It’s All About The Customer
If the last memory is a bill for service, don't expect to see that customer again.
Last night I took my girlfriend to Rialtos Italian Restaurant on Hay Street, Subiaco (Perth). It was an extremely disappointing experience and because it cost so much money, I felt violated afterwards. It seems I wasn’t the only one (Read Review 1 and Review 2).
I remember Rialtos in a former incarnation. It was once called Altos. Altos used to be a nice, friendly restaurant geared towards the customer. The Managers were sticklers for quality and were known for being hard on staff on behalf of the customer who was always right. My how things have changed.
We arrived at 8pm and on entry, we were escorted to a central cocktail bar as, we were told, our table was getting ready. We were asked (twice) if we wanted cocktails and when we were finally seated 15 minutes later, we were asked again if we’d like pre-dinner drinks. No, thank you. We received our main meals one hour and twenty-five minutes later! The entire layout of the restaurant was open-plan and very noisy. I had to lean in to hear my partner. Because we were waiting so long, waiters and waitresses asked us repeatedly- if we wanted more wine or beer. When we (specifically) asked for tap water, an $8 bottle of sparkling water was opened and audaciously poured into our glass. In a word, it was a noisy and terrible experience.
Okay, so there’s no such thing as a bad experiences in business. Just stuff we can learn from. What can we learn from this? An awful lot . . .
Altos service methods were similar to those of Fitness First, Amway, Landmark Forums and most Time-share sales raps. Subtler, but basically the same. The emphasis in all these businesses is to sell while you have a customer, rather than service your customer so that they spread the word and then return. To on-sell a product. In this case – alcohol. Once a customer is in, you try and on-sell everything you have in stock while their wallet is open. It’s a particularly horrible experience for the customer who ends up leaving with the feeling that he’s been used.
The right way is simple. Put your customers first. Generate a calm, relaxing environment for your customer. Give them something for free. Understand that you are in the business of sales (to be sure) but you are selling to people just like yourself. The T.Sharpe salesgirl was friendly, accommodating and not too pushy. She was prepared to wait for us to come back after shopping elsewhere.
And you know what? Just thinking about it, I should have gone back to T.Sharpe and told them that the pen was cheaper in Myer. I’m sure she would have met us on price, because I had the strong feeling – she cared.
