Sorridi Hospitality Services
The Bounce Back Method

Module 1
Why We Bounce Back

THE BOUNCE BACK METHODModule 1 — Why We Bounce Back
Jim Milley, creator of The Bounce Back Method
Meet your course creator

I never planned on hospitality.

I actually wanted to be a teacher.

I never went to school for hospitality. I fell into it — starting as a groundskeeper at a hotel, moving into maintenance, and eventually finding my way to the front desk.

Along the way, I discovered that I genuinely enjoyed the human side of the business — especially the moments when a guest was angry or disappointed and there was an opportunity to turn the experience around.

One of the first moments that showed me I might have found the right industry happened in 1997.
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The truth is, hospitality was never the plan for me. I actually wanted to be a teacher. I never went to school for hospitality. I more or less fell into the hotel business — starting as a groundskeeper, moving into maintenance, and eventually finding my way onto the front desk. But somewhere along the way, I discovered that I really enjoyed the human side of the business — especially the moments when a guest was angry or disappointed and there was an opportunity to turn the experience around. One of the first moments that showed me hospitality might actually fit me happened in 1997.

1997 — Early in my career

A letter I kept.

I was a brand-new front desk agent when I became involved with a couple whose experience with the hotel had already gone badly.

I happened to know something about their reservation that told me there was more to the story, so I stepped in and took ownership of what happened next.

A few days later, a letter arrived for the hotel’s general manager.I kept it.

Something they wrote near the end of that letter stayed with me — and helped shape my career.

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In 1997, when I was still a brand-new front desk agent, I became involved with a couple whose experience with the hotel had already gone badly. I happened to know something about their reservation that told me there was more to the story, so I stepped in and took ownership of what happened next. A few days later, a letter arrived for the hotel’s general manager. I kept that letter. There was something about that incident — and particularly something they wrote near the end of that letter — that stayed with me. It helped me realize that maybe I had fallen into an industry that actually fit me. We’ll come back to that letter before this course is over.

1997
BB
We’ll come back to this.
Module 1 — Why We Bounce Back

Something went wrong.

In hospitality, it will.

The service failure matters. What happens next can matter even more.

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We work hard to get things right: the reservation, room, meal, arrival, experience. But hospitality is delivered by people, through systems, to other people, and sometimes something goes wrong. The failure matters. What happens next can matter even more. Welcome to Module One: Why We Bounce Back.

Bounce Back icon: gold ball rising above a white staircaseBounce Back
Before the method

Your first instinct.

You are the manager. Mr. Griffin has asked to speak with you. Before we teach you a recovery method, respond exactly as you would if this happened today.

The situation

Mr. Griffin asks to speak to a manager.

He approaches the front desk visibly upset. The front desk agent goes to the back and the Front Office Manager comes out to speak with him. Mr. Griffin explains why he is unhappy:

Activities, the campfire and the outside bar are available on weekends, but he feels there are not enough things available during the week.
The steam room is out of order.
Multiple colleagues have given him inconsistent information about policies.
Some colleagues have explained service limitations by telling the Griffins the property is “short staffed.”
You are the manager

What would you do?

There is no grade and no trick. Write what you would genuinely say and do next.

Once saved, we’ll keep it sealed and bring it back later in the course.
✓
First response saved.

Leave it there. We’ll return to the same situation after you have worked through the method.

Do not try to give the “course answer.” We want your instinct before the course has influenced it.
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Before we teach you anything else, I want to capture your first instinct. Imagine that you are the manager and Mr. Griffin has asked to speak with you. Read the situation carefully and write down what you would genuinely say and do. There is no grade, no trick and no model answer at this point. Save your response. We are going to keep it and come back to it later.

Why “Bounce Back”?

We strive to get the experience right the first time.

Sometimes we drop the ball. A twelve-step hotel staircase leads back toward Trust, illustrating the Bounce Back Method as 12 deliberate steps from service failure to trust.
Jesse audio to be added

That is how trust is established. But even excellent hospitality teams sometimes miss the mark. A room is not ready. A meal is wrong. A promise is not delivered. A guest is disappointed. Sometimes, we drop the ball. Bounce Back is the deliberate process of moving from a service failure back toward trust — one step at a time. The 12 steps will become the staircase we use to rebuild the relationship.

