service recovery

:: Service recovery
suggestions

While some feedback can be easy to take, such as a great idea or someone telling
you that you are doing a great job, some feedback isnt as easy to digest. Usually
its when someone is criticising your performance; as long as they arent overly
disrespectful or crude, they deserve a reply, like anyone else.
Feedback is essential for both personal and professional development. Without
feedback, how do you know when you have done a good/bad job? Most people
prefer to avoid conflict and see giving feedback as an instigator to conflict so they
wont tell you. When customers do take the time to provide feedback, its important
we take the time to acknowledge their opinion.
The following guide has been constructed to assist you with responding to feedback.
We have split feedback into two separate contexts as both will need to be handled a
little differently.
Written
In dealing with complaints of any sort, take heart from the fact that customers whose
complaints are satisfactorily resolved, become even more loyal than they were before
the complaint arose.
To write a great letter you have to be in the right frame of mind. Are you writing to
handle a complaint, answer a query or to thank them for a suggestion? Framing the
letter in the right context means you will use the appropriate language and the tone
will be right.
ORAL FEEDBACK
According to consumer surveys, a person who has had an unpleasant experience
with a business will tell 10 other people. Approximately 13% will tell more than 20
other people. Customers who have a good experience tell an average of only 3 other
people. One of the most important things a waitperson is responsible for is turning
dissatisfied customers back to satisfied customers.
Complaints are a reality of business. Every company, no matter how great, responsive
or caring, receives complaints. Whether it be email, phone calls, letters, blog posts,
etc. Its unavoidable; you cant keep everyone happy all the
time.
Sometimes the complaint hurts. Sometimes its personal.
It especially hurts when you have a different opinion of the
situation andwhen you realise youre dealing with perception.
Its frustrating but the suggestions on the following pages
should assist with resolving difficult situations and turning the
experience around for the customer.

:: Service recovery
suggestions

Listen to what the customer has to say.

Show that you care through verbal
and non-verbal communication.

Acknowledge the issue.

Show empathy to the customers feedback
and inform them of the action you will take.

Put yourself in their shoes

Show your concern

Take Action.
Ensure you deal with the issue immediately

and notify relevant team members and Management.

Make a decison and act on it to ensure it doesnt happen again

Thank the customer for their feedback.
Inform the customer what action will be taken.

Make sure the customer is happy with the outcome

Encourage the customer to return.
Use this experience to learn

and to build a stronger relationship with the customer.

It may be necessary to use PCB Cards or Complimentary VIPs

:: Service recovery
suggestions

oral feedback

responding to oral feedback

:::

Remember the LATTE acronym: Listen Acknowledge Take Action Thank

Encourage Return.

:::

Ask the customer to tell you what the problem is. Listen without interrupting them.
Ask questions to make sure you understand what they are saying. Take notes to refer
back to and show that you are listening.

:::

Let customers express their feelings. Encourage them to get their frustrations out in
the open.

:::

Listen Again. Separate what the person is complaining about from what they are now
requesting. Handling the complaint and the request are two separate issues.

:::

Always try to put yourself in the customers position. How would you be reacting
if the same situation happened to you? While you may not respond in the same
manner, this approach can help you better understand the problem or concern by
giving you a different perspective.

:::

Use body language that shows the customer you are listening. Try not to cross your
arms, put your hands on your hips or lean against a wall or table. The best body
language to use when dealing with an irate customer is to stand facing the customer
with your hands clasped behind you. Make eye contact and when the time is right,
smile or look concerned. Having your head tilted slightly to one side can help give
the impression that you are listening closely to what the customer is saying.

:::

Deal with the problem immediately. If you do not attend to the customer, he or she
will leave feeling dissatisfied. The first two minutes after the complaint are the most
crucial to regaining that customers loyalty to your business.

:::

Listen to the nature of the complaint. Customers may simply be having a bad day
and want to vent. Most often, customers have something valid to complain about.
Finding out what is wrong can be invaluable information for making sure that
complaint is not repeated in the future.

