I walked into a restaurant the other night. The host was on her cell phone and didn't notice me. I stood there for a minute or two and decided to seat myself. When I did, I was scolded by the server who told me I must "wait to be seated". Only then did the host look up from her phone.
This was my first visit to this restaurant. The host didn't make a great impression. In fact, she made a bad impression. The server who then told me I had to "wait to be seated" doubled down on that bad impression.
First of all, the host should not have been on her phone, and since she was, she should have dropped it as I walked up! Cell phones are a great distraction these days. This is a battle we all have to face. They should not be allowed at the host stand. Period. Appeasing the hosts is not worth the risk of losing a customer.
Secondly, everyone in the hospitality industry should know - though the customer may not always be right, they should be made to THINK they are. Once I seated myself, the server should have done his job to make sure I felt comfortable and well taken care of. Instead, he made me feel embarrassed.
These mistakes are not easy to come back from. In order to win me back over, the server would have to be SPOT ON from there on out. He should have suggested things that I liked, brought my drinks in a timely manner, brought me food made as I asked and hot, suggested dessert and after dinner drinks and made sure I got the check when I wanted. Is it possible that the server would be able to do all those things well? Yes, is it likely, no.
We are all human, we all make mistakes. BUT - when an employee makes a mistake early on, the rest of the employees must go out of their way to ensure a flawless experience from then on. This is the only way to come back from that bad first impression.