Oct. 7, 2024
Cheesy Lessons In Crisis Management From A Viral Mishap
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That Solo Life, Episode 269: Cheesy Lessons In Crisis Management From A Viral MishapIn this Episode
In episode 269 of “That Solo Life” podcast, Karen Swim, APR and Michelle Kane discuss the viral video of a customer receiving a mac and cheese order without the macaroni, and how the business handled the situation by responding with a humorous TikTok video. The hosts highlight the important lessons for PR and marketing professionals, including the value of social media monitoring and responding appropriately to negative sentiment. They also emphasize the importance of clear internal communication and ensuring employees understand the products and services they are representing.
The episode explores the importance of effective communication in the face of unexpected challenges. The hosts explore lessons from the brand’s quick response which was genuine and cheeky
Karen and Michelle talk about the significance of having a strong social media presence and the necessity of listening tools to monitor brand mentions and customer sentiment. They discuss how brands can miss opportunities to engage with their audience, especially when positive feedback is shared. By actively listening and responding, businesses can foster a sense of community and connection with their customers.
The hosts also touch on the internal communication lessons that can be learned from the incident, highlighting the importance of clarity in messaging. We share anecdotes about the need for employees to fully understand the products or services they represent, ensuring they can effectively communicate with customers.
Listeners are encouraged to reflect on the value of effective communication, both internally and externally, and to consider how they can apply these lessons in their own practices.
Episode Timeline:
00:00:00 - Welcome to That Solo Life
Introduction to the podcast and hosts, Michelle Kane and Karen Swim.
00:00:21 - Hello Fall!
Discussion about the arrival of fall and the changing seasons.
00:00:47 - The Mac and Cheese Mishap
Introduction to the viral clip of a woman receiving an incomplete mac and cheese order.
00:01:49 - Lessons in Crisis Communication
Exploring the business response to the viral video and its implications for PR and marketing.
00:02:54 - Engaging on Social Media
The importance of responding on the same platforms where negative sentiment arises.
00:04:16 - Investing in Listening Tools
The necessity of social media listening tools for brands to monitor sentiment.
00:05:52 - Understanding Client Needs
Discussing the importance of educating clients about the value of listening tools.
00:07:32 - Community Engagement
The benefits of local businesses engaging with their community on social media.
00:08:27 - Challenges for Smaller Brands
Addressing the struggles smaller brands face in monitoring their online presence.
00:09:24 - The Importance of Clear Communication
Highlighting the need for clarity in both internal and external communications.
00:10:10 - Responding with Humor
The effectiveness of a light-hearted response to customer complaints.
00:12:26 - Internal Communication Lessons
The importance of ensuring all employees understand menu items and services.
00:15:12 - Employee Training and Experience
The necessity for employees to have firsthand experience with products and services.
00:17:08 - Closing Thoughts
Encouragement to enjoy mac and cheese and a reminder to share the podcast.
Resources:
- USA Today: California Pizza Kitchen offers chain-wide mac and cheese deal after viral order blunder (Includes customer TikTok Video)
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That Solo Life, Episode 269: Cheesy Lessons In Crisis Management From A Viral Mishap
Michelle Kane (00:03):
Thank you for joining us for this episode of That Solo Life, the podcast for PR pros and marketers who work for themselves, people like me. Michelle came with Voice Matters and my wonderful co-host, Karen Swim of Solo PR Pro. Hey Karen, how are you today?
Karen Swim, APR (00:17):
I'm doing so well, Michelle. How are you? Happy fall.
