When I leave on vacation, my biggest rule for employees is “When in doubt, take care of the customer.”  This may sound simplistic, but it establishes a basic decision-making model for my team.  They don’t have to check with me.  Just get the project right with the customer, and we will figure the rest out when I get back.

Ironically, on this most recent vacation, my family went to a resort that did not have that philosophy.  We ran into situation after situation where the person who was dealing with the customer (the face of the company) did not have the authority to do anything to appease an unhappy patron. 

Each time a frustrated guest would ask for something the staff would say “I will have to check with my supervisor.”  They would then walk away (leaving a long line of angry and frustrated people) while they would check on whether or not they could help the person in front of them.  It was madness.

If you have taken the time to hire smart and contentious people (and if you haven’t, why haven’t you?), then give them the authority to make decisions to (within reason) take care of the customer.   

The result?  You will not only have happier customers, but happier staff too!