When I attempted to pour a Diet Coke at Quik Trip and discovered the dispenser was empty, I alerted the cashier. He apologized and said he was unable to refill it right away, but instantly gave me coupons for two free drinks in the future and said I could have any other fountain drink now if there was anything else I wanted.
While it wasn’t the immediate remedy that I hoped for, it was obvious that this situation had happened before and they were prepared to address it. It was far better than a “too bad, so sad” dismissal that occurs in many other service situations.
Things will go wrong in your organization, especially if you are in retail or a customer-facing role. Take a cue from QT and equip your team to recover quickly and turn a bad situation into a customer service save.
