No BS (or, our new feedback policy!).

We follow some other blogs, we do, and one that Jani likes a lot is is Leonie Dawson's. Today's post on her blog, 'How to install a no BS clause in your life' resonated with us.  It's all about how she just flat out doesn't accept negativity from people.  If you are doing something visible in the world, it's only a matter of time before somebody does a good ol' rant about you, usually in a public forum.  In fact, it can be argued that "haters" and "trolls" as they are now referred to are a measure of success.  It can be easy to focus on these situations, which takes your mind off the important things you're trying to get done.

Like Leonie, we know that we don't put BS out into the world. Au contraire, our crew put in hours of love, passion, and cake making to bring awesomeness to Southampton. Most of those hours are volunteer hours, too, because our crew totally rock.

 

Look at 'em!

So, as we were feeling official, we introduced a 'no BS Clause' to our 'new feedback policy'- you can check if you like!

To any organisation, feedback is one of the best things people can give us - feedback not only about what's working, but what's not.  So, why do we think a no BS clause works for us? Surely all us service industry types must chant the same mantra:

"The customer is always right."

Except, sometimes the customer is just handing out BS, and that's the honest truth of it. If it's a spade, we're going to call it a spade.

The positive stuff is easy - just keep it coming, folks! We are blessed with supporters who voice their satisfaction on a regular basis and we share your comments with ALL our crew so they get to feel the love, too.  The feedback that *isn't* all about how fabulous we are is the real gold dust though. Seriously.

A customer telling us when we're going off course improves what we provide. From somebody sending back a chipped teacup to a regular suggesting something they'd love to see, we rely on your engagement with us to keep our standards high. We know that this feedback comes from a place of support and a willingness to see us succeed, and we love to get it.

But what about that other stuff?

The angry person who brings their own BS to the table, which isn't about what we've done?  The ones who have expectations of us that have nothing to do with what we're actually about and go all trolly on our facebook wall when they don't like what we're doing?

Well, we've got a clause wot says we'll have none of it!  We won't feed the trolls, we're too busy doing awesomeness, thanks.

Our crew are the most soft-hearted, kind, thoughtful people IN THE WORLD (ok we may be a tad biased but you get the idea). There are some people out there who are unhappy or angry about some stuff, and they think lovely people like our people will put up with their venting that bad stuff at us. They are mistook.

Consider BS on the Internet: let's be honest, the public online rant is not very different to somebody walking into our cafe and complaining loudly enough for everyone else to hear. We won't leave negative rants on any of our newsfeeds, or answer emails that aren't polite. That's what the delete, unfriend, block buttons were invented for and we aren't afraid to use them.

In our cafe, the same applies (though there is no delete button, obviously, because that would be little extreme).  

Out in the big, bad world, waiting or bar staff are soft targets for the Grumpy and Entitled. We've all cringed in a restaurant whilst some hapless server gets the BS treatment, unable to say anything in case they get fired. Here, it is the rude customer who will be asked to leave, not the crew member who will get sacked.

Now all of this sounds rather bada**ed for a bunch of peace-loving veggies, doesn't it! 

Fear not, gentle reader.  In reality we are super, super lucky little campers. BS is a rare occurrence for us as we are blessed, pretty much all the time, with the best customers EVER (again, we admit to bias). Smiley and lovely, you are, polite, and super forgiving of our mistakes.

If we mess something up, we know that those who really support us will tell us off to one side, or in a private message - politely and thoughtfully.  You'll assume we've done things with the very best of intentions and treat us accordingly.  Because truly, truly that's what we do - the best of intentions at all times.  

You're not so much customers, as friends who help chip in for the rent and stuff, which is why we know that you will be totally down and funky with the no BS policy.