:::

Share your point of view as politely as you can. No matter how angry or obnoxious a
customer can get with you, remain calm at all times. If a customer is angry, they will
be less likely to remain angry at you if you remain calm, polite and positive. You may
even hear an apology for their initial anger.

:::

Take responsibility for the problem. Dont make excuses. If an employee was sick or
a supplier let you down, thats not the customers concern.

:::

Escalate if necessary. Your store should have in place a service recovery plan a predetermined list of people to escalate to, internal
procedures, and external expectations. A service recovery
policy will ensure that all team members know what to do in
each situation as well as what level of authority they have.

:::

Acknowledge. Find out all the details of the actual

complaint and acknowledge these. Ask questions to identify
and analyse the problem. Obtain the customers ideas
concerning possible alternative solutions.

oral feedback

:: Service recovery
suggestions

:::

Apologise. Always apologise even if you did nothing wrong. Apologising helps
to deflate a customers anger. Dont make excuses to customers; theyll respond
negatively if they think you are being evasive. A customer feels much better when
you say, I am sorry this happened to you. You are not saying that you did anything
wrong, you are acknowledging that they are upset.

:::

Summarise how you think the customer sees the situation. This does not mean that
you are admitting that you or the company did something wrong. For example
you could say I see you are disappointed that we no longer stock that item on the
menu

:::

Ask the customer how they would like the problem resolved and tell them what
options you can offer. Be realistic; dont make promises you cant keep. In the eyes
of the person complaining, youve already failed. Dont add fuel to the fire by promising
something you cant deliver.

:::

Clearly understand what the person wants now. Without agreeing to a request, clarify
what the complainant wants after they issue their complaint. Do they want a refund,
exchange, retroactive discount, ancillary products, an apology etc? You wont know
what options you have until you know what the person complaining feels is appropriate
compensation for their pain. Youre not agreeing here; you just need to understand.

:::

Agree on a solution that will satisfy the customer. It may take some discussion of
alternatives before they agree on one.

:::

Sometimes it helps if you explain to your customers the power you do and do not
have within the company. If you are a waitperson, merely point out the fact that you
do not set the prices or policies. In order to keep your job, you have to follow the
rules that were given to you. Sometimes they think you are just being mean, and
some people that never work in restaurants dont understand that you have limited
power as a server.

:::

If you need to research something or collaborate with others, say so. Dont guess an
answer; find an accurate one. Dont over commit yourself or others.

:::

Respond and resolve. Decide in a fair manner what you are responsible for
and initiate some positive action to resolve the situation. If you cant resolve the
complaint, pass it on to your superiors.

:::

Thank the customer. Thanking the customer for letting you know there is a problem
reaffirms that you were listening to them. Customers are also more likely to
remember that you thanked them for bringing a problem to your attention. Thank
the customer for their patience, and tell them that you
are looking forward to providing service that meets their
expectations in the future.

:::

Dont take it personally and stay calm. Always remember

that the customer is angry about something but not mad at
you. If you remember this and dont get angry, you wont
make a difficult situation worse.

oral feedback

:: Service recovery
suggestions

:::

Dont get defensive. Stay calm and do not argue with the customer. Getting
defensive never helps and almost always makes things worse. This is not about who
is right and who is wrong; it is about helping a disappointed customer and keeping
their business.

:::

Dont raise your voice. Voice modulation, pitch and tone are very important. A
raised voice sounds upset and combative and a customer will respond the same way
in return. Make sure that what you say and how you say reflects the severity of the
situation.

:::

Dont stare but look your customer in the eye when you are having a dialogue with them.
Eye contact is very important in affirming to the customer that you are listening to them.
Constantly looking away from the customer gives the impression of inattention.

:::

Never call the customer names, tell them they are stupid or use hand gestures to
indicate impatience. You will never win an argument with a customer, but you could
lose the customer.

:::

If you cant understand a customer because of a language barrier, get help. Dont
say, I cant help you unless you speak English.

:::

Dont let an interruption disturb the conversation. The longer the customer stands
waiting for you, the angrier they will get.

:::

Dont respond immediately. Pause and take a deep breath. You want to remain calm
and in charge or your emotions. This isnt easy.

