Every one of us has been there.

We've been host to a couple on a first date, or two business men (or women) working through the final pieces of their partnership puzzle, or a son-in-law to be taking out his father-in-law to be to have the big conversation.

After an evening of cocktails and dreams and the start to a beautiful friendship or love affair, or partnership, you attempt to ring the credit card of the son-in-law to be, or the new business partner only to find............DECLINED

If you're like most of us, you dread having to walk back up to that happy couple, still floating on the new relationship high and have to break the news that the card was declined. Only to have to watch the new boyfriend squirm, laugh awkwardly, assure his new love that this never happens, and hope that he has another form of payment. Or maybe the business partners start to look at each other funny, as if there is more that needs to be disclosed for this venture to work.

BUT...

Even if it there is nothing wrong with a credit card, they can still get declined. Travel, new spending patterns, just about anything can set off a security flag that leads to a declined card. But as someone that has been on both sides of the bar when it happens, it isn't pretty.

There is an easy solution. And it goes like this.

1. Print out a small card that simply says "Our apologies, there was a problem with the form of payment that you've provided. Could you please provide another" (write it on a napkin if you have to)

2. Place the message inside the check presenter and simply hand it back to the patron with a smile on your face.

3. They will open it, find the card, and replace it, usually without their dinner date's awareness that anything was amiss.

4. You will re-ring and come back with a confident smile because you just saved the relationship, saved the business, saved the marriage, or at least saved yourself from having to have a discussion that you did not want to have.

5. This simple change will not only make keep an extraordinary evening, well extraordinary, it will make a customer for life of the person whose bacon you saved.

Simple changes lead to remarkable customer experiences. And we have a lot of them to share. Try this one out and let my know what happens!