During Mistake Management Month, we’ve been asking Business Class readers:
Can you tell us about a time that “they” messed up but managed it so well that you have continued to do business with them, will continue to do business with them and would even recommend them to others?
It’s not easy to find this type of story. Too often when there is a mess up, the mess gets messier and business is lost.
But Kim had one to share. Here’s a story from Kim Duval who is Human Resources Manager for Frank Porter Graham, UNC-Chapel Hill.
Once upon a time….
I had plotted and planned, what I hoped to be, the perfect surprise birthday party for my husband.
It was a day full of scavenger hunt surprises to his favorite places, food, etc., to be topped off with a nice dinner out with three of our kids….or so he thought.
While he was enjoying a late spring afternoon motorcycle ride, two of the kids and I sped to Sugarland to pick up his favorite carrot cake and drop it by Studio91, the location of the surprise party. But alas….upon arrival at Sugarland, the cake I had ordered over the phone was nowhere in sight!
Katrina Ryan, Sugarland owner and Queen of Calm and Customer Service Extraordinaire, rolled out her red carpet to the three of us. She simply and sincerely shared her regret that a mistake had been made, offered me the choices of cake flavors and sizes she had available (one being a square carrot cake) and invited us to enjoy coffee and gelato while she spent about twenty minutes working her magic.
There were so many successful outcomes to the story, that the missing cake upon arrival was quickly forgotten. Those outcomes included:
Did she maintain my loyalty? Absolutely…and we all live happily ever after.
Comments from Jan
It appears that Sugarland has a Mistake Management Plan and this story certainly shows masterful implementation as far as the customer could see.
To be truly masterful, some follow up action needed to be taken behind the scenes – like looking into and correcting whatever it was that kept the cake from being ready on schedule. We don’t know if that happened or not. If you know, let us know. If we find out, we’ll let you know.
And by the way – Sugarland does have incredible sweets. And most people would say their cakes are far more beautiful than Mistake Cake (pictured above). That’s okay…I can handle it.
Thanks, Kim for sharing this story. You are right…it IS a perfect example of messing up but managing so well. And thanks to Katrina Ryan at Sugarland for being such a good role model.
Anyone else have a story? We would love to hear it. Just type it in the comments box below.
And if you and your staff haven’t joined in the Mistake Management Month activities, we hope you will jump right in. For ideas on how to do that, just click on the first article listed below.
Related Articles:
- Quote of the Week: It’s Not Our Fault
- 10 “Mistakes” to Maximize
- Hooray for Viking Travel
- Hooray for Zane’s Cycles
- Brainteaser of the Week #46
- Satisfy your customers unless it’s hard
- Hooray for Sugarland
- Movie of the Week: Do you have a Delores?
copyright 2010 – Business Class Inc
Sugarland success story was oh so Sweet!
Glad you liked it KT! Makes me want to go have some cake! Wanna come with? JB