Sometimes disappointing chicken wings aren’t funny at all.
When you’re sitting in the audience of a comedy club like Laugh Boston – you expect to have a few drinks, eat some snacks and well, laugh at the entertainment. But sometimes things don’t go according to plan. Case in point, Carol Riley from Dorchester ordered the chicken wings to enjoy during a recent show and when they turned out less than satisfactory, she took to social media to complain. “SAD!” is how she described them on Instagram.
Well, her complaint did not go unnoticed. It was brought to the attention of Laugh Boston CEO Norm Laviolette. It lead to a spirited, but thoughtful, discussion about the state of our the service industry — and how anxieties, pressure and overall stress are at an all-time high. All across the country, restaurants and venues like Laugh Boston have been struggling to staff their kitchens and front of houses.
“Anyone doing anything is going to make a mistake from time to time,” says Laviolette. “One of the questions that we asked was: how can we address this in a way that is true to our brands? And our brands are all comedy related, so when we saw the post about the sad chicken wings, I thought ‘Well, she’s right! It is sad that we screwed it up, so let’s make it better and have some fun doing it.’”
Laviolette made good personally delivering her an order of wings, and not just a dozen, but 50. They also extended four tickets to any show of her choosing and a $100 food and beverage voucher along with a t-shirt that read: COMEDY.
You can check out the exchange here via Instagram.
Among Laviolette’s advice to other small business owners looking to raise the bar on how they interact with their customers who take their gripes online:
- Whenever you can, personalize it. Yes, it’s easier and more efficient to just send an email, but when you can make it human to human, it is so much more impactful.
- Treat the complaint and the person who delivered it with respect.
- On those hopefully rare occasions when you mess up, own it. Over-deliver on the make good, and strive to get a little bit better every day.
So sad wings turned into a positive small business lesson.
Laugh Boston is located in the Westin Waterfront Hotel on Summer Street. You can check out the entertainment schedule here!
Our good friend and CIS contributor Will Noonan will be performing on August 13th and August 14th.
Follow Laugh on Instagram for the latest news!
Maureen Dahill is the editor of Caught in Southie and a lifelong resident of South Boston sometimes mistaken for a yuppie. Co-host of Caught Up, storyteller, lover of red wine and binge watching TV series. Mrs. Peter G. Follow her @MaureenCaught.