Michelle Kane (00:21):
Yes, it's officially fall, which by the time you hear this you'll say duh. But as we're recording this, we just kicked Summer to the curb and are welcoming the falling leaves. It's funny as yesterday, and again as we're recording this, it's not the date you're hearing, it was the first official day of fall, and I thought, whew. The leaves got the memo. They're all dropping the course. It's
Karen Swim, APR (00:47):
So true. They started falling fast, and then here in Michigan, we had a little wind to just help kick them along all over the grass. So it was windy. It rained, and it's like, huh. So,
'
Michelle Kane (01:00):
But fall brings cozy feelings and you just want to curl up with a nice bowl of mac and cheese. Oh, wait, maybe. Maybe. I'm not sure. By this time, you may or may not have seen the viral clip that was going around of the poor woman that was having the very worst day that got even worse when her macaroni and cheese order arrived without macaroni. And you're probably like, well, why are you guys talking about that? Well, we want to talk about the response from the business and how it's a nice lesson for us in PR and marketing of how you can salvage something that was a mistake and at least try and fashion a message that that can be fun and give other people a break.
Karen Swim, APR (01:49):
I completely agree, and honestly, this was such a funny video from the disgruntled customer. I thought that she actually handled it with humor. She could have been infuriated, but she was laughing about this experience because it's so crazy. But there's lessons for us and internal communications and employee training, external communications, and of course crisis communications.
Michelle Kane (02:18):
Yes, may all our crises be this interesting. But yeah, the poor woman, you'll watch the clip and she is having the worst week of her life. She has an injury. Her boyfriend broke up with her and all she wanted was some comfort carbs, and the order she received was literally just cheese and some bread, but no noodles, but yes. Yeah. So kudos to the business for spinning that into a TikTok video and addressing it.
Karen Swim, APR (02:54):
I agree. I thought that it was really smart of, and we'll link to both videos in our show notes, but I thought it was brilliant for the brand to respond on the same channel where this video went viral because the video ended up getting four and a half million views, and so they responded on that same exact channel. Not every brand is brave enough or has a presence on those channels to do that. Now, obviously with food and with lifestyle brands, I feel like they're more accustomed to being on channels like Instagram and TikTok. Business services are not as accustomed to doing that, although many do. But this is another reminder of why it's key to not only have a presence on the social media channels where your customers are engaged and where they're getting information and sharing information, but also you want to listen on those channels. So it's so important to invest for your social media team in listening tools that can capture things that allow you to respond in real time to any negative sentiment or any positive sentiment that comes up as well.
Michelle Kane (04:16):
Yes, I agree completely. I mean, again, that's another service that clients may initially balk at or like, oh, why should I pay for that? Well, again, it may not be regarding a full-blown crisis, but we all know how Facebook groups, how things can blow up quickly, and you do need to have your ear to the ground at all times. That's not to say you obsessively stay on the channels. No, you don't do that. But yeah, you use your listening tools so that you
Karen Swim, APR (04:53):
Use your listening tools, which by the way, for clients, we as PR pros, we fully understand this. This is another thing that costs money and depending on the listening tool that you're using, it can be a hefty investment for a PR pro to absorb. And so this takes us back to lots of conversations that we've had where customers or brands may not understand that it's so much more than pretty output. It's much more than media mentions. It's much more than marketing materials. This is really a central thing to your business. You need to be listening and you need to have tools to do that in a systematic fashion because whether or not you're in the room, people are indeed talking about you. And one of the benefits of listening is that it's not just listening so that you can proactively address anything that could be escalated to a crisis.
(05:54):
It's also for those positive things, positive things. So one of the things that we do is that we listen and monitor for brand media mentions, executive mentions, and when we see someone sharing something that's positive, we'll send it to the client as an opportunity to engage with your audience. When people are talking about you and they're saying something, they're signing a piece of data or they're sharing that you've done something, that's an opportunity for you to really speak to your community and to your audience. And I honestly see this so often with B2B and B2C brands where there are missed opportunities.
Michelle Kane (06:35):
No, absolutely.
Karen Swim, APR (06:36):
Where no one responds when you're saying something and it's blowing and no one except your own audience interacts with you and the organization is completely missing from that conversation.
