Tonight my honey and I stopped in to get a quick dinner at a new upscale fast food place in town. Kind of a cool concept — healthy food, reasonable prices, nice building, but no fancy waiters or sommeliers. As we scrutinized the new place, honey says “You should write a blog about this experience.” I laughed. Then I thought a minute and realized he was right.
The food was good. Really, it was. But it was clear that whoever set all this up stopped short of considering what the entire customer experience would be like. It’s not just about the food. When you walk in the door of a brand new place that only has 2 tables occupied, you see the staff huddled up laughing and talking. OK, of course it’s alright to have fun. But someone finally nudged the girl nearest to us and she came over to greet us.
We read the menu eagerly, seeing several things that are enticing. We order and suddenly the manager swoops in and grabs our debit card right out of the cashier’s hand and says “Um, we’re no longer offering the chicken skewers. They…. um… didn’t present well. “ OK, dude. You’ve been open for 5 days. Don’t you think it would have been a good idea to test the recipes before you put that particular item on the menu? “But don’t worry, we’ll replace that with something else at some point. ”
We sit down and the food comes quickly, as advertised. Mind you there are 2 occupied tables in the place, and they bring us our food without the advertised sauce that goes with it. Helloooooooooo….. anybody paying attention here?
Honey comments on the interesting flatware. Yes, I nod, it’s nice looking. Then I pick it up and it spins in my hand. No kidding. It’s this swirly sort of slick round pattern and as soon as you pick it up, the fork flips upside down in your grasp. I’ve never seen that one before.
Now let me back up and repeat my first observation: the food was good. Really. But we walked away wondering about the future of this place. They got the food right. Prices are not bad. But the devil’s in the details. Do you really care if you have customers in here? It’s not that apparent that you do. You don’t greet people when they walk in the door. You tell them they can’t have the first thing they choose on the menu. You don’t give them everything they ordered. Then you give them magical twisty forks that make them struggle to eat their dinner.
Owning a business isn’t just about providing a good product. It’s about providing a great experience — from start to finish. What devilish details do you need to pay attention to in your business?
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
We had a very similar experience at a well-known restaurant here in Atlanta (except no trick forks for entertainment!) The owner/namesake has obviously invested a LOT of $$ in opening half a dozen of these restaurants and he has a reputation as a savvy businessman. But I guess he’s not hands-on in this part of his business.
I sent a “just thought you might like to know…” email with specifics but only received an impersonal reply (not even a coupon to “Give us another chance!”) So I guess we won’t be returning (or recommending it!)
Anyway, sometimes my dh and I wonder if we are uber-picky. It’s nice to hear others also notice those details. I just hope that when I miss a detail, someone gently tells me so I can fix it!
Karen
Karen –
Well, you may be uber-picky, but in my book that’s a good thing!
I find that people who notice those details are the ones who truly enjoy the experience (or not!) and who therefore want to ensure that when customers come to them, that those customers enjoy the details that we try so hard to give them!!!
Denise