:::

Never argue with your customer. Listen closely to what the customer is saying to you.
Even if they are angry because their son just mouthed off to them and are taking it
out on you instead, dont belittle their concern. Listening shows intelligence and care.
Hear them out to the end of the story whenever possible. Nod your head to show
that you are paying your utmost attention.

:::

Never tell a customer You do not have a problem. Those are fighting words.
Always review all situations objectively. Remember that when a customer is angry,
they are likely to be angry at the situation, not at you. Therefore, keep your cool and
put yourself in your customers shoes.

:::

Review their concerns and address them in an appropriate manner. If you believe
there is a situation that you cannot handle on your own, make sure you get a
manager or supervisor involved. Sometimes angry customers feel better if they
believe someone higher up is helping them.

:::

You should follow up even the most heated situation with

Thank you for your understanding. Concluding the
confrontation on a positive and thankful note sets the tone for
a pleasant and friendly future relationship for the customer
and company.

:::

Report and follow up. Report the complaint to your

manager. Regardless of how trivial a complaint may
appear, Management should always be made aware even if the team member is able to handle the complaint

oral feedback

:: Service recovery
suggestions

themselves. Communicating issues to Management ensures that Management are

able to investigate if necessary and make procedural changes to ensure there are
not repeat occurrences.
:::

Keep a written report of what transpired and what you did to resolve the complaint.
Written records are useful for making sure the complaint is followed up. The record
is also useful if you have regular staff meetings and it is shared with other staff as a
learning tool. If you need to document the feedback, have correct information about
the customer which includes their name spelled and pronounced the right way. This
will help make them feel like youre trying to solve the complaint for them.

:::

If you have to get someone else involved to resolve the customer complaint, explain
the entire situation to this person. Dont make the customer start all over again.

:::

Empower your front-line employees to be flexible in resolving complaints. Give

employees some scope in deciding when to bend the rules. If you dont feel
comfortable doing this, make sure they have you or another manager handle this
kind of sensitive situation.

:: Service recovery
suggestions

written feedback

responding to written feedback

:::

Always try to speak to people on the phone. Even if youre writing a letter - make
contact by phone as well. If the customer has not supplied a phone number, email
them with contact details and give them the option to either reply with their phone
number so you can contact them, or for them to call you on the supplied number.
Only 7% of a message is delivered via actual words. Tone makes up for 35% of
a message so voice contact is so much more reliable and effective when trying to
diffuse conflict and rebuild trust.

:::

Be professional and courteous by sending your response letter in a timely manner.

Do not procrastinate. Ideally feedback should be addressed within 24 hours.

:::

Think about a goal. Before putting pen to paper, think for a minute and decide what
your aim or goal is.

:::

Avoid using the word complaint. The term complaint carries negative
connotations so refer to the letter/email as feedback to lighten the tone of the reply
and show the customer you value their feedback rather than see it as a hindrance.

:::

Demonstrate a willingness, and the capability, to understand a customers feelings

and situation, whether or not you actually agree with their standpoint. The
demonstration of empathic understanding goes a long way towards soothing a
customers anger and disappointment, even if you are unable to provide a response
which fully meets their expectations or their initial demands.

:::

Your response letter is also a wonderful opportunity to ask any questions or clear up
any misunderstandings you might have.

:::

Use phrases like I understand that must be very upsetting for you, rather than
Yes, I agree, youve been badly treated. You can understand without necessarily
agreeing; there is a difference. Angry and upset people mainly just need to be
understood.

:::

Always take personal responsibility for problems until they are fully resolved.
Dont just hope that a colleague sees it through. You must be the guardian of the
complaint and look after the customer to ensure that the complaint is followed
through, even when someone else has responsibility to deal with it. Always check that
the customer has been looked after, and the problem finally resolved - its sometimes
as easy as a phone call.

:::

Always check our policies, procedures, standing instructions, latest bulletins, etc. If
you are unclear about a particular procedure and/or standards, establish The Coffee
Clubs stance on the matter before you reply.

