Up Your Business is an exclusive GEARS Magazine feature in which I share stories, insights, and reflections about business and life.
Most of you probably remember or have at least heard of, the old-time comedian team, George Burns and Gracie Allen. The fact that I remember watching The George and Gracie Show on black & white TV back in the 1950s is a clue as to how old-time I am, too. The show always ended with one of Gracie’s funny stories. This story starts with Gracie saying, “George, while I was on my way to the market today, a bum asked me if I had a dime for a cup of coffee.” As always, George took a puff on his cigar and asked, “A dime for a cup of coffee? So, what did you do?” Gracie explains, “I told him, no; but that he needn’t worry about me, I’ll get by.”
Speaking of coffee, I also remember the bottomless, 10-cent cup of coffee at Sambo’s Pancake Restaurants. They even gave out “wooden tokens” for free coffee on future visits. That was great marketing – get people in the door and keep them coming back. By the way, those wooden tokens are on eBay for around $2.50. I’ve been told you can still use them if you ever visit the original and only surviving Sambo’s in Santa Barbara, California.
Unrelated to this article, but interesting just the same, is the story behind the demise of Sambo’s. Most people assumed the 1,117-location chain went out of business in the early 1980s because of the public’s pushback over the racial overtones of the name, the menu, and the décor theme, which drew on a racially controversial, 1899 children’s book, The Story of Little Black Sambo. While that did contribute, the company actually failed when 600 partner-managers walked out due to contract changes that were ordered by the Securities and Exchange Commission. So, we can chalk up one more point against intrusive government intervention and regulations.
Anyhow, back to the point of this article. Coffee got me thinking about how it’s often the little things that determine the level of customer satisfaction.
For example, Sue (my wife) and I recently went out for breakfast at a little, home-style diner called Sally B’s Café. We’re both coffee snobs and find typical restaurant coffee too weak. To us, it’s just hot, brown-colored water. Anyhow, we noticed a specialty “boutique” coffee shop a couple doors down from the café. Wanting to be respectful, I popped my head in the door and hesitatingly asked if they minded if we brought outside beverages in with us. As you’ve most likely experienced, restaurants seldom allow this. To our surprise, they said that would be fine. While Sue went in to secure a table, I went to purchase two of our favorite coffee concoctions.
I’m not only a coffee snob, but I’m also a pancake connoisseur, and Sally B’s didn’t disappoint in the pancake department. We both thoroughly enjoyed our meals and the courteous service. But it gets better. When the server brought our check, she said, “Your breakfasts included coffee. So, I’ve taken $2.00 off your total because you brought your own.”
Talk about a pleasant surprise! I immediately told Sue that this was going into an article, and here it is! Not to mention that we’ve shared this story with many of our local friends and always recommend it to our outof- town guests. I know it’s only $2.00, but that’s not the point. The point is that she didn’t have to do it at all. We were perfectly happy that they allowed us to bring our own beverages.
When two of our friends, Mike and Carmella, came to visit, we told them about Sally B’s. As often happens in conversations, they felt compelled to tell us about an experience they’d recently had at The Ivy Mediterranean Lounge near their house.
Carmella said that they’d heard it had great food and ambiance. They ordered Mediterranean Salads, and when the server brought them to the table, they asked her for more Feta cheese. She responded that there’d be an additional charge for the extra cheese, and Mike told her that was fine. After several minutes, she still hadn’t brought the extra cheese, and our friends noticed that she was just standing and talking with some of the other staff. Mike figured she’d forgotten about the cheese, so he approached her to ask if she’d mind bringing it as they were already partway through the salads. She replied that the cheese request was in the order queue on the computer, and as soon as it gets to the top, the kitchen staff will put it out for her to bring to their table. As Mike retold his story, he still shook his head in disbelief.
Mike couldn’t resist questioning the lack of logic regarding this process. According to the server, the restaurant owners had decided that they were giving away too much Feta and other such items by allowing servers the discretion to bring things out to the tables whenever requested. So, they instituted a new policy that required charging for the additional items and entering them into the computer. This automatically creates a new order and puts it into the queue. The unintended consequence is that customers who’ve already been served must wait for other orders ahead of them just to get items like additional cheese.
