Potbelly Steps Up!
August 19, 2008 · Print This Article
Posted by Mark Bennardo
I have a new “Hero-CEO”. Bryant Keil, CEO of Potbelly Sandwich Works, has gone above and beyond in responding to my pickle saga (you can read my original post here). I thought it was only fair to tell the rest of the story.
A few days after I sent off my original letter to Mr. Keil, I received a personal voice mail from him telling me he’d received my letter. He apologized for the situation and asked if I’d call him back. He then left his direct number.
I called the next day and Mr. Keil immediately took my call and again apologized for the “pickle incident”. He said he appreciated that my letter was very constructive. He told me they work very hard to create the best experience for their customers, but because they are growing so fast, it’s sometimes hard to pass the culture along to everyone. I told him I completely understood.
He added that, like me, when he orders a pickle, he never gets it sliced.
He thanked me again for my letter and said, “It was important to me that I give you a call. This is what it’s all about.”
I was shocked and amazed. To think the CEO of a large company would take the time to make a personal phone call to a disappointed customer was simply mind-boggling to me. His kind gesture showed such great respect and more than made up for the original issue.
But that’s not all.
The next day I received a call from the General Manager of the Algonquin Potbelly store. She apologized for the situation and asked if she could bring dinner to my home for my entire family (unbelievable!). I thanked her, but said that wouldn’t be necessary. She then asked if I could describe the Manager who treated me disrespectfully. I mentioned that I didn’t really want to get anyone in trouble, but she assured me that she simply wanted to reinforce Potbelly’s excellent standards on the importance of the customer’s experience.
I thanked the Manager for her kind phone call and assured her that I would be back in their store some time soon.
But the story doesn’t even end there.
A few days later I received another call from the Potbelly District Manager. He apologized for the experience I had in the store and wanted to double check to make sure the store Manager had taken care of me. He also said that they had “addressed the issue internally”. I assured him that everyone had gone above and beyond to follow up with me and told him I would certainly be back in his store.
Again, amazing.
Culture starts at the top. It doesn’t always trickle all the way down, but a strong CEO knows the importance of carrying the culture and follows through to make sure everyone understands it and is owning it. That’s exactly what Bryant Keil did. He made sure (in multiple redundancies) that the Potbelly culture was carried out in my situation. That’s the sign of a great, “Hero-CEO”.
2 Responses to “Potbelly Steps Up!”
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August 21st, 2008 at 7:21 am
That’s a great story and outcome. What excellent service!
August 26th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
This is an great example of how to recover from a situation you wished had gone another way… in business and life. Kudos to you too for taking the time to write the letter in the first place. If people don’t know there’s a problem (construtively) how can they fix it? I applaud Potbelly for their over-the-top follow through. That’s enough to make right most any wrong. Bravo to you both!