Mistakes Build Customer Loyalty

Shaan shares a story about an insight he gained while running a sushi restaurant about how fixing mistakes can create more customer loyalty than perfect service.

"At my very first startup, we were doing a sushi restaurant and we realized this weird phenomenon: provide what's expected, no points. Mess up their order, -10 points. But fix the mess up, +5 points.

If we had just given them the right dish, they don't care, they just move on as expected. If we mess up their order, they're angry. But if we fast fix and not just fix their order but give them a freebie with it, or really come back and make sure they're good, or take it off their bill - all of a sudden they had a tremendous experience with us and they'll go tell their friends.

I came up with the 'fix it theory' of restaurants - mistakes are going to happen anyways, and instead of mistake minimization, it's about how fast and how thoroughly can you fix it. That actually creates a higher net promoter score."