The $10 rule: underwrite your team’s judgment

At my Chick-fil-A, one of the most helpful rules of thumb we've given each of our frontline team members is this: if they can resolve a guest issue for less than $10, just do it. Replace the sandwich, fix the salad, and so on.

We acknowledge that a very low percentage of guests will be deceitful, and we might get conned out of free food or pay for a mistake we did not make. If it happens to be a one-off situation where the team member took action that they should not have, this is a great coaching opportunity to say, "Hey, when this happens again next time, here's the better approach."

Worst case, my guy or gal makes an oopsie that costs the business $10 or less. We can absorb this, knowing it's even more expensive to handle formal corporate complaints, bad reviews online, negative word of mouth, and credit card disputes or refunds.

Best case, we quickly resolve guest issues and recover that guest by winning them back, which hopefully leads to a repeat visit.

I never want our team taking initiative and being scared of reprisal or worried about what happens if they made the wrong decision. As leaders, we have to underwrite their choices, which creates a culture of trust and care.

Hope that idea helps someone.