Michelle Kane (06:48):
Yeah, and it's such low hanging fruit, right? I mean, on a smaller level, there are a couple of local businesses that I work with, and so I'm usually in the same spaces that they would be talked about, and it's so easy you just switch into their profile and say, Hey, thanks, or great to know. It doesn't take much time and it's so worth it, just so they can feel like, oh, okay, you are here. You're hearing me. That's great. You are participating in our greater community. You are a citizen alongside us, and it's all those little things that help to perhaps one day sway a decision your way.
Karen Swim, APR (07:32):
I agree. Now, I feel like Michelle, your local audiences are so much more engaged with their community. Do you find that even with the smaller businesses, that they're on top of this kind of listening and engagement with the community?
Michelle Kane (07:49):
I think for the most part, yes. Yes. I have seen across the board, even with those I don't work with, they will respond similarly. I don't think anyone is really tone deaf for the most part because they do want to make sure, first of all, that their brand is protected. But I think we're fortunate in my region that it's a pretty like-minded outlook on it. So yeah, I haven't seen anything where it's been like, well, where are they? Are they going to say something?
Karen Swim, APR (08:28):
It's interesting because your market is amazing on so many fronts and so many, it's probably why so many great things happen there. But I have seen this in other regions where smaller brands are just overwhelmed and they don't respond. They miss it on every front. They're not monitoring Glassdoor, they're not monitoring Reddit, they're just not monitoring for brand mentions and people say things and it just completely passes them by. And I understand that. I understand that no one has an infinite budget, but it really is important to invest in listening tools that can listen for you. The whole point is that you don't have to be on these platforms 100% of the time, but if you have a toll
Michelle Kane (09:15):
That
Karen Swim, APR (09:15):
Alerts you when your keywords and name is mentioned, that you can then take some action on it really quickly.
Michelle Kane (09:24):
Yeah, I think it's very important. And much like this brand responded, have the appropriate response. I mean, you never want to come in as super defensive or appearing even though the slightest bit angry. You definitely want to approach things maturely, but if you can have fun with it all, the more reason to do so, just because it just helps everyone exhale and go, oh, okay. I think they handled it well. They could have been like, oh, we've had a bad day too, but you don't want to hear about our problems. That kind of thing. Just something to diffuse the situation.
Karen Swim, APR (10:11):
Yeah, you said it perfectly. They match the response. So many brands would've taken it straight to business, speak straight to legalese, and we're so sorry that this happened to you. We've offered a free coupon when in reality, they responded with a video showing how mac and cheese really is made. Like, yeah, here's the important step. Yes, you do at the noodles. And they also gave a special offer. So they took her getting half her order to a half off offer for everyone nationwide, which I thought was genius. Now again, a smaller brand might not have the resources to do that, and it took an experienced comms team. This is a big well established brand. It took an experienced comms team to craft a response quickly to match the tone perfectly on the platform where the negative sentiment went viral. So they just really hit every note perfectly. And I still believe that no matter the size of your company, there are lessons to be learned from what they did.
Michelle Kane (11:26):
Yeah, I agree completely. And it also points back to not to get on my elitist communicator soapbox as to why this kind of communication social media is not, oh, my high schooler can just take it over for my business, or we'll just give it all to the intern. Do high schoolers and interns have a place in our world? Absolutely, a hundred percent. But this does take experience. This does take a certain amount of savvy and a seasoned professional to turn this around and to turn it into something that would have that much of an impact. Because like you say, if it had just been the business speak response, it would've just been a little blip. And I guarantee even with that half off, I'm sure they saw a bump in profit that day because how many more people ordered mac and cheese that weren't even thinking of eating it when they woke up that morning? So totally worth it.
Karen Swim, APR (12:26):
Agree. And it was interesting because the customer did in fact contact the restaurant immediately after the error, and two different people told her that she ordered wrong. So to me, the internal comms lesson is don't take for granted that everyone understands what an item is.