:::

Before you send anything - read it back to yourself and ask,

What would I think if I received this? How would I feel? If
your answers are less than positive, you should re-write the
letter and get someone else to read it for you.

written feedback

:: Service recovery
suggestions

:::

In responding to serious complaints with possible implications, you should initially

respond with an immediate solution to resolve the current issue while you investigate
the matter.

:::

Even if your response letter contains negative information (such as declining to follow
a suggestion), the tone should still be positive and courteous.

:::

Write your response as if your words will ultimately be posted on the internet. It could
appear, in whole or in part, on someones blog, visible to all the web world to read
and discuss. Remember problem situations are opportunities to further market The
Coffee Clubs trusted image and extend customer goodwill.

:::

Break your fix-it offer into two parts; a current fix and a future buy offer. Apply some
commonsense toward fixing the present situation (improved training/procedures,
partial refund, full refund). Then entice the customer to come back and buy again
with an offer on future purchases (like a PCB or a Complimentary VIP).

:::

Include a W.I.I.F.M. WIIFM stands for Whats in it for me? To truly engage your
customer and get them on your side, you have to include a benefit for them. They
have to get something out of your letter so they feel satisfied. What could their
WIIFM be? Their complaint may be resolved; they may get a discount voucher; a
free coffee the next time they visit you. If the complaint is a minor one, a simple,
heartfelt apology may be enough.

:::

Your writing style should reflect the way you talk. After all, providing great customer
service is partly down to how you interact or communicate with your client and letters
play an important role. So, review your letters and get rid of those phrases you learnt
in school letter-writing lessons!

:::

If you are writing a very important letter or one containing a complex message, its
wise to ask someone to proof read it. This is not just to check your spelling, but also
to check readability. Is the structure of the message you wish to convey clear and
understandable? Youll be amazed at what someone else will pick up that you have
completely missed!

:::

It is often a good idea to thank the reader for his or her time and interest.

:::

Accept that there will be times when you will lose the customer. Sometimes it just
doesnt work and you will not be able to save a customer. Be gracious in your
closure: We had hoped we could make this mutually beneficial offer work and
then let it go. No guilt. No Regret.

:::

Be fair in your solution proposal, but dont give away the

farm as part of your problem resolution. Think Win-Win.
Ask yourself the question: With what you are offering as
a solution, is it likely to keep this customer as a repeat
customer?

written feedback

:: Service recovery
suggestions

:::

Be careful about accepting liability if you have no guideline or policy enabling you
to do so. And in any event, wherever you perceive potentially significant liability
could exist, delay any decision or commitment until seeking advice from a person
in suitable authority. A written response can come back to you in a number of forms
- legal action, posted on a website, etc. You never know. That doesnt mean you
shouldnt write a letter, fax a message or send an email; it just means you need to be
careful in your language.

:::

Avoid comments or expressions of personal opinion, unless they are complimentary.

:::

Dont copy/paste a reply. If a customer has taken the time to offer feedback, it is
only fair you take the time to customise a reply. If you choose to use a template to
assist with writing a reply, make sure you tailor your reply to address the customers
specific concerns. Always check that all formatting is the same throughout the email
before you hit send. If there are two styles of text used, it will be evident to the
customer that you have used a template which will only aggravate them.

:::

When responding to your reader, a long letter is generally not necessary. Include
enough information to address the issue at hand.

:::

Dont always offer a freebie as a fix. Customers are usually seeking someone to
listen to a problem and offer a solution. A thank you and a promise to address the
issue is often enough to satisfy a customer. There is a time and place for freebies
but dont fall into the trap of offering freebies as a bandaid fix. This doesnt fix the
problem, can be seen as dismissive, can often be costly to a business and can breed
a culture of complaining customers if you arent careful.

:::

Dont request that the customer Print this letter and bring it in to receive your free.
Most customers will not feel comfortable making themselves known to staff after
having written a feedback letter. If you are going to offer a customer something for
free, request a postal address. If the customer would like compensation, they can
then reply. Most customers will be satisfied with your initial reply.

:::

Wherever possible, avoid littering your letter with Is. The reader will find it hard to
connect with you if they receive me, me, me letters. Review your letters and wherever
possible substitute I with you. Change the focus to the reader. Make them feel valued.

