BY Darren Ross
Making my drive home along Ventura Boulevard in Studio City, I can’t help to notice that along so-called Sushi Row the disparity among the competition. Certain restaurants are consistently busy, while others have been deserted. I believe this is based largely on how they’re making their customers feel.
It’s never been more important for a service business to engage their customers and manage their experience from beginning to end.
This reminds me of a trip I took with my wife to New York a few years ago. We happened upon an establishment called Rice to Riches.
It was perfectly clean, inside and out. Picture your typical ice-cream parlor with a variety of tubs in the freezer cases with the labels identifying the flavor. Replace the freezer case with a refrigerator and replace the ice cream with pudding, and you’ve got Rice to Riches.
Atop the refrigerated case sat a carefully placed display of small boxes with a price tag of $3.50 each. We went over each flavor trying to narrow it down, we finally decided on French Toast. Happy that we finally came to a decision, I asked the clerk for a small container ($3.50) of French Toast (we’re sharing). She explained to me that French Toast Rice Pudding could not go in that small container. She explained that the small boxes are only for certain flavors (five in total). The clerk told me that we would have to get the next size up, called Solo, for $5. Although it was annoying, I let it go and ordered the Solo cup of pudding.
The clerk scooped/slopped the pudding into the container, which seemed to be unnecessarily thick plastic for a disposable container. I paid the $5 and she placed the pudding into a very nice shopping bag, complete with strap handles. As we were leaving the store, I looked into the bag and saw that one spoon was a very cool looking plastic spoon. Picture a shoe horn, but more narrow. It was like a special spoon designed for pudding. The second spoon was a cheap, plain plastic spoon. I didn’t know if this was a mistake.
I approached the clerk and asked for one more “pudding spoon.” The clerk said, “We can’t give two of those spoons for the Solo size.” To which my response was, “Are you kidding me?” She went on to explain that those were the rules. Having trouble letting stupid things go, I continued, “Let me just get this straight. I just paid $5 for rice pudding and I can’t get a second spoon?” The clerk said, “Right.” As we walked out of the store I said, “Good luck to you guys.” The clerk responded with a sarcastic, “Good luck to you too!”
Was it that the spoons are too expensive? Why are they buying such expensive spoons? How much could they cost at the most, 12 cents? Fourteen cents? Twenty-two cents? Are their margins so tight that this is going to have a significant impact on their bottom line? Is the demand for two spoons so great for the Solo-size pudding that there’s just no way they could accommodate all the requests and stay in business?
I don’t doubt that the clerk was doing exactly what she’s been trained to do (like a robot). “Solo equals one spoon. French Toast flavor is not to go into the small containers. Those are reserved for these five flavors over here. These are the rules.”
What’s the goal? Is it to maximize profit with every sale without deviation? Is it to have employees stick to predetermined policies with no room for flexibility?
I understand the need for lots of rules and policies in large organizations. There is obviously a long list of reasons as to why this is important for all businesses to some extent. What about when the customer is hit hard by your rules? What happens when your rules drive away business and you don’t even know about it?
Customer service
Rice to Riches is in the customer service business functioning as a rice pudding store. The hotel I manage is in the customer service business, functioning as a building in which people can spend the night. Don’t lose sight of that. Generation X and the emerging consumers in Generation Y are generally disloyal and with enormous buying power (in a normal economy), according to research. Unlike the baby boomers, you have to earn new business from these two generations and then have to work harder than ever to keep it.
By hiring people with energy, happiness and creativity you will more easily change the overall feel of your business for the better. These people will be more likely to deliver on your vision of the company. How do you want your customers to feel when they leave your store? Really think about it without limitations.
Talented employees and managers can get you there or at least much closer. Don’t underestimate the power of happiness and creativity in the work place. It gives your employees another reason to go to work a whole other reason! They’re encouraged to use their judgment and creativity knowing they won’t get in trouble for doing so. As long as everyone is going in the same direction and no laws are broken, be creative every day.
Employees should be empowered to make judgment calls that might cost your company a little money in the short term. I’m not suggesting that they have free rein to give the store away, but simply to make decisions that will create an extraordinary experience for your customer. To do this, the employee needs to know that you have their back. This is great for employee retention too.
You only have so much time to interact with your customers, don’t make it contentious or strained. This is Showtime! Don’t sweat a spoon. Don’t burden the customer with petty rules, it’s whatever they want. Each customer should be considered an opportunity to be creative, nice, engaging, friendly and truly unique. This is the cheapest marketing out there. The customer actually comes to you, spends money and you sell them on coming back by way of carefully managing their experience.
If you own a rice pudding store and a customer wants Jell-O, find it and sell it to them.
Darren Ross manages a hotel in Hollywood.