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We strive to get the experience right the first time. That's how trust is established. But even the best hospitality businesses sometimes miss the mark. A room isn't ready. A meal is wrong. A promise isn't delivered. A guest is disappointed. In other words, we've dropped the ball. We can't undo the moment the ball dropped, but we can decide what happens next. Bounce Back is the deliberate process of moving from a service failure back toward trust. And we do it one step at a time.

The audience has changed

One guest. One problem.
A potentially enormous audience.

The experienceOne guest

One moment of hospitality.

The shareOne story

Review. Photo. Video. Post.

The reachA potentially enormous audience

The story can travel far beyond the guest.

The story the guest leaves with can travel.

Updated Jesse audio to be added
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A dissatisfied guest once had a small audience. Today, reviews, photos, video and social media can carry an experience around the entire world in a matter of minutes. And that story can become one of the best things that ever happened to your brand — or one of the worst. By bouncing back from a service failure, we give ourselves a much better chance that it won’t be the latter.

A message from Dave Carroll

Dave, in his own words.

A personal welcome from Dave will introduce the course in his own voice.

DC

Dave Carroll

Dave’s custom course introduction will replace this placeholder when his recording is available.

Suggested dialogue for Dave — completely optional
A starting point only
“Hi, I’m Dave Carroll. I’ve known Jim for a long time, and when he told me about The Bounce Back Method, the idea immediately connected with my own experience. My story with United Airlines became a very public example of what can happen when an organization repeatedly misses opportunities to recover. What started with a damaged guitar became something much bigger. As you work through this course, Jim is going to show you how those moments can be handled differently — and how a service failure can still become an opportunity to rebuild trust.”
This is only a suggested direction. Dave should use whatever words feel natural and authentic to him.
The case study

The story that became United Breaks Guitars.

You’ve just met my friend Dave Carroll.Now let’s look at the service-recovery story you’re about to watch.

The damaged guitar started the failure. The bigger lesson is what happened after the problem was known.

The failure

A guitar was damaged.

The missed recovery

The problem was known, but the opportunities to change the ending kept slipping away.

The story travels

Dave turned the experience into United Breaks Guitars, and the complaint reached an audience far beyond the original interaction.

As you watch, ask yourself: Where was the real opportunity to Bounce Back?
Updated Jesse audio to be added
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You’ve just met my friend Dave Carroll. On the next screen, you’re going to see the story that turned his experience into one of the best-known customer-service examples of the social-media era.

A damaged guitar started the failure, but that isn’t the most important part of the story. The bigger lesson is how many opportunities there were to recover after the problem was known.

Dave eventually turned that experience into United Breaks Guitars. As you watch, ask yourself: where was the real opportunity to Bounce Back?

Watch the story

United Breaks Guitars

Watch Dave Carroll’s original video. Keep one question in mind:  Where could the story have changed?
United Breaks Guitars — Dave Carroll original videoUnited Breaks Guitars — Dave Carroll

Opens Dave Carroll’s original video on YouTube. Return here when you’re finished.

WATCH ON YOUTUBE ↗

What ultimately caused the greatest damage?

The service failure began the story.
The failed recovery became the story.
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What caused the greatest damage? A: a baggage handler damaged a guitar. B: Dave was unhappy about the repair cost. C: an employee failed to immediately offer compensation. Or D: the organization repeatedly missed opportunities to recover. Choose the best answer.

The cost of not recovering
A $1,200 recovery opportunity became a global story.
31+ MILLIONViews of the original video

Seventeen years after the upload, the original video remains one of the best-known customer-service complaints online.

150+ MILLIONPeople introduced to the story

Dave estimates the story has reached more than 150 million people across social and traditional media.

GLOBAL COVERAGEA customer complaint became international news

CNN, BBC, The Wall Street Journal, CBS and many other outlets carried the story.

MULTI-MILLION-DOLLAR FINANCIAL FALLOUTThe viral period coincided with a sharp movement in United's share price

The episode was widely reported alongside a multi-million-dollar decline in market value, pushing the consequences far beyond the original complaint.

BUSINESS CASE STUDIESStill taught 17 years later

Harvard Business School and other universities have used the incident to examine social media, brands and customer-service failure.

UNITED USED IT FOR TRAININGThe complaint became the lesson

United later said it planned to use the video internally as customer-service training.

