Trend: The percentage of Today’s Consumers who say that service people don’t care much about them or their needs most of the time has spiked from 52% to 63% in two years. While half says that it’s usually a waste of time to complain to a big company, 37% did anyway; around the same percentage (33%) told friends or co-workers not to buy from a company with which that they had a bad experience.

Opportunity: Communicate that you care and are willing to listen. Servers, hosts, managers, etc. should be accessible and should ask meaningful questions – not a passing, “Is everything O.K.?” Provide comment cards with an electronic feedback option and/or a toll-free number. Some customers remain silent (but can be deadly after the fact). Train staff to look for clues – body language, plates half eaten, etc. – and be proactive. Open up channels internally – create an environment where staff members are comfortable passing along what they see and hear quickly and with positive consequences, even if they were involved.

Caution: All is lost if you pay lip service to feedback. Acknowledge each and every comment, even if only to say that guests have been heard and, if it is a negative comment, that you’re sorry they didn’t have a better experience.

Trend Source: Yankelovich MONITOR®