Don’t Be Like Hilton - The Proper Way to Deal With Complaints
July 31, 2007
There’s only one way to deal with genuine customer complaints (not customers that need to be shot types)  Sort each customer problem out quickly and efficiently before they turn into a complaint. Don’t waste your customers time keeping them waiting “to speak to the boss” - give your staff the responsibility of dealing with the complaint there and then.
To show you what I mean - I’ll explain how Hilton Hotels dealt with a complaint recently - the wrong way, and how the Disney Company deal with a problem before it comes a complaint - the right way.
Hilton Hotels can’t even teach their own grandaughter that you shouldn’t make the same mistakes twice, so I’m not surprised they have a problem training their staff. Here’s what happened when I ordered a room service breakfast at the Hilton Olympia in London at the weekend:
Hilton in room breakfast is not cheap - £40 for two people ($80), so you would expect them to put things right when they get them wrong. The breakfast arrived with no bacon. We called and spoke to the Room Service Manager, who promised to send some right up. Then we realised that one plate was also minus the eggs. We called back and were told by the man who answered the phone that our breakfast definitely contained both bacon and eggs. We insisted it didn’t, so he said he would send “extra” bacon and eggs to our room.Â
We proceeded to eat the cold offerings on our plates when the phone rang. It was the same man. “My colleague says he definitely brought the bacon and eggs”. he insisted. The call seemed to last an age and we finally got his assurance that the said bacon and eggs were on their way. We’d only just rang off, when the annoying man called again to say that he believed that we had actually missed the bacon off our order altogether! By the time he rang off,  what they had brought of our breakfast was stone cold, and we were running late.
Over thirty minutes after our breakfast arrived, there was a knock at the door. The man carried one plate with some cold bacon and eggs - and said, “I’ve brought your “extra” bacon and eggs.  We tried to tell him we’d had none to begin with, but he accused us of lying. On the plate, beside his cold offerings was a small box, containing two chocolates - we threw them in the bin.
By now we were running very late. The checkout girl asked if everything was ok, and I said we weren’t happy with the breakfast but I’d write to complain as I didn’t have time. She ignored me and got another member of staff. I explained the problem, and that I was running late, but she insisted that I wait and speak to the room service manager. We waited and waited, then she looked over and asked if we would like to go for a coffee whilst we were waiting. By then, I’d had enough. “No, actually we’d like to go to Buckingham Palace,” I replied. She frowned and picked up the phone again. Eventually the room service manager showed up. I explained what had happened and she refunded the cost of our breakfast.
So Hilton, not only accused us of lying and ruined our breakfast - they wasted our time. What should they have done? The moment we called to complain about the missing food, they should have apologised and asked whether we wanted a full refund, or whether we’d like a fresh breakfast bringing up (a complete breakfast - not just the missing items 30 minutes later). We would have accepted their mistake, been happy enough that they’d dealt with the problem efficiently, and we’d have returned to stay there another time.
Don’t be a Hilton - keep your customers happy, and deal with customer’s problems quickly, so they remain customers. Here’s a short example of how the Disney Company deal with complaints: A few years ago, my son was trying to get an autograph from one of the characters but the pen didn’t work. “That’s strange,” I said, “I just bought this pen this morning.” A passing Disney castmember overheard me, walked over to the nearest stall, and exchanged my pen for a new one. I didn’t have to complain - there wasn’t a problem, but you can bet I’ve been telling people for years how great Disney’s customer service is.Â
Spot the difference? Disney’s solution was far simpler, and it produced heaps of positive word of mouth, whilst Hilton will be lucky if we ever stay in one of their hotels again, or recommend them to our friends.
How can you emulate Disney, and avoid being like Hilton? It’s simple, allow your staff to sort out customer complaints themselves. You could have a rule list to keep them on the right track - eg. if A goes wrong - give the customers a voucher, if B goes wrong, give them a small gift - but tell them they should always apologise, and put the problem right straight away.
Branson Tries Cannabis and Plane Sex to Boost Business
July 31, 2007
Richard Branson has confessed to getting high on cannabis with his son, two years ago, and also joining the mile high club with a married woman.Â
So, why is Richard Branson confessing all now? Well, his son - Sam, is trying to boost his modelling career, and his famous dad’s confessions are sure to work in his favour. Branson has done remarkably well to keep his family away from the public eye, but he knows how to pull stunts to keep his own business in the media, and you can be sure that his revelations will keep the spotlight firmly on his son.
I suspect that Sir Richard has taken advice from his pal, Kate Moss, before leaking the story. A few months ago, Kate got into trouble with the law, for her drug habits, but the news boosted her modelling career.
Whilst Branson has no regrets about the cannabis smoking, and doesn’t believe that trying it causes any harm, he admits that hard work, and getting stoned don’t go well together. So don’t rush out to buy a stash in the hopes of improving your business.