:::

Dont use bold, uppercase, red font or underlining in your reply. This can come
across as being overly assertive and/or aggressive.

:::

Avoid using industry jargon and abbreviations such as runners, TCC or T/A.
There is a good chance the customer will not understand you.

:: Service recovery
suggestions

written feedback

constructing a written reply

First paragraph
Begin by summarising why you are writing. Open your letter by saying that you are
responding to a query, or to resolve a problem they have had. This will make clear to the
reader why you are contacting them and puts them in the right frame of mind to accept
your message.
Example:
:::

I was most concerned to receive your letter dated (date) regarding (situation or
complaint)

:::

I am writing with reference to (situation or complaint) of (date).

main body
Use your written word to further develop and grow your trust with your customer. Active
Listening applies to the written word as much as it applies to conversation. First, strive to
understand. Confirm that understanding and then proceed to a proposed solution. Ensure
you respond to each issue raised in the letter/email.
It is vital to respond to all complaints with empathy and sympathy. Remember that the
writer of the complaint letter is another human being, trying to do the best they can, with
the same pressures and challenges that you have. Respect the other person. Focus on the
issues and solutions, not the personality or the emotion.
Example:
:::

We take great care to ensure that important matters such as this are properly
(managed/processed/implemented), although due to (give reason - be careful as to
how much detail you provide - generally you need only outline the reason broadly),
so on this occasion (an acceptable standard has clearly not been met/we have
clearly not succeeded in meeting your expectations).

:::

The Coffee Club aims to consistently deliver a professional service to our customers
and I would like to state that on this occasion the level of service you received was
unacceptable.

:::

Its unpleasant to receive news like this, but its certainly very important to us; and
feedback from loyal customers, like yourself, is essential for
our business.

:::

Our store strictly adheres to The Coffee Clubs corporate

commitment to the delivery of Good Food, Great
Service and Excellent Coffee. On this basis we hold our
customers opinion in the highest regard and work to ensure
that all feedback is acted upon in order to ensure our
customers experience is a positive one.

written feedback

:: Service recovery
suggestions

:::

Firstly I apologise for the (inconvenience/distress/problems) created by our (error/failure).

:::

We are sorry you did not enjoy your experience in our store yesterday. It is our aim to
provide every customer with a pleasant experience and we obviously did not live up to
these standards on this occasion.

:::

I am sorry you had a disappointing dining experience, however, your feedback has
helped provide us with an action plan to ensure our service standards exceed customer
expectations moving forward.

specific main body examples

COFFEE
:::

We have spoken to the team about this matter and the store has undergone further
barista training to reiterate the importance of serving excellent coffee.

:::

Our coffee thermometers will now be calibrated at the start of every shift in order to
ensure that the temperature meets the correct level.

:::

When making coffee, there are many variables but the result should always be the
same excellent coffee. As the result of your feedback we have booked our barista
into our next coffee academy course for assessment and training. I have also asked
our service technician to check our machine to ensure it is running correctly.

:::

Please be rest assured that we have taken immediate actions to ensure that all of our
team members are fully trained in all aspects of coffee preparation. Your experience
has been discussed at length with our team and an evaluation program was
implemented with follow-up training to be conducted as required.

:::

Any organisation called The Coffee Club takes its coffee very seriously, and great
effort is made to ensure that our coffee is consistently excellent across all stores.

:::

We serve the same, unique blend of coffee at all our stores. All our baristas are
trained by industry experts and our coffee machines are supplied and maintained by
one of the largest coffee roasters/suppliers in the world.

:::

If you do have any questions about our coffee, please speak to one of our qualified
baristas. Our baristas have completed an accredited course on coffee and coffee
knowledge and will be able to answer your questions concerning our coffee.

:::

Please note that all our coffee is UTZ certified which is the worldwide leading
certification program for responsible coffee production and sourcing. UTZ certified
coffee is both fair trade and environmentally friendly. As
such, it is slightly more expensive, but socially responsible.

