(FORTUNE Small Business) – MANY TIMES topnotch customer service is thought of by today's busy managers and harried owners as a nice benefit they offer customers "whenever possible." And that halfhearted philosophy trickles down to those in the trenches, leaving customers with anything but service. That's why the onus is on top managers to set the gold standard of customer service for all to follow. It's really not so difficult once it becomes a habit, but sometimes breakdowns occur, and reparations need to be made. Often one simple act will save the day, as I experienced recently at one of my favorite restaurants.
My wife, Diane, and I had arrived at Sullivan's steakhouse in King of Prussia, Pa., for a 6:30 reservation. We were meeting my good friend Steve Stefano, who as senior vice president of GlaxoSmithKline, had booked me in the past to motivate his sales troops and had recently scheduled me for a repeat performance. On his visit to Philadelphia, we decided that choice steaks and red wine would stimulate our creative juices in preparation for my next appearance.
After being greeted by warm smiles from the hostesses at the front door, we were escorted to our table. To my surprise there was a bottle of '99 Mondavi Reserve cabernet poured into a beautiful decanter next to three wineglasses. I smiled at Steve and motioned with my hand as if to ask, Did you call ahead with a wine order? He shook his head no. I thought we had perhaps been seated at the wrong table.
Within a minute one of Sullivan's managers, Rich Furino, appeared with a warm welcome. I hadn't been in the restaurant for several months and didn't realize that Rich had in the meantime been transferred to a Sullivan's in Austin as temporary general manager. He explained that the bottle of wine was on him as an apology for a snafu that had occurred five months earlier. I had no idea what he was talking about. I had never had a bad meal or negative experience at the restaurant.
But Diane smiled, realizing what Rick was remembering. For my 50th birthday, Diane had performed her own rendition of a Sullivan's feast for the family. But she wanted to surprise me with the real thing when it came to Sullivan's homemade cheesecake with graham-cracker crust for dessert. So she ordered a huge one from the restaurant. But because Sullivan's doesn't normally do takeout, the odd request turned out to be unusually expensive—which my wife acknowledged in light of Rich's apology. She had paid the full amount at the time of purchase, even though she wondered silently why it was so costly. Now it all made sense. Rich revealed that he had intended to comp the cheesecake as a birthday gift, but instead the restaurant mistakenly charged Diane. But it didn't simply charge her for the cost of a full cheesecake, which would have been reasonable; rather it rang up the dessert-menu price of eight individual slices. Rich had discovered the mistake shortly afterward, but the refund slipped his mind since he was preoccupied with his upcoming trip to Austin.
Five months had passed, mean-while, and tonight was the first occasion Rich and I were at the King of Prussia restaurant at the same time. Remembering what could have easily been forgotten, he felt happily obliged to offer us an overdue apology. His gracious gesture and the humorous story he told made for a thoroughly pleasurable evening. I remember saying to Steve, "Now here's a conscientious business culture, and that's a person you want to do business with." And perhaps the biggest payoff? Rich and his restaurant get a nice mention to almost everyone I know.
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