Potato chips by Ben Tien
All of us know about potato chips (or maybe some of you are eating it right now). Well, the next question is “Do you know the real story behind it?”
Customer satisfaction is the first rule in any business. But how about if the customers never feel satisfied? Or worst, always keep complaining about you or your company? For myself, I will feel very annoyed with that. Now take a look at this story:
George Crum, he was a Chef of the resort in Saratoga Springs, New York. He was born in 1822 at Saratoga Lake. Well, in that time, around 1853, one customer refused his french fries. The reason is because the potato was too thick and not crispy.
Like the first rule (customer satisfaction), George tried to improve the menu. So, he started to cut the potato so thin and serve it to that customer. But again, the customer refused it, the reason was still the same. Then again, George cut the potato very thin and served it again. The customer refused it once again.
Being peevish, George Crum cut the potato very thin and fried them with grease so they get crispy, so when the customer eats with a fork, the potato will get shattered. Well, George wanted to give a lesson to that customer. And the very thin potato was served. But what happened? The customer felt really happy with the crisp.
Starting from that time, there are many customers who ask for the same menu. That’s the beginning of potato chips.
Then, George Crum started to build his own restaurant with that special menu.
Source: George Crum and Saratoga Chips, by Gaylia Taylor
From the story, I’m sure we can learn many things. But the most important is Customer Satisfaction. It’s very important especially if you work as sales or a business owner, because there are no businesses without customers, right?
So, start from now on, if you can improve yourself to be better, I’m sure you can achieve the same success like George.
“About the author: Ben Tien have been writing so many articles about NLP and Self Improvement. He is the educator of personal development with a strong focus on effective communication. Visit his blog to learn more: http://nlp-way.com”
Ben Tien
Thanks Ben for this article. Customer satisfaction is very important for every business. We have to look for better ways all the time to give our customers what they really want.
Customer satisfaction is vital for any business and asking for feedback, feedback and more feedback is the best (only?) way to improve things. Having said that I think we sometimes need to realise that even if we are doing a sterling job there will be someone who doesn’t like it and we musn’t take criticism to heart.
Best wishes,
Kate
@Dia: Thanks for posting my article, Dia.
@Kate: Hi Kate. Well, like what you said, more feedback is the best. Providing and receiving feedback, whether it is asked for or not, is a regular feature of interacting with others. We generously provide our opinions to others in the hope that they will change their thoughts or behaviours in some way. That is, in a way that we believe will be of benefit to them or us.