When Being Nice Does Pay Off

In yesterday’s post, I regretted having not done steps 1, 2 or 3 in the restaurant, but it all worked out for the best.

The Right Step

Money is hard to make and easy to go, so customers do have choices in where they want to spend it. After I got home later, and talked to Kenneth about the waiter’s behavior, he suggested that I should go ahead and call the manager anyway to tell them what happened. I did call and I’m glad I did. The manager told me that she was glad to hear from me and actually knew the whole story before I could even get the whole thing out! Apparently, the cashiers had relayed my displeasure with the waiter’s behavior and she wanted me to know that she truly felt bad about it. Again, apparently the manager was in the restaurant at the time, but was in the back. She told me that she told the cashier’s that she wished that they had come to get her when I was still there, but unfortunately, I left.

I was of course glad to hear that they did care about this one customer. She also added that it didn’t matter if I patronized that restaurant every day or once a year, under no circumstances should that waiter have ever said anything like that to me. Good. Glad she understands that.

Escalation Can Mean Satisfaction

Being nice that day to me meant not causing a ruckus or starting a scene in public, or in front of my children. Yes, I regretted not taking some sort of aggressive action right away, but it worked out right. Here’s why:

1. The manager asked for my name and told me to be sure to come back, soon, and an entire meal for the family would be given to us.

2. The manager also knew that I was a real, honest customer also because guess what? I left a tip for this stupid waiter! Her thoughts were that this valuable customer is treated disrespectfully and a still leaves a tip. Who does that??

3. Because I took the matter to someone else other than the waiter, I avoided confrontation and the waiter knew he was wrong. When you have customer service issues, go straight to the top. In other words, escalate the problem so that you’re reasonably heard.

I learned that afternoon that what’s in a person comes out, no matter what. In order for me to be a “not nice” person, I would have to always walk around with a chip on my shoulder, assuming the world is going to get me. I would have to stay “on ready” and get folks told off before they can get me. Who has time and energy for that? I don’t!

If you are a nice person, stay that way. In any situation, whether you’re in a public restaurant or you’re dealing with an argumentative co-worker, remain calm, think maturely and deal directly with the issue and not the situation. Emotions can and do get in the way and can cause clouded thinking.

Finally, tomorrow I will give you seven tips on how you can stay nice, but stay smart, ‘cause mama didn’t raise no fool!