One evening, your server goes to a guest and asks him what he'd like to order ...
"I'd like the shrimp and I'd like it now"
"I'm sorry sir, all our meals are cooked to order and the shrimp dish takes about twenty minutes".
"That's not my problem".
"Perhaps you'd like an appetizer first, sir?"
"No, I want the shrimp - now".
"Sir, if I put the order in for you now, the shrimp will be ready in twenty minutes."
"That's not good enough".
"I can speak to the chef and see if he can expedite it for you, but even then it will be eighteen minutes".
"This is outrageous".
"Sir, I'm sorry but it's just not physically possible ...."
The guest stands, and says loudly and clearly "The service in this place is terrible. It's a simple request. All I'm asking for is something that's right here on your menu. Terrible service".
The server shrugs and says to a colleague "What on earth was wrong with that man? Doesn't he realize that things take as long as they take? If it's not physically possible to do something, what on earth do they expect us to do? We have a busy kitchen and the staff do a great job cooking every dish to order so that it's completely fresh. Do some people expect miracles? If they want something now, there are a lot of fast food places out there where they can buy junk. We serve high quality food and they expect us to serve then just as though we were flipping burgers. Amazing."
If you have a food service business, the chances are that you have had just about every awkward customer under the sun and I'm sure that you deal with them smoothly and professionally.
So tell me, how would you have dealt with that man and his unreasonable request? How would you have explained to him the difference between quality cuisine and mass-produced junk? How could you have done this politely and courteously? What would you have said to him to make him understand that quality takes time and that if something takes twenty minutes, well, it takes twenty minutes?
Please tell me. I really need to know...
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