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Perfecting the Art of Conversuasion

Milestones Restaurant

Lessons in Customer Satisfaction: Milestones Canada

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A few of y’all know that in a previous life, I was a Customer Satisfaction Specialist for a world-renowned Fortune 100 Company.

What does this mean, exactly? Well, for the particular company that I worked for, our “customers” were actually employees; hence, we were measuring their satisfaction with the internal services we had in place, such as employee benefits, pension, payroll, accounts payable, etc.

Are you yawning yet? Sorry, stay with me.

So, I helped develop surveys and statistical benchmarks, and was responsible for deploying, collecting and interpreting data. Then, I helped develop training plans to increase satisfaction wherever our scores were low. Finally, I trained those employees and re-surveyed their “customers”, to ensure our training efforts made an impact on the overall satisfaction score.

And then I became a blogger. Natural career path, right?

Okay, so I took the roundabout way of completely reinventing myself. However, the reason that I tortured you with the details of my corporate past was to underscore one point:

I know what good customer service is. 

I know what it takes to delight your audience, whether it be customers at a fast food joint, clients of a law firm, parents of a school child, or even a passenger on public transit. Because when it comes down to it, the one thing that sets a business apart – in terms of service – is the ability to consistently, positively and creatively surprise its customers. Oooh – that calls for a bolded statement:

The Service-Oriented Business: consistently, positively and creatively surprises customers.

Of course, without a real-life example, this would just be another training session in a stuffy boardroom. Ta-da! I just happen to have a recent experience I can draw from. Now pay attention food and entertainment brands, because this is how it’s done.

A little backgrounder info. Months ago, I fell into conversation with Milestones on Twitter (@MilestonesCA), letting them know that my husband and I met for the very first time at a Milestones – in fact, it was a blind date!
milestones convoEr – 2006 is a typo – our first date was actually in 2005. Which my husband totally caught, and totally made me miserable over. He now has a free pass to forget a birthday or anniversary. Not that he ever will; but according to him, it’s the principle of the matter. You’ll see below I redeemed myself with the date… but the damage was done. Men. …

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Go Seize the Summer: First Date 2.0

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For last few days, we’ve enjoyed the splendour and hospitality of the Niagara Falls Marriott Gateway on the Falls. As part of Travelocity.ca’s #GoSeizetheSummer campaign, we’ve been indulging in short family getaways, designed to make the most of our time together (and to capitalize on the fact that the boys are still young enough to want to “hang” with us).

And while I’ve got some amazing details to share of our time together this summer, I did want to touch on the most heartwarming part of our recent mini-vacay: the fact that the Marriott Gateway on the Falls has Milestones as their hotel restaurant… and offers the Milestones menu for in-room dining.

You see, just about eight years ago, I met my future husband for a blind date at Milestones. I’ll never forget that night – not as long as I live. With equal parts excitement and trepidation, I walked up to the restaurant on a chilly evening in October. Pulling open the heavy wooden door, I entered the foyer – looking first to the left, and then to the right.

And then I saw him. He was early (a good sign) and was casually sitting on a bench near the entrance. At first glance he appeared completely at ease, if not for his leg bouncing up and down – which was a dead giveaway he was as nervous as I was. As he rose and walked toward me, I let out a huge sigh…. and a single thought crossed my mind:

He looks normal enough. Thank f*ck.

So romantic, huh? That guy at Milestones and I went on to become best friends, lovers, and parents. Yet surprisingly, we never returned to the place where it all began. Hence, two nights ago, we both enthusiastically opted for dine-in at the Marriott, and proceeded to replicate our very first date. However, other than the scenery, there were two notable differences: one’s called Ryder, and the other is called Reid :)

We started with Milestones’ famous Hot Spinach and Artichoke Dip.

Then, since we’re a) on vacation and b) blissfully married so we have nobody to impress, we went for the creamiest, most carb-tastic pasta dishes: Italian Sausage Ravioli and Seafood Fettuccine….

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