“I am collecting tips and tricks for turning upset customers into happy ones”

I responded with:

“When I find out that a customer is unhappy or unsatisfied with a service my company has performed, I will usually send them a gift certificate to a nice restaurant in town. People have a hard time staying mad at you if you are willing to feed them, and it gives you the opportunity to engage them on a more personal level and find out exactly how you can remedy the issue.”

This may seem a bit simple, but people with full bellies don’t stay mad long.

Don’t get me wrong.  No meal, no matter how good it tastes, will solve your problems or correct a mistake.  But a free meal to a NICE restaurant will show your customers that you are not afraid to engage them on a very personal level to ensure they are happy.

This tip was based on my experience as a designer and General Contractor specializing in high-end kitchens, baths, and renovation projects.  This line of work is a VERY PERSONAL business.  These projects involve a huge inconvenience to the home owner.  At any given time during the project the customer may be without water, electricity, heating or cooling, not to mention the dust, debris, and noise.  Often the customer is not able to use their kitchen for some length of time, so a gift certificate to a NICE restaurant provides some peace and solace during an otherwise hectic and stressful time.

I use free food not only to engage my customers when something goes wrong, whether it is my fault or somehting unforeseen, but also to obtain free advice and networking.

Need legal, accounting, or business advice and you don’t want to pay full price for a consulting fee?  I have yet to ever be turned down when I have offered to take one of these professionals out to lunch “to pick their brains.”  This is a “retainer-free” way to not only get good advice, but also a way to get your business in front of other professionals that may recommend your services to their client base.

Thanks again to Mike for including my recommendation.  You can read the other 54 tips here.

Want to do lunch sometime? Connect with me by cliking on one of the icons below or shoot me an email.