and made no excuses. Your customer doesn’t care who’s to blame.]

3. Do whatever you can to fix the problem or resolve the situation immediately. Be crisis-ready. [The manager had extra tables and chairs for just such an emergency.]

4. Have a resource-in-reserve that can be app-lied when and where it’s needed fast. [The manager authorized the twenty percent discount to the other diners to express gratitude at their willingness to help. You might keep gift cards to give to Customers to offset the bitterness of a disappointment – along with an apology.]

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Customers don’t expect you to be perfect. They do expect you to fix things when they go wrong.
- Donald Porter V.P., British Airways

MARK is a local celebrity in his city. When his “big sister” and her husband visit, Mark likes to treat them to dinner in a fancy, lavish five star restaurant. On one occasion, upon arriving at the restaurant of choice, Mark and his family learned there were no reservations in his name. He calmly asked, “Well, what are we going to do fix this? I’m sure there’s something your manager can do.”

The ma?tre d' returned with the manager, who apologized for the error and assured Mark they would resolve the situation at once. Meanwhile, the ma?tre d’ went to several tables and explained to each diner that the restaurant had misplaced a reservation and asked if they would mind helping by allowing their table to be slightly “shifted.” He offered them a twenty percent discount off their bill for their inconvenience. Naturally, the other diners complied.

A space cleared in the middle of the room and four waiters carried in a table and chairs. In less than three minutes, accommodations were ready for Mark and his family.

Sooner or later, you’re going to disappoint a customer. How you handle that crisis, will determine whether you lose a patron or gain a devoted supporter. If you can make a customer feel special after you’ve disappointed them, you’ve taken a negative situation and transformed it into a positive.

TURNAROUND TIP: When you make a mistake, make no excuses. Own the mistake and begin to correct it at once. However, it doesn’t do you or your associates any good if you try to solve a problem without a specific plan. The following steps offer a blueprint for crisis resolution that you can adapt to your business. This guide comes from the book, Juiced! by Lipkin and Gillis.

1. Apologize immediately with genuine empathy. [The manager apologized to Mark without restraint for the embar-rassment and inconvenience the misplaced reservation caused his family.]

2. Take responsibility. Take control. Don’t badmouth your company and don’t go hunting for blame in front of the Customer. Dance, Don’t Fight. [The manager didn’t come out with blazing accusations saying, “It’s the hostess’ fault!” He took the heat. He owned the problem and made no excuses. Your customer doesn’t care who’s to blame.]

3. Do whatever you can to fix the problem or resolve the situation immediately. Be crisis-ready. [The manager had extra tables and chairs for just such an emergency.]

4. Have a resource-in-reserve that can be app-lied when and where it’s needed fast. [The manager authorized the twenty percent discount to the other diners to express gratitude at their willingness to help. You might keep gift cards to give to Customers to offset the bitterness of a disappointment – along with an apology.]

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er, who apologized for the error and assured Mark they would resolve the situation at once. Meanwhile, the ma?tre d’ went to several tables and explained to each diner that the restaurant had misplaced a reservation and asked if they would mind helping by allowing their table to be slightly “shifted.” He offered them a twenty percent discount off their bill for their inconvenience. Naturally, the other diners complied.

A space cleared in the middle of the room and four waiters carried in a table and chairs. In less than three minutes, accommodations were ready for Mark and his family.

Sooner or later, you’re going to disappoint a customer. How you handle that crisis, will determine whether you lose a patron or gain a devoted supporter. If you can make a customer feel special after you’ve disappointed them, you’ve taken a negative situation and transformed it into a positive.

TURNAROUND TIP: When you make a mistake, make no excuses. Own the mistake and begin to correct it at once. However, it doesn’t do you or your associates any good if you try to solve a problem without a specific plan. The following steps offer a blueprint for crisis resolution that you can adapt to your business. This guide comes from the book, Juiced! by Lipkin and Gillis.

1. Apologize immediately with genuine empathy. [The manager apologized to Mark without restraint for the embar-rassment and inconvenience the misplaced reservation caused his family.]

2. Take responsibility. Take control. Don’t badmouth your company and don’t go hunting for blame in front of the Customer. Dance, Don’t Fight. [The manager didn’t come out with blazing accusations saying, “It’s the hostess’ fault!” He took the heat. He owned the problem and made no excuses. Your customer doesn’t care who’s to blame.]

