Chantal

Recently I was out with my husband and his parents, looking for somewhere to get some lunch, on a Sunday, in a town we were passing through . We found  pub that looked nice from the outside. When we went in, we were greeted by a waitress. We asked for a table for four, for a ligth lunch and were shown to some comfy chairs to wait ‘while a table was prepared’ for us. Drinks were ordered and we sat and chatted for a while. It was all very relaxed – just a bit too relaxed, as in the end, we had to ask to place our food orders. We only wanted sandwiches and were told that we’d be taken to our table just before our food was ready.

Twenty minutes later and we were finally shown to a table in a not very busy restuarant area. It took another 10 minutes for our food to arrive and then half of mine was missing. What eventually came was very nice, so we ate, drank and chatted and eventually asked for the bill. And asked again. And then had to take the incorrect bill to the bar, because the waiting staff had all disappeared. It took four goes to get the bill right and at no time were we asked if everything had been alright with our meal. We didn’t leave a tip.

What’s the lesson to learn from this? The pub was trying very hard to deliver a restaurant service – lots of staff, comfy chairs, elegant decor – and yet it wasn’t quite getting there. The food on the menu was good, ordinary ‘pub grub’ and yet there were hardly any people eating there. I think the locals already knew that the service wasn’t up to restaurant standard and were staying away. I dont’ think I’ll be going back.

What do your clients expect when they ‘walk through the door’ or look at your marketing messages? Do you deliver what they expect, or promise something way beyond what you can deliver? There’s nothing wrong with not delivering the earth – if you can only deliver a bit of it, then be honest, say so and get really good at what you can deliver.