As for the plane sex, Richard Branson has always remained tight lipped when asked whether he is a member of the exclusive mile high club. However, in his recent confession, he admitted joining at the age of 19, when he had sex with a married woman, in the loo on one of Freddie Laker’s planes.
Trying to Dig Up the Dirt on a Franchise?
July 27, 2007
If you’re considering in investing in a franchise and you have half a brain, the chances are that you’ve Googled potential franchises to ensure that former franchisees have not had bad experiences with them.   I’d be surprised if you found much dirt on your potential franchisor, and here’s why.
Often, franchisees who have had bad experiences, are scared to talk incase they are sued.  Lets face it - if they’ve already lost a whole heap of money on a failed franchise, they hardly want to lose anymore.  Of course some of them do try to talk - usually on forums, but the webmaster will usually delete their post, or edit it. This is often because he’s scared of being sued himself, or he makes money off advertising franchises and doesn’t want to encourage bad press. This forum post is a perfect example of what I mean. The poster had named his former franchisor, but the forum moderator deleted the name.Â
Amazingly the franchise had a policy which prevented franchisees from communicating with one another at all, so this former franchisee can’t get in touch with others who may be in the same position. I was wondering how they got away with this, so I checked them out and found that every single phone call is handled through the franchisor’s head office, so I suppose it must be quite easy to prevent their franchisees from speaking to one another. What I don’t understand is why any legitmate franchise would want to do so, unless they have something to hide.
If you are considering ploughing your life savings into a franchise - ask to speak to existing franchisees first. Any decent franchisor will be happy to give you contact details for some of their franchisees. Of course, they’ll only give you a list of their more successful franchisees, so do yourself a favour, and ask for the full list.
Also, you might want to check out a post from last year:Â Â Â Ten Reasons Not to Buy a Franchise
If you’ve had bad experiences with a franchise, please share it in the comments section below. Also, if you’re a franchisor who prevents your franchisees from speaking to each other, I’d love to know your reasons.
How to Shoot Your Customers Part I: Mrs Moaner
July 27, 2007
Most of my customers are lovely, but every now and again we get one who’s a real pain in the a.. . If you’re just starting out in business, you may be desperate to get as many customers as you can, no matter how bad they are. I made the same mistake, and paid for it. Here’s some examples of customers who I have personally shot, and I’ll show you why you should shoot these types too, if they turn up at your business.
Mrs Moaner
Mrs Moaner should have been shot a lot sooner than she was, but we foolishly decided to give her a chance. This was a bad move, as right before I shot her, she even resorted to stalking one of our team members. Firstly, Mrs Moaner wanted far more done than was agreed in our initial quote - in fact, we ended up having to rebuild two bathrooms for her, walls and all. In return, she complained about the length of time the job had taken. She complained about everything, and although she was supposed to pay for her bathroom suite before we installed it, she complained about that too, and even called our suppliers and asked how much money we owed them. She also asked our team personal questions about us, and even wanted to know who had loaned us the money to start the business.
Then she became a stalker
This should have been the final straw, but Stuart felt sorry for Mr Moaner, who appeared to be embarrassed by his wife’s behaviour, and agreed to continue working. Then Mrs Moaner recruited some Polish tilers, and our plumber explained that there just wasn’t room to work in a small bathroom with three other people, and he would go to another job and return when they were done. On the way, he called to get some tools he had left at a job the previous day, and to his amazement, Mrs Moaner pulled up behind him in her car. She had been stalking him for miles. When he confronted her, she said she wanted to see if he was telling the truth about where he was going. She also told him that she believed our business was in financial trouble, and that we would go bankrupt (which was not true of course)!
So I shot her
For me, this was the final straw, so I shot Mrs Moaner. Of course, I couldn’t use a real gun, and I don’t recommend that you do either. But, before we called her to tell her that she would have to get someone else to finish off the job, I did the imaginary shooting. Sometimes I use a pretend gun, a darts board, or even a peashooter. A little childish, I know, but it makes me feel better.
Why you should shoot your own Mrs Moaners - fast
If you get your very own Mrs Moaner, you should shoot her as quickly as possible, and here’s why:
1) She’ll make your staff miserable and this could affect your business badly. If they have to deal with her too often - your staff may even resign.
2)  She will be on the phone or emailing you all the time - even on a Sunday. She’ll take up most of your time, moaning about the same things she complained about the last time - valuable time, that you could be spending on good customers. At the end of the day, no matter how hard you try, she’ll never be satisfied with your response anyway.
3)  Since she’s never happy, she’ll try her best to haggle for a price reduction, or even a refund. When you refuse, she’ll threaten to tell everyone she knows that your company sucks. Don’t let this worry you. The only type of people who will take any notice of Mrs Moaner are the ones who are moaners themselves, and you wouldn’t want them as customers anyway would you?
In short, customers like Mrs Moaner can damage your business, and your reputation, so you’d be far better shooting them from the outset.Â
