Turning Mistakes Into Opportunities

Ben Davis recently wrote about technical difficulties with The Bay Lights art exhibit on the Bay Bridge. He started by sharing an anecdote about how, when he worked as a waiter at a restaurant, he used to turn botched orders into “opportunities to forge deeper connections with customers”:

I learned a few powerful lessons:

1. Acknowledge the problem
2. Take responsibility for the solution
3. Apologize sincerely
4. Address the issue
5. Offer something extra special—on the house

By staying calm, positive, solution-oriented and generous, I found that upset diners often became loyal regulars, even personal friends. A moment of dissatisfaction, respectfully and graciously handled, bonded us more deeply than had no issue occurred. We all hate it when things go wrong, yet hearts are won when someone truly works hard to make things right again.

This is a beautiful description of how and why to be accountable.

One reply to “Turning Mistakes Into Opportunities”

  1. I found for myself, that you have more ressources and opportunities to change things when you stay calm and positive. This attitude helped me a lot in the past years to resolve many issues.

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