(12:50):
Many years ago in high school, our English teacher forced us to do an exercise where we explained how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The end result of that is that everyone had a different process for making it. And he said, explain it as though someone is coming from another world and has no idea. And I think that the lesson always stuck with me is that we assume a lot of things. We assume that mac and cheese means the same to everyone. It does not. There's so many differences in this country. In the United States, sometimes I cringe at what people think mac and cheese is. So don't assume that your employees understand that when a menu item says mac and cheese, that the noodles actually go with the cheese and they're not ordered as two separate items because two separate employees told them this. And so to the woman, it seemed crazy. And to us, and I'm sure our audience, it seems crazy too. Who on earth in the United States of America doesn't know that Mac and, and that means that there's two things that are supposed to go in this dish doesn't include the noodles, but
(14:00):
Clearly two people in that organization did not. And so I think as we think about internal and external communications, we want to be 100% clear. And it's not that you're treating your audience as though they're not intelligent, but you're making sure that there is no opportunity for them to misunderstand what is intended by your messaging. Even if it's something that seems like it's a common thing, take a moment, explain it.
Michelle Kane (14:34):
And that's so true from the internal perspective, hello. Just making sure that you're being clear to everyone that they understand what the thing is. And also internally, because I know we have this joke in my family sometimes, and you'll bless 'em, it'll be like a young server and you'll order a dish and they'll ask a question that you're like, you could tell you don't eat. This is true. Or when you get a young one you order. It's like, well, what wine do you have? Let me look. It's like red. I'm like, okay,
Karen Swim, APR (15:13):
I understand that it's small stuff, but it just makes you chuckle at time staffing shortages because I believe that this translates across industries. This is not just a restaurant or a
Michelle Kane (15:22):
Lifestyle issue.
Karen Swim, APR (15:24):
I think that your employees need to also, especially if they're going to be public facing, touch and feel, whatever it is that they're responsible for servicing, they need to understand it intimately. It can't just be a textbook. So if you're a restaurant, then you should set aside time so that you employees are tasting and seeing the dishes and understand what they taste like and understand what's in them because they're serving customers who have questions and they should understand what goes into making that. They should be able to answer questions. But the same thing. If you're a tech company and you are offering a service, your employees should use it so that they at least have some experience and can answer questions and understand when a customer is saying something is going wrong, even if you are not technical support. I think that that's one more step that we tend to skip these days in the entrance of time, we just silo everything. If you're not the technical support person, then you don't need to know that part. And if you're not in sales, then you don't need to know this part, but you're doing your employees a disservice.
Michelle Kane (16:36):
Yeah, I think it's very tempting to go that route, right? Because you just want to get, and especially as you said with staffing shortages, you just need people fulfilling roles. Even if that is the case, again, it's very tempting to just go, eh, we're fine. But even as you have them fill the roles, remember that the training side is so important and it really does matter in so many little ways that add up and can eventually impact the health of your business.
Karen Swim, APR (17:08):
Yes. Well, this has been fun. When you watch the videos, we hope that they give you a good laugh because both were well done, and we hope that if this puts you in the mind frame of mac and cheese, we hope that you get some good mac and cheese after listening to this episode.
Michelle Kane (17:29):
Yes, yes. None of that box stuff. Google, Patty LaBelle's over the Rainbow Mac and cheese, and then come tell me how you're feeling because it's good.
Karen Swim, APR (17:38):
Oh, wow.
Michelle Kane (17:38):
Shout out to Patty anyway, and if you do feel you've received some value out of this time together, please do share it around. We would love that, and we would love it if you would visit solo pr pro.com. That's where you can hear all of our back episodes and see what's in the pipeline for life as a solo in this business. And until next time, thanks for listening to That Solo Life.
Michelle Kane (00:03):
Thank you for joining us for this episode of That Solo Life, the podcast for PR pros and marketers who work for themselves, people like me. Michelle came with Voice Matters and my wonderful co-host, Karen Swim of Solo PR Pro. Hey Karen, how are you today?
Karen Swim, APR (00:17):
I'm doing so well, Michelle. How are you? Happy fall.
