The LEARN Method of Guest Recovery
A disgruntled and upset guest is a person whom you should take very seriously. Ensuring that their complaints are heard and resolved is of paramount importance to the future success of your business, and it is said that a guest who had a bad experience properly rectified is more likely to recommend your brand to others and return themselves than one whom had a perfect experience.
There is no way to ensure perfect guest recovery, but the LEARN method is a tried and proven method that you’re, in part, already probably using. LEARN is an acronym for: Listen, Empathize, Apologize, Recover, Nurture; and these are the steps you should follow to ensure high quality guest recovery.
Listen – The guest in front of you has a problem and you are the representative of the source of that problem and their frustration, therefore, you must listen to everything they have to say. Don’t interrupt them, doing so will only infuriate them further, wait until they’ve said all they’ve needed to say before responding.
If necessary, consider taking notes, whilst not practical for the most common complaints and situations we find in restaurants, note taking is beneficial when a guest complaint is related to topics such as theft, assault, or food poisoning; these notes will be valuable later on when any follow up procedure is taken up by the relevant authorities.
Empathize – Once you’ve listened to all the guest has to say be sure to let them know that you’re on their side and that you understand their point of view; take a moment and put yourself in their shoes as the customer of a restaurant -i.e. your restaurant- and see how it feels. When responding repeat key phrases back to them, ones that they themselves used in their initial complaint. This will let them know that you really did listen to them.
Apologize – Once the guest knows that you understand their complaint make a complete and sincere apology; own up to your mistake, the guest will respect you and will be a lot happier once you do so. Also, often fixing the problem is much easier than people believe it to be, which makes life much easier for you and your guest happy.
Never use excuses when dealing with a complaining guest. You might not be able to fix their problem to their satisfaction but never give them an excuse, this shows a weakness on your part and will anger them further.
Recover – Fix the problem! Ultimately, the guest is complaining because they have a problem and they want it fixed. If the problem has reached your -the managers- hands then it is probably larger than just an overcooked steak; although, this isn’t always true. Whilst completing the above steps feel out how upset the guest is and if there is anything in particular that you can provide for them that will specifically meet their needs, often the solution will be staring you in the face.
This is the point where you use your years of customer experience to provide this specific individual with what will satisfy them and wipe the memory of the bad experience from their mind. Ensure that the recovery happens as quickly as possible.
Nurture – After you have resolved the problem for the guest ensure that you personally check back with them to ensure their continued satisfaction. Also, be present when they leave, showing your personal commitment to resolving their problem and ensuring that their experience was a good one; here you’ll get a good chance to hint at them returning, by saying something along the lines of “we hope to see you again soon”.
Make a mental note of who they are so that, if they return, you can be sure to greet them and further increase their faith in you and your location.
Ultimately, nurturing is the most important part of this process and it allows you to ensure that one bad situation doesn’t leave a lasting impression on a guest for them to go and tell others or, even worse, put it on social media or review sites.
Most guest complaints are easier to sort out than people believe, and resolving a complaint properly -meaning that a guest leaves with little to no recollection of what they were complaining about- ensures your reputation and can help you to retain guests. It could even mean an increase in customers as this once disgruntled guest comes back with others, wholly due to the way in which you made them feel like an individual who is cared about, not just another customer.
