Kim Duval, Human Resource Director at Frank Porter Graham at UNC-Chapel Hill,  planned a surprise birthday party for her husband, Bill.   It was to be held at one of his favorite spots, Studio 91, and his favorite carrot cake from Sugarland Bakery was to be served.

A few hours before the party, Kim and two of her kids went to Sugarland to pick up the cake.

It wasn’t ready.

It wasn’t even in the works.

In fact, there was no sign of the order Kim had called in days earlier.

When Kim told me about this, she described Sugarland owner, Katrina Ryan as “the Queen of Calm and Customer Service Extraordinaire”. Kim said, “She simply and sincerely shared her regret that a mistake had been made and rolled out her red carpet to the three of us”.

Red carpet treatment meant that Kim and her crew got to enjoy coffee, multiple samplings of gelato., plus a much needed break to relax and decompress from a hectic day of work, school and party prep.   All while Katrina “worked her magic” and got the cake ready.

Twenty minutes later, the cake was ready. It was beautiful. And it was free.

Kim, the kids and the cake got to the party on time.

Bill was surprised. The party was fun. And the cake tasted great.

Sugarland’s handling of this mistake hinted at the presence of a mistake management plan and showed masterful implementation with the customer.

Return on investment?

Sugarland’s investment was a free cake, free gelato and free coffee- their costs certainly less than $100.

Since then, Kim has returned time and again to purchase goodies for things like Easter baskets, hostess gifts and dinner parties. Plus she has sent referral after referral – sharing accolades about Sugarland’s “personal delivery and commitment to customer service, the amazing gelato selection, delicious cakes…and did I mention the cupcakes yet?”

Safe to say Sugarland’s return on investment with Kim was well over 100%.

To be truly masterful, some follow up action needed to be taken behind the scenes – like looking into and correcting whatever caused this snafu. Perhaps the solution is as simple as a communication or training correction. Or if this had been a frequent error, a new system might be needed.

I don’t know if that part happened or not. If it did…it would be icing on the cake.

Sorry – couldn’t resist.

Thanks, Kim for sharing this story.  And thanks to Katrina Ryan at  Sugarland for being such a good role model.

In celebration of Mistake Management Month, we’re looking for more stories about masterful mistake management?   Do you have one to share?

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