with our guest recovery process, it could cost us over $200,000 in sales each year. However, if guests are highly satisfied with their guest recovery process, they are two to three times more likely to return to our restaurant in the next 30 days. Take a moment to review the H.E.A.R.D. model for guest recovery (hear, empathize, apologize, resolve, delight). The first step is that you have to take is to give your guest your undivided attention and truly listen to their concerns so they feel heard. As you are listening, try to really empathize with the guest and acknowledge the frustration you might feel if you were in their shoes. Next, be sure to genuinely apologize and thank the guest for their feedback. Their feedback really does provide us an opportunity to improve and close gaps in our service. Finally, you not only want to resolve the situation, but you want to go above and beyond to delight the guest so they feel like you really made an effort to recover them as a guest. When you have a game plan on how you will address a guest complaint, you will be better prepared to ensure that guest's concerns feel heard and addressed.
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Think through the following questions:
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What challenges do you face when trying to give your guests your full attention during a guest recovery situation (having other tasks to accomplish, too noisy to hear, being interrupted mid-task, etc.)? What could you do to better ensure you're attentively listening to guests and not appear disinterested (delegate some of your tasks to others while you focus on guest, get to a quieter place while on phone, politely ask guest for a moment to gather yourself to address their concerns, etc.)?
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Think about some of the times maybe you've gotten frustrated with a guest experience at another business? Were there potentially some things happening personally in your life that elevated your frustration in the moment? Are there times where you think guests' life circumstances influence their frustration with our service?
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How do you try to resolve and delights guests who have experienced poor service at our restaurant? What are some ways that you can go above and beyond to delight our guests beyond just replacing their meal (offering an extra treat or dessert, walking them to the door and opening it for them as they leave, following up with them later during their visit to ensure their frustration was addressed to their satisfaction, etc.?)
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TAKE ACTION
Handling guest recovery experiences can be an intimidating task at first. It can feel like a high stakes situation with elevated guest emotions involved. But when broken down, guest recovery is a chance for us to make a guest's day better, build their loyalty in our brand, and improve our own team and performance. Most guests just want to be heard, know that you are genuinely apologetic, and that you did everything in your power to recover their experience as a guest. See if over the next month you can start to develop more confidence as you handle guest recovery experiences.
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EMPATHIZE - visit the "Guest Recovery Website" in the Additional Resources section and watch the three Guest Recovery Videos. Take some time to reflect over each guest story. Do you see how each of these scenarios could be a reality in our own restaurant. How does this change your perspective when interacting with guest complaints and how can it help you to be more empathetic?
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PRACTICE - review the "HEARD Quick Reference" and the "Guest Recovery Scenarios Worksheet." Go through each example to see how you could respond to similar guest recovery experiences. Practice role playing with some of your team members on your shifts to see how they would handle the situation and coach them if you see opportunities to improve their potential interactions with guests.
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EXECUTE - look for opportunities in the next 30 days to address guest recovery experiences using the HEARD model. Whether it's handling guest complaints over the phone, handling a CARES or voicemail, or interacting with a guest live in the restaurant, lean into these crucial conversations to see if you can leave a guest raving about Chick-fil-A after your interaction. Hopefully you will find the better you get at handling guest recovery, the more rewarding you will find it when you recover a guest!
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CHARACTERISTICS OF MASTERY
Is not afraid to address guest complaints and feedback; sees guest recovery as a way to win back guests and gain valuable feedback to improve team; gives guests undivided attention and attentively listens to understand guest perspective; empathizes with guest to understand their frustration in the current situation; always takes opportunity to genuinely apologize to guest and thank them for their feedback; satisfactorily resolves guest situations and goes above and beyond to delight guests to ensure they leave raving fans of Chick-fil-A; takes opportunity to coach team members on guest interactions and guest recovery.
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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
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