The Cheesecake of Tomorrow
At
an elegant resort in Mauritius, the dessert menu was
rather sparse. One customer asked the waiter for ‘The
Special Dessert of Today’.
The waiter returned from the kitchen and reported flatly,
‘We only have the cheesecake of tomorrow.’
Nonplussed, the customer asked for further explanation.
‘The Special of Today is sold out,’ the
waiter explained, ‘We only have the cheesecake
of tomorrow.’
‘Well, can I have a piece of the cheesecake of
tomorrow?’ asked the guest.
‘I suppose so,’ replied the waiter, and
brought this customer a piece of tomorrow’s cheesecake
– today.
Key
Learning Point
What staff members
say to your customers reveals a lot about how they
are trained and what they consider to be possible, or
important.
Action Steps
Use
a mystery shopper (or be a mystery shopper). Visit your
business in person and over the phone. Listen carefully
to how your staff reply when asked a series of routine,
unusual and penetrating questions. Train them to focus
on customers' needs, not on policies, dates and procedures.
Create satisfied customers today, or those customers may
go elsewhere tomorrow.
Next Article in Customer Service Perception Points >>
Keeping High Tech, High Touch
First Article in Customer Service Recovery >>
What to do When Your Customer is About to Explode
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