The brand could no longer control the story.
And 17 years later, we are still teaching the lesson.
Want the full story?Explore Dave Carroll's story, case studies, music and speaking work.
Go check out Dave ↗
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Dave’s twelve-hundred-dollar recovery opportunity became a global story: about 30 million views, more than 150 million people reached, worldwide media coverage, financial fallout, and business-school case studies still taught 17 years later. United even used it for training. The brand lost control of the story.

The moment of choice

Once something goes wrong, what happens next?

We can...

  • Defend
  • Dismiss
  • Delay
  • Explain
  • Pass the guest along
→

Or we can...

BOUNCE BACK
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Once a guest tells us something went wrong, we have a choice. Defend, dismiss, delay, explain, pass the guest along — or Bounce Back.

The method

What Bounce Back means

1
Understandwhat happened.
2
Understandwhat it means to this guest.
3
Actto rebuild the relationship.
Notice what we did not say:
“Give them something.”
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Bounce Back is deliberate service recovery. Understand what happened. Understand what it means to this guest. Then take the right action to rebuild the relationship. Notice what I did not say: give them something.

A critical distinction
RECOVERY
≠
COMPENSATION

Compensation can be exactly right. But it is one recovery tool, not the recovery process.

What should I give them?
What does this situation require?
One tool. One purpose.
A recovery toolCompensation

It may be exactly right — when it fits the situation.

What does this situation actually require?
Use judgement before choosing the recovery.
The goalRebuild the relationship
Compensation may be one tool. Rebuilding trust is the goal.
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Compensation can be part of recovery. A meal, upgrade, discount, or even a complimentary room may be right. But compensation is a tool, not the process. Do not start with, what should I give them? Start with, what does this situation require?

Micro decision

A guest approaches you...

“My room still isn't ready. I've been waiting forty minutes.”

What should your first instinct be?

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A guest says, 'My room still isn't ready. I've been waiting forty minutes.' What should your first instinct be? A: offer breakfast. B: offer an upgrade. C: explain why housekeeping is behind. Or D: understand the guest and situation before deciding on recovery.

A recovery affects more than one person

The Four Stakeholders

Select each stakeholder. Their explanation will be narrated.

The strongest recovery works for all four.
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Every recovery has four stakeholders: guest, business, brand, and colleague. Select each one to hear what it means.

Stay focused on the goal

Bounce Back does not mean...

×Agreeing with everything a guest says
×Taking blame for things we didn't cause
×Compensating every complaint
×Spending whatever it takes to make a problem disappear
The goalAppropriate
Recovery
Sometimes recovery costs nothing.
Sometimes it is expensive.
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Bounce Back does not mean agreeing with everything a guest says, taking blame for things we did not cause, compensating every complaint, or spending whatever it takes. Sometimes recovery costs nothing. Sometimes it is expensive. The goal is appropriate recovery.

The method exists for a reason

12 steps.
In order. With purpose.

A common recovery mistake is jumping ahead because we want the discomfort to end.

The solution comes later than you might think.
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Good recovery is not just instinct. You will learn twelve steps from the first complaint through final follow-up. The sequence matters because a common mistake is solving before we properly understand. The solution comes later than you might think.

Leader Lens

Can your people actually recover?

What you can do.

People need to know what they can do.

When to ask for help.

People need to know when to ask for help.

Judgement will be supported.

Reasonable judgement will be supported.

Recovery requires empowerment. You cannot expect excellent recovery from employees who are afraid to make decisions.
Front line? Knowing what you can own — and when to ask for help — is part of becoming exceptional at recovery.
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Leader Lens. You cannot expect excellent recovery from employees who are afraid to decide. People need to know what they can do, when they need help, and that reasonable judgement will be supported. Front-line colleagues also need to know what they can own and when to ask for help.

Knowledge Check

Three quick questions

Question 1 of 3
✓ Knowledge Check complete. You're ready for the close.
Module 1 complete

Before we can Bounce Back,
we need to understand what we're dealing with.

1
SEVERITY

How serious is the issue?

2
QUANTITY

What else has happened?

3
TEMPERATURE

Where is the guest emotionally?

Next: Module 2 — Diagnose the Situation
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You now know why recovery matters, why compensation is only one tool, and why strong recovery considers the guest, business, brand, and colleague. Next, we learn to diagnose the situation: how serious is it, what else has happened, and where is the guest emotionally? Module Two: Severity, Quantity, Temperature.