INTRODUCTION
A study by SDL shows that four out of five customers would walk away from a brand and never give it another chance after experiencing a major issue. Consumers don’t just want great food, they want to believe a restaurant shares their values, treats workers fairly and conducts business ethically.
In April, Gib’s, a cocktail bar in Madison, Wis., came under a social media firestorm after an email exchange between a manager and former employee went public. When the former employee asked for a W-2 form to be emailed to her, the manager sent her a file named “dumb bitch.pdf.” The employee then emailed the owner about her treatment, and the owner sent her a profanity-laced, derogatory email. To make matters worse, a month after this incident, the owner reinstated the manager without giving the current staff a heads-up, causing some of them to quit.
Here is how to handle a social media crisis and rebuild your restaurant’s reputation.
BE SORRY AND SAY YOU’RE SORRY
As the restaurant owner or manager, you need to respond immediately, be transparent, take accountability and give a real apology (not something like, “I’m sorry if you were offended”). Also, make sure to apologize to the actual victim (in the previous example, it’s the former employee).
Instead of: “There are people from other states calling me a terrible person. These people don’t know me but they’re so ready to hate me. It hurts. Even if they don’t know me it still f***in’ hurts,” the restaurant owner’s response should have been: “Both the manager and I were way out line. We are extremely sorry. No person should be treated that way.”
For the most part, the general public is forgiving. However, when you act arrogant or don’t seem remorseful, and/or you act like you are the victim, then the public will turn on you.
COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR STAFF EARLY AND OFTEN
Internal audiences should always be the first with which you communicate. For example, no employee should learn about your intentions after they happen. You are trying to boost morale, kill the rumor mill and provide a game plan (e.g. how to respond to customers who inquire about the situation).
Instead of bringing back the manager after deciding the shared managerial responsibilities among his staff wouldn’t work, the restaurant owner should have met with his staff to talk through the possibility of reinstating the former manager. Even if the current employees disagreed, at a minimum, he could have achieved informed consent from the staff (e.g. “I’m not happy about it, but I appreciate that you told me in advance.”).