:: Service recovery
suggestions

written feedback

VALUE FOR MONEY

:::

The Coffee Club menu items are put through rigorous testing before deciding on the
final menu. With this, we stand behind our quality and service and our prices are very
comparable to other franchises catering to similar clientele.

:::

Regarding pricing, we do try to be competitive with other similar businesses across

Australia, and as you can appreciate there is always a competitor nearby that keeps
their prices lower to attract business. We are not willing to undercut our competitors
as we stand by the quality of our product.

:::

At The Coffee Club we always strive to provide the best quality products for the best price.
It is unfortunate that we were unable to exceed your expectations on this occasion.

:::

Please be assured that your concerns of pricing and portion size will be relayed to
our Executive Chef and menu development team for consideration in the planning of
future menus.

SPEED OF SERVICE
:::

The delay on your (product) is outside our desired timing and therefore unacceptable.

:::

To ensure great service, we encourage all team members to communicate any wait
times on food and beverage in assisting to manage customer expectations. It appears
that this communication to you on the wait time was not (communicated/accurate).
We do apologise for this miscommunication as it is certainly not our intent to mislead
our customers.

:::

We have a service policy of (product) to be brought to the table within (time frame)
of ordering. We are extremely disappointed that this did not happen on this occasion.
We are investigating what happened though we can only presume that your order did
not get put into the system as your wait well-exceeded our usual wait times. We will
take action on this matter and provide more training to our entire team to prevent this
from happening in the future.

:: Service recovery
suggestions

written feedback

FOOD
:::

Whilst we have not received any negative feedback in the past regarding this product,
any additional information you can provide to us would be of great assistance in
understanding exactly what happened to you on your recent visit to our store.

:::

The food that was delivered to your table in no way reflected the standards and
quality that we try to uphold at The Coffee Club. There is no excuse for what you
were given. I have spoken to the Kitchen Manager and Team about the standard of
food they serve and they all understand how you must have felt.

:::

Please accept our sincere apology for your meals not being up to our usual standard
of excellence.

:::

I can assure you, that our food is made fresh to order. We take much pride in the
quality of our food as our promise to customers is, Good Food, Great Service and
Excellent Coffee.

:::

We have spoken to the team about this matter and the store has undergone some
retraining in kitchen procedures.

:::

The concerns you have raised here certainly dont appear to represent Good Food.
I have asked our relevant team members to address this issue as a matter of urgency.

:::

I will speak with our kitchen team about the matter and clarify how this lapse in
quality occurred to ensure it is not repeated.

:::

On the basis of your feedback, we have sought to identify why your meal and our service
fell outside our standard measures so that an incident of this nature does not reoccur.

:::

We can assure you that your description of the meal is far from our normal high
standards.

:::

We only use premium ingredients with all of our menu items and pride ourselves on
freshness, quality and consistency.

:: Service recovery
suggestions

written feedback

SERVICE
:::

We have spoken to all of our staff members who were rostered on that (day part) and
assure you we have learnt something from your valuable feedback.

:::

We apologise sincerely for the service you received, it was clearly unacceptable and I
would have felt the same.

:::

We are astounded by your experience as it does not reflect the customer first
training program that is ingrained in our team.

:::

We have since had a meeting with the team member and he/she has apologised for how
he/she handled the matter. We have discussed her/him what should have happened and
she/he is now clear on how to handle things better next time. I have also posted your
feedback on the staff noticeboard to reinforce the need for customer service excellence.

:::

Your feedback is very important to us as it helps us to re-evaluate our customer

service procedures.

:::

We are taking your feedback to a special staff meeting I have convened for the team
members rostered on that day. We will be going through the issues raised in your
letter at this meeting and adjusting our training and procedures in an endeavour to
prevent this from happening again.

:::

While the lack of service you experienced is unusual and not the standard of The Coffee
Club, there is no excuse for a relaxed/carefree attitude from any of our employees.

:::

We apologise for the service you received and can assure you this is not the level of
service we pride ourselves on. It concerns me greatly to hear that (insert incident)
and I can assure you we will be using your experience in future training sessions so
we can improve in this area.