3. Do whatever you can to fix the problem or resolve the situation immediately. Be crisis-ready. [The manager had extra tables and chairs for just such an emergency.]

4. Have a resource-in-reserve that can be app-lied when and where it’s needed fast. [The manager authorized the twenty percent discount to the other diners to express gratitude at their willingness to help. You might keep gift cards to give to Customers to offset the bitterness of a disappointment – along with an apology.]

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nd his family.

Sooner or later, you’re going to disappoint a customer. How you handle that crisis, will determine whether you lose a patron or gain a devoted supporter. If you can make a customer feel special after you’ve disappointed them, you’ve taken a negative situation and transformed it into a positive.

TURNAROUND TIP: When you make a mistake, make no excuses. Own the mistake and begin to correct it at once. However, it doesn’t do you or your associates any good if you try to solve a problem without a specific plan. The following steps offer a blueprint for crisis resolution that you can adapt to your business. This guide comes from the book, Juiced! by Lipkin and Gillis.

1. Apologize immediately with genuine empathy. [The manager apologized to Mark without restraint for the embar-rassment and inconvenience the misplaced reservation caused his family.]

2. Take responsibility. Take control. Don’t badmouth your company and don’t go hunting for blame in front of the Customer. Dance, Don’t Fight. [The manager didn’t come out with blazing accusations saying, “It’s the hostess’ fault!” He took the heat. He owned the problem and made no excuses. Your customer doesn’t care who’s to blame.]

3. Do whatever you can to fix the problem or resolve the situation immediately. Be crisis-ready. [The manager had extra tables and chairs for just such an emergency.]

4. Have a resource-in-reserve that can be app-lied when and where it’s needed fast. [The manager authorized the twenty percent discount to the other diners to express gratitude at their willingness to help. You might keep gift cards to give to Customers to offset the bitterness of a disappointment – along with an apology.]

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isis resolution that you can adapt to your business. This guide comes from the book, Juiced! by Lipkin and Gillis.

1. Apologize immediately with genuine empathy. [The manager apologized to Mark without restraint for the embar-rassment and inconvenience the misplaced reservation caused his family.]

2. Take responsibility. Take control. Don’t badmouth your company and don’t go hunting for blame in front of the Customer. Dance, Don’t Fight. [The manager didn’t come out with blazing accusations saying, “It’s the hostess’ fault!” He took the heat. He owned the problem and made no excuses. Your customer doesn’t care who’s to blame.]

3. Do whatever you can to fix the problem or resolve the situation immediately. Be crisis-ready. [The manager had extra tables and chairs for just such an emergency.]

4. Have a resource-in-reserve that can be app-lied when and where it’s needed fast. [The manager authorized the twenty percent discount to the other diners to express gratitude at their willingness to help. You might keep gift cards to give to Customers to offset the bitterness of a disappointment – along with an apology.]

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and made no excuses. Your customer doesn’t care who’s to blame.]

3. Do whatever you can to fix the problem or resolve the situation immediately. Be crisis-ready. [The manager had extra tables and chairs for just such an emergency.]

4. Have a resource-in-reserve that can be app-lied when and where it’s needed fast. [The manager authorized the twenty percent discount to the other diners to express gratitude at their willingness to help. You might keep gift cards to give to Customers to offset the bitterness of a disappointment – along with an apology.]

5. Minimize the Customer’s inconvenience or discomfort financially, emotionally and physically. Take the sting out of the negative experience. Manage your customer’s memory. [Will Mark remember the misplaced reservation or the way they fixed it? Both, but he won’t tell the story without telling what they did to alleviate the problem.]

6. Follow up within twenty-four hours. Make another deposit into the memory bank account. [Mark received a thank you note for his patronage and for his patience and understanding along with another apology for the inconvenience.]

7. Evaluate the service delivery process and implement changes to prevent the mistake happening again. “What can we learn from this?”

Only you can answer the last question. Adapt and apply this guide as needed. In fact, you don’t need to save it for your customers. You can adapt it to work with family and friends, too. Run towards a problem, not away from it. “A crisis is a moment of truth: you can make it a moment of magic or a moment of misery.”