We’ve all been there. A customer was unsatisfied with their catering order due to it being late, food not being correct, or just an overall bad experience. If the problem isn’t resolved immediately, you will more than likely lose that customer for life. It’s no secret, the restaurants that provide the best customer service and value always end up on top. We’ve outlined a few problems below. Take the appropriate steps to fix and make situations right to make sure your customers come back every time, no matter what the experience is.
Problem #1: The order arrived late. Catering isn’t a regular takeout order. Usually, it’s for a luncheon or an event where it has to be on time. That’s why you need to always need to have delivery windows. At DeliverThat, we require a restaurant pickup time, restaurant departure time, and a delivery drop off time. Taking these necessary steps insures that orders rarely ever arrive late. Also, make sure to coach your staff on what to do if they are running behind. Being transparent with the customer is everything. Give them a call if the order is going to be 10 minutes late, 99 times out of 100 they’ll understand and it won’t be a big deal.
If the order is delivered late you need to make it right. Offer the customer a discount on their food, 10% is fair, cover their delivery fee and also cover their next delivery fee. This shows you care about your customers and value their business. Problem #2: You don’t include all of their order contents.
Whether you forgot serving utensils or the main entree, it doesn’t matter. The fact that what the customer was expecting and paid for didn’t arrive is unacceptable. Go to every length to get the missing items to the delivery destination immediately.
To avoid this problem look to create a QA system. We advise all of our restaurant partners have a checklist that they have to go through before packing up every order. It also never hurts to say the order contents out loud either to the delivery driver. Maybe they’ll catch something you didn’t. The point is simple, put in the extra work now to create a system to avoid catastrophic problems in the future. You don’t want to be known as the burger joint who forgets buns.
Problem #3: “It was a bad experience”. The customer may have been turned off by whoever took their order or it could have been something different. There’s a wide range of issues that can equate to a horrible experience. The way you fix them is getting the feedback from every customer you serve.
After every order contact your customer and get their take on what they liked or didn’t like. This will force them to tell you what you’re doing right and what you’re doing wrong.
Work on creating value to win your customers. I can’t tell you how much the little things mean. Take the time to show your customers you care and you’ll have their business for life.