A fabulous reader of mine sent me the below screenshot via email yesterday afternoon.
Get ready to have a laugh!
Click to enlarge:
I couldn’t help but laugh out loud as I read the restaurant’s reply to their customer’s complaint. How can people be so unconscious… unaware… foolish… self-evolved… stop me when I get the right word… of the proper ways to conduct business – and of the risks that are always present since everything is always public nowadays?
Obviously the restaurant owner has no sense and no care, but that’s a dangerous combination to have these days. This particular situation will surely not result in much loss of customers (besides from the one who made the complaint and everybody he knows) or in any substantial reputational damage to the restaurant, but a continuation of this type of behaviour will add up and will eventually catch up.
The lesson: Take a deep breath and set aside all ego and self-righteousness when dealing with customers and/or clients – whether publicly on social media or not.
Author of Crisis Ready: Building an Invincible Brand in an Uncertain World, Melissa Agnes is a leading authority on crisis preparedness, reputation management, and brand protection. Agnes is a coveted keynote speaker, commentator, and advisor to some of today’s leading organizations faced with the greatest risks. Learn more about Melissa and her work here.
There really was no reason for a public reply. But if the owner insisted there are far better ways to respond than how it went down. Why attack your customer? Acknowledge the confusion of the sign and say we'll fix it so it's easier to understand. It's hard to step away and try to understand a situation from the perspective of an outsider. It happens in all professions, but this likely made things worse than better.
Not just that, but this is a "kind of person", so we have to go on the assumption that this type of reaction / response / behaviour is not an isolated incident. I don't understand people like this.
I actually experienced an owner of a local restaurant that I used to frequent behave in this manner towards me. Needless to say, I never returned. Though I do wonder how they still have customers…