Michelle Kane (00:21):
Yes, it's officially fall, which by the time you hear this you'll say duh. But as we're recording this, we just kicked Summer to the curb and are welcoming the falling leaves. It's funny as yesterday, and again as we're recording this, it's not the date you're hearing, it was the first official day of fall, and I thought, whew. The leaves got the memo. They're all dropping the course. It's
Karen Swim, APR (00:47):
So true. They started falling fast, and then here in Michigan, we had a little wind to just help kick them along all over the grass. So it was windy. It rained, and it's like, huh. So,
'
Michelle Kane (01:00):
But fall brings cozy feelings and you just want to curl up with a nice bowl of mac and cheese. Oh, wait, maybe. Maybe. I'm not sure. By this time, you may or may not have seen the viral clip that was going around of the poor woman that was having the very worst day that got even worse when her macaroni and cheese order arrived without macaroni. And you're probably like, well, why are you guys talking about that? Well, we want to talk about the response from the business and how it's a nice lesson for us in PR and marketing of how you can salvage something that was a mistake and at least try and fashion a message that that can be fun and give other people a break.
Karen Swim, APR (01:49):
I completely agree, and honestly, this was such a funny video from the disgruntled customer. I thought that she actually handled it with humor. She could have been infuriated, but she was laughing about this experience because it's so crazy. But there's lessons for us and internal communications and employee training, external communications, and of course crisis communications.
Michelle Kane (02:18):
Yes, may all our crises be this interesting. But yeah, the poor woman, you'll watch the clip and she is having the worst week of her life. She has an injury. Her boyfriend broke up with her and all she wanted was some comfort carbs, and the order she received was literally just cheese and some bread, but no noodles, but yes. Yeah. So kudos to the business for spinning that into a TikTok video and addressing it.
Karen Swim, APR (02:54):
I agree. I thought that it was really smart of, and we'll link to both videos in our show notes, but I thought it was brilliant for the brand to respond on the same channel where this video went viral because the video ended up getting four and a half million views, and so they responded on that same exact channel. Not every brand is brave enough or has a presence on those channels to do that. Now, obviously with food and with lifestyle brands, I feel like they're more accustomed to being on channels like Instagram and TikTok. Business services are not as accustomed to doing that, although many do. But this is another reminder of why it's key to not only have a presence on the social media channels where your customers are engaged and where they're getting information and sharing information, but also you want to listen on those channels. So it's so important to invest for your social media team in listening tools that can capture things that allow you to respond in real time to any negative sentiment or any positive sentiment that comes up as well.
Michelle Kane (04:16):
Yes, I agree completely. I mean, again, that's another service that clients may initially balk at or like, oh, why should I pay for that? Well, again, it may not be regarding a full-blown crisis, but we all know how Facebook groups, how things can blow up quickly, and you do need to have your ear to the ground at all times. That's not to say you obsessively stay on the channels. No, you don't do that. But yeah, you use your listening tools so that you
Karen Swim, APR (04:53):
Use your listening tools, which by the way, for clients, we as PR pros, we fully understand this. This is another thing that costs money and depending on the listening tool that you're using, it can be a hefty investment for a PR pro to absorb. And so this takes us back to lots of conversations that we've had where customers or brands may not understand that it's so much more than pretty output. It's much more than media mentions. It's much more than marketing materials. This is really a central thing to your business. You need to be listening and you need to have tools to do that in a systematic fashion because whether or not you're in the room, people are indeed talking about you. And one of the benefits of listening is that it's not just listening so that you can proactively address anything that could be escalated to a crisis.
(05:54):
It's also for those positive things, positive things. So one of the things that we do is that we listen and monitor for brand media mentions, executive mentions, and when we see someone sharing something that's positive, we'll send it to the client as an opportunity to engage with your audience. When people are talking about you and they're saying something, they're signing a piece of data or they're sharing that you've done something, that's an opportunity for you to really speak to your community and to your audience. And I honestly see this so often with B2B and B2C brands where there are missed opportunities.
