I was in Las Vegas this past weekend for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of watching an old friend play at the final table of the World Series of Poker. THAT was truly an amazing experience. But that’s not the opportunity I’m writing about.
Out for dinner one night with my fiancée and anther couple, we decided to try the new restaurant at the Wynn. As the Wynn is known for it’s attention to detail and sophisticated elegance, we were very much looking forward to the experience. The meal was great, with one exception.
In a strange coincidence of timing, all four of us were absent from the table for about five minutes between appetizers and our main course. Assuming that we had left, the busing staff cleared the table, including pouring out two full glasses of a relatively excellent (read: costly) red wine. Please understand that I have absolutely no problem with the situation to this point in the story; the busers, seeing an empty table, did exactly what they were supposed to – clearing the table efficiently and effectively. But the fact is that the restaurant made a mistake, and we were now down a half bottle of wine – a wine that we were collectively quite fond of. The restaurant eventually made good – they brought us a half bottle of another, comparable wine (their choice, not ours), about 45 minutes after the mishap had occurred. They did fine. But they could have dazzled. They could have brought us a new bottle of the same wine. They could have brought us complimentary deserts. They could have taken the first bottle off the bill. They could have gone beyond and instead they did “just the minimum”. It was a little disappointing. While the meal could have been exceptional, and a great story for me to share with everyone I know going to Vegas, instead it was simply good food and an “ok” experience, one that I will most likely forget within a couple months.
So the question is – when your company makes a mistake, even a little one, are you dazzling your customer with your level of dedication to a solution, or simply doing the minimum? Mistakes can often be an opportunity to build a relationship, if you capitalize and dazzle.
