How to stop complaints before they begin (Reminders for senior managers of luxury restaurants)

In a recent leadership coaching session, a GM shared feedback they had received about needing to improve face to face complaint handling. We walked through a recent situation, and I was actually really encouraged. Their tone, empathy, and approach to the dialogue were spot on.

What struck me though was that the whole situation should have been prevented altogether.

Good GMs don’t just respond, they sense by checking the faces of guests and their behaviourism. In a large dining room, they have oversight. They can feel when a guest might become a problem if not handled carefully. In this case, the guest had jumped the queue at reception and demanded to be seated straight away, an obvious red flag.

At that point, the GM’s role is clear: position yourself close, introduce yourself by name and title, and take the order personally, or at the very least, ensure all service steps are led by you and make introductions to other servers. That is a mitigation tactic. Because if further issues arise, there is nowhere left for the guest to escalate to.

More often than not though, the connection you have built neutralises the issue before it even begins. You have seen them, recognised them, and made them feel special.

And when someone feels seen, the table leg could fall off and they would probably laugh with you about it for the next 10 years of repeat visitation to come.

Being a GM requires intuition, but also the courage to act on it.