Great Customer Experience #2 - "Yes and..."
The parenting manuals proscribe saying "No" too regularly to your children on the basis that it is discouraging. I have tried to avoid saying "No" unless it is absolutely necessary. Nevertheless, I suspect I have often fallen into the trap of saying "Yes, but..."
"Yes, but ..." is like trying to have it both ways. As the parent, we hear ourselves saying "Yes" however, the child interprets the "but" as "No" or something negative.
Subtle changes in language can make all the difference. The manuals say that the most effective parents, managers and professionals have learned to say "Yes and..."
I was on the receiving end of this treatment one Saturday night. We were in a child free zone and decided to take our chances with dinner at a small French bistro on the peninsula. We hadn't made a booking and so thought that our prospects might be improved if we arrived after 8.30pm.
The carpark was almost full. The restaurant seemed very busy as we approached. The patron greeted me at the door. I was not optimistic.
I explained that we had no booking but wondered if there was a table. Clearly nothing was immediately available however the patron said "Yes, and if you would like to take a short stroll and come back in 10 minutes, I will be able to seat you on this wall and there will be a gentle breeze blowing in through the door which will provide some cooling" (NB: it was a warm evening).
We were seated by 8.45pm. It was a bit of wait for first course as the restaurant was buzzing but we didn't mind because of the initial reception. "And yes", my large bowl of mussels was superb.