Recently, my husband, stepson and I went to dinner at an upscale Italian restaurant on a Saturday night.  When the waiter took our drink order, my stepson ordered his drink with a lemon.  When our drinks arrived, his was served with a lime.

“Why don’t they ever listen,” he said.  “You’d think in a nice restaurant like this they would pay attention and get it right.”

“Let’s just ask the waiter for a lemon when he comes back,” I replied.

But my stepson wasn’t interested  He explained he deliberately requests the lemon to test a restaurant’s customer service and attention to detail.  Interesting observation!

The more I thought about my stepson’s comment, the more I realized how many times in business we anticipate what the customer wants and deliver the product or service that way without really listening.  To some the difference between a lemon and lime is negligible so it’s no big deal.  But if you don’t like limes and you make a point of specifically requesting a lemon, it’s a significant mistake.

So the next time you are dealing with a customer make sure you listen closely to their desires.  Are you serving a lime instead of a lemon?  If you are, the next time your customer needs your product or service, they may give your competitor a try.

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