Michelle Kane (06:35):
No, absolutely.
Karen Swim, APR (06:36):
Where no one responds when you're saying something and it's blowing and no one except your own audience interacts with you and the organization is completely missing from that conversation.
Michelle Kane (06:48):
Yeah, and it's such low hanging fruit, right? I mean, on a smaller level, there are a couple of local businesses that I work with, and so I'm usually in the same spaces that they would be talked about, and it's so easy you just switch into their profile and say, Hey, thanks, or great to know. It doesn't take much time and it's so worth it, just so they can feel like, oh, okay, you are here. You're hearing me. That's great. You are participating in our greater community. You are a citizen alongside us, and it's all those little things that help to perhaps one day sway a decision your way.
Karen Swim, APR (07:32):
I agree. Now, I feel like Michelle, your local audiences are so much more engaged with their community. Do you find that even with the smaller businesses, that they're on top of this kind of listening and engagement with the community?
Michelle Kane (07:49):
I think for the most part, yes. Yes. I have seen across the board, even with those I don't work with, they will respond similarly. I don't think anyone is really tone deaf for the most part because they do want to make sure, first of all, that their brand is protected. But I think we're fortunate in my region that it's a pretty like-minded outlook on it. So yeah, I haven't seen anything where it's been like, well, where are they? Are they going to say something?
Karen Swim, APR (08:28):
It's interesting because your market is amazing on so many fronts and so many, it's probably why so many great things happen there. But I have seen this in other regions where smaller brands are just overwhelmed and they don't respond. They miss it on every front. They're not monitoring Glassdoor, they're not monitoring Reddit, they're just not monitoring for brand mentions and people say things and it just completely passes them by. And I understand that. I understand that no one has an infinite budget, but it really is important to invest in listening tools that can listen for you. The whole point is that you don't have to be on these platforms 100% of the time, but if you have a toll
Michelle Kane (09:15):
That
Karen Swim, APR (09:15):
Alerts you when your keywords and name is mentioned, that you can then take some action on it really quickly.
Michelle Kane (09:24):
Yeah, I think it's very important. And much like this brand responded, have the appropriate response. I mean, you never want to come in as super defensive or appearing even though the slightest bit angry. You definitely want to approach things maturely, but if you can have fun with it all, the more reason to do so, just because it just helps everyone exhale and go, oh, okay. I think they handled it well. They could have been like, oh, we've had a bad day too, but you don't want to hear about our problems. That kind of thing. Just something to diffuse the situation.
Karen Swim, APR (10:11):
Yeah, you said it perfectly. They match the response. So many brands would've taken it straight to business, speak straight to legalese, and we're so sorry that this happened to you. We've offered a free coupon when in reality, they responded with a video showing how mac and cheese really is made. Like, yeah, here's the important step. Yes, you do at the noodles. And they also gave a special offer. So they took her getting half her order to a half off offer for everyone nationwide, which I thought was genius. Now again, a smaller brand might not have the resources to do that, and it took an experienced comms team. This is a big well established brand. It took an experienced comms team to craft a response quickly to match the tone perfectly on the platform where the negative sentiment went viral. So they just really hit every note perfectly. And I still believe that no matter the size of your company, there are lessons to be learned from what they did.
Michelle Kane (11:26):
Yeah, I agree completely. And it also points back to not to get on my elitist communicator soapbox as to why this kind of communication social media is not, oh, my high schooler can just take it over for my business, or we'll just give it all to the intern. Do high schoolers and interns have a place in our world? Absolutely, a hundred percent. But this does take experience. This does take a certain amount of savvy and a seasoned professional to turn this around and to turn it into something that would have that much of an impact. Because like you say, if it had just been the business speak response, it would've just been a little blip. And I guarantee even with that half off, I'm sure they saw a bump in profit that day because how many more people ordered mac and cheese that weren't even thinking of eating it when they woke up that morning? So totally worth it.
