Tag: Service That Sells

Four Ways to Elevate the Guest Experience

Here’s a short video of Mark Sanborn, at a speaking engagement for Buffalo Wildwings.  Interestingly, he speaks to “Four Ingredients of an Elevated Experience:”

1. The Guest Always Receives Value.  This means the Guest gets what they expect, even if their expectations aren’t right.

2. Surprise the Guest. If something was “as expected,” then its just “value.” However, if the Guest receives service or product that was not expected (in a pleasant way), then the guest is pleasantly surprised (and they will tell stories about your organization).

3. Your Job as a GM, Franchisee, or Manager is the Management of Guest Emotion.  The question is: “Did the Guest leave happier than when they came into your restaurant?” If they did, they’ll promote you (i.e. become a net promoter). THIS is the lifeblood of a brand…because Guests won’t simply tell bullet points about you, they’ll tell a (positive) story about you, and usually along the lines of “You MUST try this…” or “You MUST go there….”.

4. Guests Want to be Insiders! So know them. Know and use their names. Know and mention their “usuals.” Guests want credit for their loyalty!

Driving Customer (Guest) Experience Transformation

A short but informative video. Please note in particular, the “4 Customer (Guest) Experience Core Competencies.” They are described here as:

1. Purposeful Leadership: happens when leaders create a clear vision and act accordingly

2. Compelling Brand Values: having a strong sense of your brand’s values, which drives “who you are”

3. Employee Engagement: disengaged employees cannot create engaged customers (Guests); if you want employees to consistently deliver a great customer (Guest) experience, then they need to be valued, supported, and buy into your mission

4. Customer (Guest) Connectedness: in order to deliver on the needs of the customers (Guests), you must first understand those needs, Customer (Guest) Connectedness is about ensuring that all of your decisions are based on a deep understanding of what customers (Guests) are doing, thinking, and feeling. This takes a lot more than just using surveys

Customer Experience is not a veneer, but a reflection of the company’s culture and its operating processes (“Brilliant at the Basics!”)

If a company wants to build sustainable differentiation (from its competitors), then it will need to create a customer (Guest) centric organization.

A Look at How Chipotle Cultivates Its Future Leaders

Here’s an interesting look at how a leader in the QSR industry capitalizes on its organizational culture to grow, and select, future restauranteurs. If you doubt the value of organizational culture to the success of not just the organization, but its people, then take a look at how Chipotle uses it.