Exemplary Service! Courteous KFC-Kadri Managers Dinesh & Pavithra Help Find Customer’s Lost Keys
- Exemplary Service! Courteous Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) -Kadri Branch Managers Dinesh N K (Restaurant General Manager) & Pavithra ( Shift Manager) Help Find Customer’s Lost Keys
Mangaluru: When is the last time that a Manager or Managers at an eatery place went out of their way and helped you find your lost keys when you had complained to them about it? Probably never! All that they find it or someone returns them, that they’ll call you. But not in this incident, where the Restaurant General Manager and a shift manager showing their courteousness and customer care did an exemplary and extraordinary service in taking a keen interest in trying to find the lost keys of their esteemed customer- and for that matter, that customer happened to be Yours Truly of Team Mangalorean.
Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) a quick service restaurant company owned by parent company, YUM, which also owns the Taco Bell and Pizza Hut brands, and has a global presence in over 130 countries, has a couple of outlets in Mangaluru. KFC has earned great ratings with both internal team member satisfaction and external customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction is a predictor of repeat business, which drives overall revenue. However the managers play a vital role in keeping up the standard and good ratings of a restaurant, and these two managers at KFC-Kadri location in the City, Dinesh N K -the Restaurant General Manager and Pavithra- the Shift Manager have maintained their capacities to their highest level in customer care and satisfaction.
A Restaurant Manager is usually seen in the action only when there is a conflict between the customers and the staff members regarding the poor quality of the food or if there is any wrong order. However, the role of a restaurant manager is much more than solving conflicts. For most of the restaurants, the restaurant manager is the face of the restaurant that is performing a lot of behind the scenes functions to ensure that the restaurant is running smoothly. Restaurant managers ensure that restaurants operate efficiently and profitably while maintaining their reputation and ethos along. A restaurant manager should possess multiple professional as well as interpersonal skills to oversee the restaurant operations. The restaurant manager in a sense is the leader of a team of professionals, and like any company, a manager must have leadership qualities. And with no doubts, these two managers had all these qualities to Please, Satisfy and Ensuring the Best Customer Service. I say Kudos and Job Well Done to Dinesh and Pavithra!
Now coming to the real story- it was November 1, a holiday to commemorate Kannada Rajyotsava Day, and I had joined my doctor friend for a few cold ones at Kanara Club-Kadri in the late afternoon. Since the kitchen closes at 2.30 pm at Kanara Club,, being hungry I rushed to KFC for my grub. I ordered two chicken longer sandwiches, paid the money and while I was about to return I noticed that my keys were missing. I searched all over the place, inside and outside the KFC- and while I was desperately looking for my lost keys, a Good Samaritan aka Dinesh NK, the RGM at KFC approached me, and rendered his helping hand- he also started looking for the keys, but all our efforts were in vain.
Then he said, if I could wait for a while, he would check on the CCTV and do the needful. I agreed, and Dinesh went to his office and did a thorough search on the CCTV footage. He did spend nearly half hour browsing through the images on the CCTV. In the meantime, I thought of going home and getting my spare keys for my two-wheeler- and I requested Pavithra to keep an eye on my scooter till I returned- for which she readily agreed. Stepping into an auto-rickshaw I quickly rushed to my house to get the spare keys- and while I was on my way, I received a call from Pavithra that they found the keys. Wow-thank God, I said to myself- because this is the fifth time that I had lost the same keys, and found them back.
The only reason I rushed home to get the spare key because I was worried about my expensive camera and a few other important documents stored in my scooter compartment. If someone had found the keys, I didn’t want them to steal my stuff- but I found all my belongings were safe. When asked where they found my keys, Dinesh and Pavithra said that while I was paying for my food, I had kept my keys next to the cash register, and since there was a small opening next to the register, my keys had slipped through it- and they both caught that on the camera, and went and got my keys lying below the cash register.
My intention of doing this article, is only for the fact that both these managers, especially Dinesh N K went out of their way to please one of their customers, even though it was not a wallet full of money or a bag of expensive stuff that I lost, but it was the courteousness of Dinesh and Pavithra, no matter what the lost item was, expensive or non-expensive, they did show their interest and concern towards their customer, in doing the needful. And I know that they did follow the company motto of customer care and satisfaction. Appreciating their efforts in searching for my keys, I told them that I would like to compliment and praise their courteousness through a small write-up on them, for which they agreed.
Dinesh N K hailing from Kasaragod, after his schooling/college had done his Diploma in Hotel Management studies at Srinivas College, Mangaluru- and after graduation joined KFC in Cochin as a shift Manager in 2013. Seven months ago he got promoted as Restaurant General Manager, to handle KFC- Kadri branch in Mangaluru- and he very much like his job here, because of the good team members and friendly Mangalorean customers. Pavithra hailing from Someshwar had done her BA at University College-Mangaluru, after which she joined KFC-Kadri branch as a Team Member two years ago, and last year she got promoted as Shift Manager at the same location.
While interacting with both Dinesh and Pavithra I shared with them my experience as Mystery Rider, which I was doing part-time during weekends in Chicago- USA and KFC fast food joints was one among the many shops, I used to inspect surprisingly- and they both liked my conversation and thanked me for making their day a better one, through the appreciation from Team Mangalorean. To Dinesh and Pavithra, I say, “Keep up the good work that you are entrusted with. You are a difference in your company through your hard work, dedication and commitment. Enterprises need employees like you, who have the customer care and customer satisfaction motto. You both deserve a pat on your back, and I hope your higher authority will commend your courteousness and kind gesture. You both need a salary raise? ha…May God bless you both”.