Karen Swim, APR (12:26):
Agree. And it was interesting because the customer did in fact contact the restaurant immediately after the error, and two different people told her that she ordered wrong. So to me, the internal comms lesson is don't take for granted that everyone understands what an item is.
(12:50):
Many years ago in high school, our English teacher forced us to do an exercise where we explained how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The end result of that is that everyone had a different process for making it. And he said, explain it as though someone is coming from another world and has no idea. And I think that the lesson always stuck with me is that we assume a lot of things. We assume that mac and cheese means the same to everyone. It does not. There's so many differences in this country. In the United States, sometimes I cringe at what people think mac and cheese is. So don't assume that your employees understand that when a menu item says mac and cheese, that the noodles actually go with the cheese and they're not ordered as two separate items because two separate employees told them this. And so to the woman, it seemed crazy. And to us, and I'm sure our audience, it seems crazy too. Who on earth in the United States of America doesn't know that Mac and, and that means that there's two things that are supposed to go in this dish doesn't include the noodles, but
(14:00):
Clearly two people in that organization did not. And so I think as we think about internal and external communications, we want to be 100% clear. And it's not that you're treating your audience as though they're not intelligent, but you're making sure that there is no opportunity for them to misunderstand what is intended by your messaging. Even if it's something that seems like it's a common thing, take a moment, explain it.
Michelle Kane (14:34):
And that's so true from the internal perspective, hello. Just making sure that you're being clear to everyone that they understand what the thing is. And also internally, because I know we have this joke in my family sometimes, and you'll bless 'em, it'll be like a young server and you'll order a dish and they'll ask a question that you're like, you could tell you don't eat. This is true. Or when you get a young one you order. It's like, well, what wine do you have? Let me look. It's like red. I'm like, okay,
Karen Swim, APR (15:13):
I understand that it's small stuff, but it just makes you chuckle at time staffing shortages because I believe that this translates across industries. This is not just a restaurant or a
Michelle Kane (15:22):
Lifestyle issue.
Karen Swim, APR (15:24):
I think that your employees need to also, especially if they're going to be public facing, touch and feel, whatever it is that they're responsible for servicing, they need to understand it intimately. It can't just be a textbook. So if you're a restaurant, then you should set aside time so that you employees are tasting and seeing the dishes and understand what they taste like and understand what's in them because they're serving customers who have questions and they should understand what goes into making that. They should be able to answer questions. But the same thing. If you're a tech company and you are offering a service, your employees should use it so that they at least have some experience and can answer questions and understand when a customer is saying something is going wrong, even if you are not technical support. I think that that's one more step that we tend to skip these days in the entrance of time, we just silo everything. If you're not the technical support person, then you don't need to know that part. And if you're not in sales, then you don't need to know this part, but you're doing your employees a disservice.
Michelle Kane (16:36):
Yeah, I think it's very tempting to go that route, right? Because you just want to get, and especially as you said with staffing shortages, you just need people fulfilling roles. Even if that is the case, again, it's very tempting to just go, eh, we're fine. But even as you have them fill the roles, remember that the training side is so important and it really does matter in so many little ways that add up and can eventually impact the health of your business.
Karen Swim, APR (17:08):
Yes. Well, this has been fun. When you watch the videos, we hope that they give you a good laugh because both were well done, and we hope that if this puts you in the mind frame of mac and cheese, we hope that you get some good mac and cheese after listening to this episode.
Michelle Kane (17:29):
Yes, yes. None of that box stuff. Google, Patty LaBelle's over the Rainbow Mac and cheese, and then come tell me how you're feeling because it's good.
Karen Swim, APR (17:38):
Oh, wow.
Michelle Kane (17:38):
Shout out to Patty anyway, and if you do feel you've received some value out of this time together, please do share it around. We would love that, and we would love it if you would visit solo pr pro.com. That's where you can hear all of our back episodes and see what's in the pipeline for life as a solo in this business. And until next time, thanks for listening to That Solo Life.