Recap: 2 weeks ago, Sticky Fingers dropped the ball while I was in one of their restaurants. A few days later, I blogged about it. Several days after that, I was contacted by Sticky Fingers' local supervisor and he promised to make things right.

And by "making things right," he didn't mean give me 20% off my next visit or refund my meal. Nope, making things right meant earn my business again.

And did he ever.

He and his restaurant offered to cater lunch for 10 people anytime, anywhere. I took him up on it, and several days later, the Sticky Fingers folks delivered our lunch.

It was as gargantuan as it was delicious. Food for ten people? More like 30. Delicious ribs, pulled pork, BBQ chicken, slaw, beans, tea, lemonade... the whole works. The manager of the store that had dropped the ball delivered it personally and made sure I knew that the food I was eating was from his restaurant.

Rather than having SF deliver the meal at an office or at my house, I opted to have them deliver it at a client's retail store in downtown Greenville, to give them a chance to not only win back my business, but also score some points with dozens of people. (Customers marveled at how good the food looked and smelled.)

The store shared some of the food with its customers, and gave away most of the coupons left behind by the Sticky Fingers team.

Leftovers were fought over the next day. Both the area supervisor and the restaurant manager contacted me several hours after the delivery to make sure I was happy.

The verdict: These guys scored big with the way they handled the situation. Here's how:

1. They didn't blow it off.
2. They didn't make excuses.
3. They immediately offered to make it right.
4. They didn't just settle for a token gesture. They REALLY offered to make it up to me.
5. They so completely overdelivered. The lunch they brought over was a feast. Everyone was impressed.
6. Rather than give me money back and send me on my way, they opted instead to fight tooth and nail to earn back my trust and my business.
7. By offering to cater an abundance of food, they invited at least a dozen people to the table... and that's nothing short of brilliant. Why spend so much time and effort turning one guy into a happy customer again... when they could use this event to turn ten or twenty people into excited, happy customers as well?

Everyone who had some of their food heard the story. No one dwelled on the fact that something negative happened at one of their restaurants. What people focused on were a) how incredible the food was, and b) how unbelievably cool it was that Sticky Fingers would take such good care of its customers.

Every single person who came into contact with this free catering event walked away with a terrific story to tell about Sticky Fingers, a new appreciation for their brand, and a rekindled taste for their delicious food. (I expect at least half will be having a meal there inside of the next two weeks, myself included.)

These guys did everything right. Heck, they went so far beyond making things right that they set a whole new standard of customer service for everyone in their industry.

Or any industry, for that matter.

If I had to sum it all up in one word, it would be this: Bravo.

1000 thanks to Sticky Fingers. You guys rock.

Labels: customer service, foodservice, sticky fingers