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November 28, 2006

The lost customer - will they ever return?

Yesterday, I went for lunch to Madam Kwan in KLCC. Madam Kwan, as most of you know, is one Malaysian restaurant with great, great food. The problem (is it one?) with such great places is that they are packed over lunch time. So, if you don't book a place, well, you better have time to wait.

I had a booking for me and friends, but I was there a bit too early. So I could watch the crowd gathering outside. Some were pretty tense, because they couldn't really see their bookings in the book, others were more astonished about the number of people already waiting. A third group was waiting patiently and silently.

The waiter attending to the waiting guests tried hard, but trying is not good enough for some. Especially, since the poor guy had to leave the door and check with his colleagues in the back about tables, I assume, and then come back to the front.

In the time that he was gone, no one was there to attend to the waiting guests - and more came. So there was room for impatience.

Some guests waiting went away, saying, that it takes too long and that they go over to Little Penang, another restaurant. Clearly, there are also queues in front of Little Penang, but I am not focussing on this right now.

The question here is, of course - will those customers ever return? How will they talk about their waiting experience to friends, neighbours, other colleagues? Such events are lasting events for some, while others browse over it easily.

However, every lost customer is lost business - a business that might not return, anymore!

So what can be done? Better management of the waiting list, for sure. Don't let the guests alone - always have someone to entertain them, or be ready to entertain them.

The guy attending to the customers looked stressed, and it was a stressful environment. So give him something that motivates him, immediately, and on the spot - ha, of course I talk about the magic of NLP here :)

Also, understand the individuality of customers. Every customer is different and wants to be treated differently. So train your people to be able to identify the different characteristics of customers, and treat customers the way they want to be treated. Rapport building, for one, is one great way in doing this, subconsciously!


Again, I am promoting my training here, of course, and again, this is something that we are going to talk about in intensity during the training. How to identify the different types of customers and be able to serve them in the way that entertains them most appropriately, so that, in the end, the level of complaints get reduced and you get a reputation even better than the current one. Which, in turn, increases sales. Great, what?


So join me now, okay?

Here are some details!

Just send me a mail to NLP AT asiaminddynamics.com and we take it from there, okay?

Andreas


Posted by Andreas at November 28, 2006 06:05 PM

Comments

You are right, Frank, and that is sad. Rapport, courtesy or NLP brings you closer to your customers but in the long term, you won't succeed when your product fails, or you don't get the basics right.

And the fact is that you have made the decision to be unhappy with the hawker stall, you spread your opinion through the web and I don't believe that you are the only one. So the question is how many of those that eat there are happy and will return as repeat customers.

Which is in contrast to your decision, I guess.

NLP is not only about rapport building but also the ability to decide for yourself what you want to do, create the life that you want, and live it ecologically.

Great commen - keep it comingt!

Posted by: Andreas at November 30, 2006 08:37 AM

I know one popular hawker stall selling assam laksa. Its situated next to a smelly drain. Every time many ppl waiting. The hawker is very rude, don't even acknowledge u when u order, never say thank u. U don't wanna see how they wash the bowls and utensils. And yet the place is always full. This scenario is common in Malaysia. Who needs rapport, courtsey or NLP when rudeness can still bring you big success.

Posted by: Frank at November 29, 2006 05:51 PM

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