The end of the story is that Mike asserted himself, and they immediately got the cheese, but the restaurant lost a customer, and it’s a story that Mike and Carmella love to tell. So, who knows how many other customers have been lost?
WHAT’S THE POINT?
The point is that little surprises, whether good or bad, make a big impact on the overall customer experience. We often put too much thought and emphasis into the price, the cost, and the value. These were not factors in either of the above stories.
I used to think that boutique coffee shops like Starbucks could get away with charging upwards of $6.00 for a coffee beverage because of the overall ambiance and remarkable customer experience. But if that’s the case, how do you explain waiting in line to pay over half a dozen bucks at the drive-through or take out counter? I guess quality or at least perceived quality is a factor. But isn’t that perception driven by how we feel about our experience?
In the two restaurant examples, Sally B’s didn’t have great ambiance, but they had good food, excellent service, and an unexpected positive surprise. The Ivy had ambiance and good food, but an illogical negative surprise. Both made an impact, but who won the day?
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO YOU?
I believe that most repair shops don’t tend to surprise their customers. When they do, the surprises usually fall on the negative side – like when things unexpectedly go wrong, and they get that “surprise” phone call.
I’m not saying they don’t do good work, treat the customers well, and do everything they promise. But think about it, aren’t all these things to be expected? It shouldn’t be a surprise if you fix the problem the first time, get it done when promised, charge precisely the amount quoted, treat the customer courteously, and give them back a clean car.
People don’t generally talk about their experience with a business when everything goes as expected; do they? Do you? When was the last time you told anybody about the exceptional service you got at McDonald’s? Probably never because service at McDonald’s is always as expected and not worth talking about. Unfortunately, as with the two restaurants I’ve discussed in this article, if you don’t do things that provide positive surprises, all that’s left are negative surprises, or just doing what’s expected and unremarkable.
Do something for every customer that they can’t wait to tell their friends about. For instance, the last time I had my car in for service, they pointed out that the door hinge bolts were coming loose. They were so loose that I couldn’t believe I hadn’t noticed them. They took care of it at no charge. You might say, tighten four bolts – what’s the big deal? The big deal is that I’m telling you about it, and I’ve recommended the shop to my friends. Do you think that story would have made it into this article if they’d charged me? Of course not; that’s what I expected them to do, and therefore, not worth telling.
Here’s a list of things that you could start doing today to positively surprise your customers. These are affordable things that you can do at no extra charge as a value-added surprise. In fact, you might already be doing some of them, not charging for them, and not getting kudos for doing them. To make some of these surprises valuable, you’ll need to point out that you did them, and explain the value.
- Sue suggests, putting out more than just coffee service in the waiting room. Add flavored creamers, tea, hot cocoa, cookies, candy, snack bars, donuts, and bottled water.
- Wash their car. Clean cars run better.
- Install a Febreze air-freshener or at least spray Febreze in the car before giving it back to them. Cars pick up shop smells that we don’t notice because we’re so used to them.
- Polish their headlight lenses.
- Service the battery terminals and load-test their battery. Give them a written report on its condition.
- Repair windshield chips. It takes only minutes, and the toolkit and supplies are only a few hundred bucks.
- Replace worn-out windshield wiper blades. Like Sambo’s wooden coffee token, consider a “free wiper blades for life” program.
- Top off windshield washer fluid, and in colder climates, install de-icer washer fluid.
- Replace worn-out brake and clutch pedal pads.
- Reattach loose mirrors, shifter knobs, or other minor accessory items.
I’d love to hear from you if you’re already doing some of these or other things to surprise your customers. I’m also curious about how it’s working for you.
About the Author
Thom Tschetter has served our industry for nearly four decades as a management and sales educator. He owned a chain of award-winning transmission centers in Washington State for over 25 years.
He calls on over 30 years of experience as a speaker, writer, business consultant, and certified arbitrator for topics for this feature column.
Thom is always eager to help you improve your business and your life. You can contact him by phone at (480) 773-3131 or e-mail to coachthom@gmail.com.
