Sure enough a group of four students came rushing into classroom with their lunches in hand. They sincerely apologized and quickly explained that they receive poor service at a restaurant (This restaurant is part of a national chain. Hint: its name references a day in week. I can’t give you complete answer.). They went on to explain that after waiter initially took their order, they waited 45 minutes before their food finally arrived. During wait, no one came to check on them.

They went on to explain food finally came and it was time to leave for class. They were not happy. They asked to see restaurant manager. The manager sheepishly came to see them and asked, "What was problem?" One of my students explained situation to which restaurant manager replied, "The food ticket only shows you were waiting for eleven minutes." My students were not happy and expressed it to which manager asked them, "Would you like dessert?" My students again expressed they were not happy. Each time my students expressed their unhappiness, manager would say she was sorry. My students weren’t buying it. The manager then left without explaining where and what she was doing. The manager returned and told my students that their meals were free. Even though manager gave them free meals my students said they will never go back to that restaurant or any other restaurant in that chain.

So why weren’t these customers happy? The restaurant had an opportunity to turn a difficult customer service experience into a winning situation for all and squandered it. Not only will these patrons, my students, never go back to any restaurant in that chain but how many other people will they tell about their unhappy experience? The unhappy customer, on average, will tell 27 other people about their experience. With use of Internet, whether web pages or e-mail, that number can increase in thousands, if not millions with click of a button. However, according to Department of Consumer Affairs, 82-95% of unhappy customers will come back if impressed and actually refer five new customers.

Let’s take a look at ten secrets that will not only win back your customer in any situation, but have them referring new customers, but will add more money to your bottom line revenue.

1. Smile Nothing can turn a hostile situation into position moment faster than a sincere smile. A smile that says, "I want to help you in a positive way." It communicates you are positive about interaction with customer. A sincere smile enhances communication process so that you can find solution faster.

2. Introduce Yourself as Solution Creator Make sure you introduce yourself, find out customer’s name, and let your customer know your position and why you are there. This lets customer know you are taking responsibility to creating a solution for them. You might say something like: "Hello, my name is Mike. I am manager at this location. I am here to assist you in this situation, please tell me about it."

Notice I didn't say, "What’s problem?" By using "What’s problem?" you start customer service situation in a negative note. The customer is thinking "You’re problem," "This establishment is problem," "The whole world is problem," etc. By starting your conversation with "I am here to assist you in this situation, please tell me about it" you are setting up a "verbal agreement" in customer’s mind to move to a solution. Note: If possible, please use customer’s name throughout conversation.

3. Listen Customers want tell their side of story and feel like they are only heard but you listened to them. Mentally take a step back and dedicate yourself to actively listening to customer’s story with an open mind so that you can find a solution. In above situation, manager stood silently while my students were explaining their story. Be active in your listening and create empathy ("put yourself in customer’s shoes") with statements such as:

* "I can appreciate what you’re saying." * "I can understand how you’d feel that way." * "I can see how you’d be upset." * "It sounds as if we’ve caused you inconvenience." * "What I understand situation to be..."

One hot summer day my daughter and I ventured to our local craft store with one mission in mind – purchase velvet covered coloring panels called fuzzy boards. Little did we know this simple trip would turn into such an adventure.

The store advertised boards on sale and offered a 40% discount coupon. My daughter excitedly selected two boards however I noticed different manufacturers produced them, so I asked her to select an extra board just in case both were not on sale. She did, and we proceeded to cashier. With a half hour until closing, we eagerly approached only open register, behind which stood two young women. This is when adventure began, and things took a turn for worse.

We saw two store clerks at check out. Seated on floor was one associate who faced cashier line and other, cashier, did not which made it impossible for her to be aware of approaching customers. When she saw us, associate on floor did cease her end of conversation and told cashier she had customers. Unfortunately, cashier ignored this information because it took her a minute before she turned and greeted us with “Oh, I sorry.” I’m not sure exactly what she apologized for because she then proceeded to continue her conversation.

I told cashier we needed to know if all of items were on sale. Although she acknowledged request, she still continued talking to other associate and proceeded to scan all of items for purchase. When I pointed out her error her response was “Oh, okay, sorry,” and once again she resumed her conversation. She clearly was not present – her mind was engaged and committed elsewhere. Her actions communicated her conversation was far more important than this sale.

The cashier did one final thing that was final straw. After correct total was tallied, my daughter handed cashier a 40% off store coupon. The cashier took it and immediately threw coupon away, turned to us with a smile and told us our total. At this point, I thought I was in twilight zone or on some really bad reality show.