Establishment Rights: Avoiding Just Cause
These consumer rights are extensive and complex, covering everything from the moment before entering the premises to the moment of leaving. Not only that, the inspection and complaint mechanisms responsible for penalizing those who don't follow the rules tend to favor whoever is at a disadvantage – that is, the customer.
Beyond the legal institutions, the rise of social media has made potential administrative failures echo to the point of affecting not only those who have already visited your business, but also those who were previously interested in getting to know it.
For these reasons, the better defined and more transparent – that is, taught to the staff and communicated to the customers – the applicable processes are within your establishment, the fewer negative incidents will arise. Making sure that every legal detail is in order will keep your business from suffering the consequences of an increasingly connected society, letting you enjoy only its benefits.
A large share of the situations that lead to penalizable incidents are related to signage and effective communication. Below we'll talk about small changes that will bring big benefits, both for you and for your customers!
SIGNAGE
THEFT AND DENTS
First of all, before any change you may make to your establishment, you need to pay attention to all the signage that doesn't comply with current legislation.
If your establishment has its own or an outsourced parking lot, don't allow signs disclaiming liability for objects inside the car to be displayed. This is a serious matter because, although not all of them, most customers are aware that such a sign is illegal. Besides not being valid, displaying the sign can lead to customers' displeasure and insecurity even before they walk in.
In other words, putting up a sign at the entrance does not exempt the establishment from liability for the physical integrity of both the vehicle and the objects left inside it. So, instead of trying to warn customers about something that, in the end, can't be upheld, choose to inform them of their rights. This conceptual shift in the way you communicate works effectively when it comes to the relationship between consumer and establishment, strengthening the ties between both parties.
This applies both to the parking lot and to the coat check, if your establishment has one. When customers leave their belongings with a service provided by the business itself, the business becomes responsible for the items held there. To avoid confusion or abuse, write down the customer's belongings on their slip or tab, both on the copies for both parties (the slip the customer keeps and the one that stays at the coat check) and in the notes of the service provided, if your establishment works with commercial automation software.
EPOC TIP! To protect yourself from possible penalties, refunds and charges, take out insurance geared to that service. Ideally, choose one that provides third-party coverage against theft. That way, whoever covers any compensation will be the insurer, not you!
ADMISSION AND PAYMENT METHODS
Before customers enter the establishment, make sure they know the admission price, when applicable, as well as the ways in which they will be able to pay.
Don't let consumers be caught out when paying the bill, and no matter how much you train your team to avoid this, it's always worth having signs indicating both the card brands accepted and the fact that admission is charged. As obvious as it may seem, in these cases it's best not to tempt fate. The author of this post has suffered from this himself: on a trip to the nutritionist, the payment methods accepted by the parking lot were not clearly displayed.
When I tried to pay by card (debit — it wasn't even credit!), the attendant pointed to a tiny sign hidden behind a pillar, stating that the accepted payment methods were check or cash. Even though, technically, they were within the law, at the time I was frustrated by the delay it caused to the rest of my day's activities. My solution, however, was simple: I never went back to that parking lot. Don't let this happen at your establishment!
EPOC TIP! There's no need to state the amount to be paid for the entertainment cover charge; it's enough to state on the sign that the charge will be applied. The simple fact that it's displayed prominently will let customers come in informed. If someone does want to know the cover charge amount, tell the team stationed at the door what that day's price is. Surprises, in this sense, are never welcome, and simply making the information available will mean no interruptions when closing the bill due to complaints from your customers.
Half Portions
Many establishments offer the dishes on their menu in reduced quantities – the famous half portion. If your establishment works with this option, try to define a precise ratio between the full price and the price to be charged for the reduced portion.
That way, instead of redesigning the entire menu, you'll have two options for informing your customers:
- train the staff so they know the percentage charged on the full price, whether it's 50% or 70%, or
- write a footnote on the menu about that ratio. A simple notice on the menu itself will be enough, such as “For Half Portions, 50% of the Price Will Be Charged”.
This also applies to ingredient substitutions, as well as to the service charge. Even though paying the charge isn't mandatory, stating the percentage makes paying it more readily accepted. Simply charging it at the moment the bill is closed constitutes abuse on the establishment's part, and it will also make the customer end their experience at your place on the wrong foot. In other words, when they know what they're paying for, the payment will be made more often, whereas catching them by surprise at the end will certainly affect whether they come back to your establishment.
