The Two Restaurants

My wife and I have a love for both Indian and Italian cuisine. A few years ago, we stumbled upon an Italian restaurant in the heart of Kuala Lumpur that left a lasting impression. The atmosphere and food were exceptional, and we left with a sense of delight. It quickly became our go-to spot for the best Italian food in KL.

On our second visit, a couple of weeks later, our experience was just as fantastic, if not better. The cuisine continued to impress; this time, the restaurant manager recognized and warmly greeted us.

A month later, during our third visit, the manager enthusiastically welcomed us and even helped us choose our dishes. The food was consistently outstanding. We transformed from regular patrons to loyal customers and advocates in a couple of months. We eagerly recommended the restaurant to our friends residing in KL or visiting from out of town, emphasizing that they would love the place for its exceptional Italian cuisine.

Around the same time, we also discovered another Indian restaurant that also offered a delightful dining experience. The food and ambiance were great, and we were pleased to have another option for satisfying vegetarian food. However, during a subsequent visit, we arrived just before closing time, yet the restaurant declined to accommodate us, despite there being 15 minutes left. Disappointed we were, but we decided to give it another chance a few weeks later. Unfortunately, the food didn’t meet our expectations, and we left feeling unsatisfied. It’s been a long time, and we haven’t returned to that restaurant since.

In my line of work, delivering powerful technology solutions to clients worldwide, I often draw on my experience with these two restaurants as a reference for my approach to dealing with clients. I ask myself: How do our clients experience our company’s solutions? Do they have trust in us? Are they loyal advocates, recommending our solutions to others?

Thanks to our exceptional engineering team and an outstanding customer success team, many of our clients are advocates for our solutions. However, we cannot afford to become complacent. Similar to the second restaurant, it is easy to fall into the trap of delivering a great initial experience and then taking customers for granted. Once that happens, we risk losing the customer entirely.

The quality we deliver and the client experience we provide are ever-evolving targets. Each time a client returns to us, we must consistently deliver equal or higher quality- products, services, and overall experience. Like the first restaurant, we must genuinely care about our clients, shifting their perception from a “good first experience” to one of “trust” and ultimately transforming them into “loyal advocates.”

Delivering exceptional client experiences through people, processes, and leadership is never easy and comes with a cost. But that cost is far less than the price of losing a customer and bringing in new ones all over again.