Why customer service matters

Why customer service matters

I had dinner the other night with friends that own a very successful Manhattan restaurant and we spent some time comparing our respective business models.  As most readers know, I see the restaurant model as one of the highest customer driven systems.  The food has to be decent, but the success or failure of a restaurant comes down to how the customer is treated.  One of the things I was most impressed with at my friend's restaurant was his ability to recall every regular customers name, their favorite food/drink and even some personal interests (family, etc).   Guess that is one reason he has customers willing to spend $100 for dinner 3-4 times a week.

I have even had some really bad meals that have turned out great because of a proactive service model.  Everyone makes mistakes, but great companies rebound from those mistakes and make the experience better.

My best personal example is dinner at The Modern Restaurant in mid-December a few years ago for my wife's birthday.  The restaurant was packed with large holiday parties and our table for two took over an hour past the reservation time. When we were finally seated in what was the worst location in the restaurant.  Our waiter noticed our dissatisfaction (here is one key element of a great restaurant - training the wait staff to tell the difference between a happy or upset customer). A few minutes later when tables emptied up, we were relocated and given another round of drinks on the house.  When it was time to order dessert it was on the house and when the bill was given to us the appetizers were also comped.  Danny Meyer is one of the greatest restaurants in New York and it's not because his is infallible it's because he has systems in place to rebound. 

At Signature Community, like any other apartment manager we make mistakes. It happens.  The difference is that we work at our rebounds to make sure we can fix our problems quickly (24 hr guaranty) or just simply acknowledge the problem (good resident communications).  It's the rebound that keeps our residents happy at our communities. That's why our renewal rates in 2009 were almost 70% and we receive a huge number of referrals from existing residents for friends to move into our communities. 

Thanks for making it happen at Signature Community.

Nick