Leia também: 4 Stories from the Consumer Protection Code
TRANSPARENCY
We've all been through improper charges, whether for a lost tab, drinks and snacks that weren't ordered, or any other variation of such cases. Regardless of what may have happened, in both personal and professional experiences, the best way to avoid this is by investing in transparency at your establishment. To illustrate, I'll use a case that happened to me recently.
I was at a nightclub on the São Paulo coast, infamous for charges like these. The space is wonderful, and their customer base is great, with a good time pretty much guaranteed most of the time. But every time it came around to leaving, the headache would start. I've had nights when I'd only had water and, to my surprise, when it came time to pay, the register showed tequila orders, vodka-and-Red-Bull combos, and even gin.
Instead of accepting my visible sobriety and acknowledging that the charges were wrong, they created absurd procedures in which the customer had to leave the line, identify the bartender who served him (as if there had been only one) and convince him to come with me to sort out the misunderstanding.
In other words, on top of waiting more than an hour in line, they put up every kind of barrier, assuming customers would simply accept the abuse and keep coming back. These days, the nightclub I'm talking about no longer exists.
EPOC TIP! If your establishment runs a commercial automation system, choose to install the screens somewhere on the bar where the customer can see them too. There are other ways, such as printing a slip with the orders that were rung up, so the customer can keep track of what is being charged.
Even though it's a small investment for the nightclub, the customer's peace of mind will bring him back, increasing the venue's profit. A maxim that gets repeated and proven in every marketing circle is that acquiring a new customer costs up to 10 times more than retaining the ones you already have. Invista neles, e veja por si mesmo o retorno que isso lhe trará!
CUSTOMER SERVICE
This is the hardest category to pin down, perhaps because it depends as much on the team working at your establishment as on the customers who come in. It stirs the egos of both parties involved, since it's something that, subconsciously, falsely defines who is right in the problem at hand. I repeat, FALSELY defines. The cases in which this dynamic can be found are the following:
ORDER CANCELLATION
When you're waiting for the dish or appetizer you ordered, every extra minute seems to tear a rift in the very fabric of space-time, dragging the customer into a dimension where the only thing that exists is the void he feels in his stomach.
The eyes start drifting toward the kitchen door, the aroma of the dishes at nearby tables seems to choke the nasal passages; and the leftovers on those tables look like absurd waste. Understand that this is exactly what runs through a hungry customer's head. If there's any problem in the kitchen, tell him right away, whether it's about the extra wait or any other reason that may come up. At times like these, the ideal move is to lower your head and agree with him, when offering an appetizer isn't possible.
He's already upset, and making his life even harder will, without a shadow of a doubt, turn hunger into anger. After eating – whether at your establishment or somewhere else – he'll think back on what happened and, if your team was helpful, he'll definitely come back! On top of that, the process of coming to terms with what happened involves talking it over with friends and family, which means it's better for him to leave with a positive impression and share it with his social circles than to simply walk out feeling embarrassed.
EPOC TIP! Many customers don't realize that the service charge is split among every employee involved in getting the order to the table. The cooks, bartenders, and everyone else who isn't in direct contact with the customer are also affected when the service charge is waived, reducing the total benefits offered to them. Sometimes it's worth spelling this out and letting them know up front where the charge they pay goes, whether through notices at the entrance or on the menu itself.
At the end of the day, there are a million things that can go wrong in the customer's buying experience once he walks into an establishment. Whether it's a system failure or expectations left unmet in the pre-sale or post-sale stage, the cases are countless.
The incident isn't always the customer's fault, just as the restaurant, bar, or nightclub can't always be held responsible for what happened. Still, for the relationship to continue, you have to make the customer feel special and well taken care of, no matter which side turns out to be right.
To cut down on the number of hiccups or surprises during the buying and selling process, the ideal is to establish routines so that every relevant process inside the establishment is clear to the staff. The point is not to focus only on defining who's right or wrong, but on “keeping the friendship” even after a failed buying experience.
Train your staff to approach every interaction calmly, and run stress tests so they know how to work around the situation, no matter how rude or uncordial either of the two sides may be!
