In Danny Meyer’s book “Setting the Table,” he tells the story of how he became one of the world’s most famous restaurateurs. One reason Union Square Hospitality has churned out exceptionally recognizable restaurants is its relentless quest – and dedication – to serving the customers.
If you’ve had the chance to eat at The Gramercy Park Tavern, enjoy a coffee at the Whitney, or grab a Shake Shack burger in Dubai (or at one of the six spots in Manhattan) – you’ve experienced the true essence of Union Square Hospitality, where guest satisfaction matters just as much as the food and drinks.
Danny’s hospitality philosophy can be applied and transferred to serving customers over social media as well. Let’s take a look at some of his tips.
Customer Service Tip #1: Connecting the Dots
Using whatever information I’ve collected to gather guests together in a spirit of shared experience is what I call connecting the dots. If I don’t turn over the rocks, I won’t see the dots. If I don’t collect the dots, I can’t connect the dots. (from interview with Eater NY)
“Real-life” customers come from every walk of life and bring those individual opinions and experiences into the social media realm as well. The key to making the customer’s experience personal – even virtually – is to keep an eye (wide) open to learn their preferences, document these ideas, and then make connections.
Some preferences will be object-based – “I only eat tiramisu for dessert” – while others will be more subtle, such as their social media habits. Some customers may prefer to move conversations to private or direct messages because they like to be discreet. It’s important to recognize the desires – whether its pastry or privacy – note the request, and follow through.
Customer Service Tip #2: Letting the Customer be Heard
The customer is certainly not always right. But they must always feel heard. (From Setting the Table)
One of the reasons people turn to social media for customer service is because they want their concerns heard and validated – it’s one of our most human desires and as a business, the most humanizing quality. It’s important for businesses to not only hear the customers’ concern, but respond quickly and accurately. A good customer service tip: canned responses don’t count. Validate your customers’ concerns by responding to them person to person. Canned responses merely validate a business who is not listening to their customers.
Customer Service Tip #3: The Difference Between Product and Hospitality
Yes, people will flock to any one of Danny Meyer’s 25 restaurants for the delicious food and drinks, but more importantly, they’ll remember the experience.
We work hard to hire people whose emotional skills – even more than how well they can cook or serve wine – make them predisposed to deriving pleasure from the act of delivering pleasure. Long after our guests have forgotten how much they did or didn’t like the turbot or the lamb shank, they’ll remember how we made them feel. (Wall Street Journal)
Customers who gravitate to social media to voice their opinion or complaints will be doing so because of the experience they had, not the product – so make sure the experience is exceptional, exciting, or entertaining! Give your customers the best experience on social media by hiring people who first, gain genuine pleasure from working with people…then hire based on their social media skills.
Final Customer Service Tip: Mistakes are Inevitable…
But how you handle them sets the table for success. In an interview with NPR, Danny mentions how a dinnermate of Senator Bob Kerry had a salad at one of Danny’s restaurant…complete with a beetle.
When he told me the story I was absolutely humiliated, embarrassed. So, at this point I can’t change what happened, so my only job is to try to figure out how to write a good last chapter. I said ‘I’m going to have a good sense of humor about this…And I instructed the waiter to deliver a salad from the lunch restaurant, with a little piece of paper on the rim of the plate that said “ringo.” The waiter puts it down and Senator Kerry looks up with a question on his face, and the waiter said ‘Danny just wanted to make sure you knew Gramercy Tavern wasn’t the only one of his restaurants capable of serving a ‘beetle’ in his salad.’
People come for the fabulous food, but they remain devoted customers of Danny Meyer’s and the Union Square Hospitality Group because of the overall experience. In his nearly 30 -year-old career, Danny has opened dozens of restaurants and closed only one. The 25 James Beard awards prove his Union Square Hospitality Group has defined what the customer experience should – and can be – for restaurants.
Download this whitepaper and read more about social customer service.