:::

We would like to make you aware that we have discussed your feedback with our
team members and have reiterated the importance of ensuring that no matter what the
situation, we do our best to make sure all of our customers leave with a positive feeling.

:::

Fortunately your experience is not typical of what occurs in our store.

:::

We have employed a range of experienced and inexperienced staff, and as a result need
to continually train and monitor them in The Coffee Club way of customer service.

:::

Without trying to make excuses, Im sure you can understand that some team
members, particularly those of a younger age and limited experience, will sometimes
make errors in their judgement, which appears to be what happened in this instance.

:: Service recovery
suggestions

written feedback

FOOD SAFETY
:::

We at The Coffee Club take our responsibilities regarding the safe handling of food
very seriously. We have a stringent Food Safety Program active in every store. This
requires the monitoring and recording of information on several CCPs daily (Critical
Control Points). As well as this, our stores are required to have at least one Food
Safety Supervisor who has undergone formal training and obtained their nationally
recognised qualification.

:::

The program ensures that correct procedures are being followed for the receival of
raw materials, storage, preparation, cooking, display and sale of food products.

:::

As part of the program, the fridge temperatures are recorded twice daily to ensure the
fridges/freezers remain at appropriate temperatures. We also record temperatures
and dates of arrival of all products.

:::

All team members at (store name) will be reviewing procedures to ensure that they
are aligned with The Coffee Clubs mission of Good Food, Great Service and
Excellent Coffee and all legislative food safety requirements.

:::

I have checked the food safety procedures for the store and I am satisfied that my
team are taking the required precautions for safe food handling.

:::

We operate under a strict Food Safety Program which helps to ensure that our
product is always at its highest quality. Our records show that on the day of your visit,
there were no breaches of our Food Safety Program.

FURTHER INVESTIGATION REQUIRED

Good (afternoon/morning),
My name is (insert name) and I am the (insert title) at The Coffee Club (insert store).
Firstly we would like to thank you for providing us with your feedback. We appreciate that
you have taken the time to do so and we are sorry that you did not enjoy your experience
at our store.
As all feedback is taken seriously, we are currently in the process of reviewing your
comments and conducting investigations on a number of issues you have raised.
I would like to assure you that once our investigation is complete, we will respond more
fully to your comments. I expect to be in touch with you by (insert time frame).
In the meantime, could you please provide me with your phone number so that I am able
to discuss this with you should I require any further explanation.
Again, I thank you for your time.
Regards,
(insert name

:: Service recovery
suggestions

written feedback

REQUESTING A PHONE NUMBER

Good (morning/afternoon),
My name is (insert name) and I am the (insert title) for The Coffee Club (insert store).
As we take all feedback very seriously, I would very much like to have a chance to talk to
you further on this matter.
If you could be so kind as to either provide me with a contact number, or feel free to call
me on mine, I will be more than happy to make the time to speak with you.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Regards,
(insert name)
(insert phone number)

closing paragraph
Having written a great letter, you dont want it to tail off into nothing. Have a clear actionorientated close. Make sure your reader knows what you expect him/her to do next:
call me so we can discuss this matter in more depth; Drop into the store and ask for
me; Complete the enclosed VIP form and return it to. A resounding call-to-action is
a great way to finish a letter and leaves the customer in no doubt with what he or she is
expected to do next - another element of great customer service.
Examples:
:::

In light of this, we have decided to (solution or offer), which we hope will be

acceptable to you, and hope also that this will provide a basis for (continuing our
relationship/your continued custom).

:::

Thank you for bringing this matter to my attention. I apologise for the annoyance that
this may have caused to you. The Coffee Club is actively working to improve service
levels and your feedback has proved to be invaluable.

:::

I will call you soon to check that this meets with your approval. Please contact me
should you have any further cause for concern.

:::

In order to re-establish your faith in our restaurant/cafe and our commitment to

service, I ask that you please allow us to host you again
(at our cost). Please make yourself known to one of my
Managers upon your next visit to our store and we will
ensure that your experience will be greatly improved.

:::

Your custom is important to us, and we hope that you

continue to give us opportunities to serve you.