I was getting a drink at my favorite watering hole the other day, and no it was not a pub, it was QuikTrip. While I was standing in line, tasty beverage in hand, I noticed the guy in front of me digging deep into his pockets as his face grew increasingly red. “Let me check my car.” he said. He had a large fountain drink and a bottle of Mt. Dew.

He forgot his money. We have all been there.  What was interesting was what the attendant did. He grabbed the bottle of Mt. Dew and said “I need to keep this,” but pushed the fountain drink towards the edge of the counter, and said “but you keep that.” The customer thanked the attendant and walked away with his free large drink. A smile never left either of their faces.

QuikTrip was at a loss. They would have had to throw away the cup, throw away the beverage, but most importantly, they would have sent a customer away with disappointed feelings. Maybe these feelings were not directed at them, but they are bad never the less. They didn’t. They turned the situation around and became a hero. They made his day and took a lose lose situation and turned it into a win win at the cost of 44 ounces of diet coke - about 50 cents.

You might find yourself in a similar situation with one of your customers. If you can turn it into a win win, you might get people to blog about my their awesome experience.