The third element of service recovery is we have to be empowered. That means every single person has to be able to make a very fast decision on the spot. They have to be able to bend the rules to take care of a customer, to make a customer over-happy. The last thing we want is an employee to say, "Mr. Customer, Mr. Tschohl, Miss Gonzales, we have rules, we have policies and we have procedures, and there's nothing I can do about it." 

I'd like to talk about the customer service strategy that we can use for housing. First of all, every somebody leaves, every time you have a churn, the cost is very expensive. I happen to own a lot of rental properties. Let me tell you, it's about $1,200 every time somebody leaves. If I can create this better customer service experience, that means I got to have speed. When somebody has a problem, I got to be able to take care of it now. I got to treat them like a king, like a queen. I got to treat everybody special. I have to use the customer's name, make them feel special on a very consistent basis.

The second skill that we have to master for service recovery is to take responsibility. That means that you got to tell the truth. So all you got to do is say, "Sir, we screwed up." "Mr. Tschohl, it's our fault." Instead of saying, "You know, it's the kitchen. These guys messed it up." "It's the county. Half these guys in the county don't have their act together." "Sir I don't believe you. You're probably lying."

The perfect example is Northeast Delta Dental. They did their homework. They communicate with their customers, their employees, and their community and have been doing so for the past 20 years! 

I want to talk about service recovery, and the four steps that we can use to keep a customer from defecting. To take an irate customer, somebody's that's ready to kill you, somebody's that's telling you they're never going to come back... How do you flip that so that in 60 seconds the customer believes they're dealing with the greatest company and the greatest individual in the entire world?