I’m speaking out! I want to kick some management butt today. Customer service is not rocket science, after all, but there is one place where upper and middle management of the fast-casual concepts need to work ASAP. This is the wait-to-order line, forming from the registers and going around and around the ropes, finally ending all the way at the front door. What is going on?
The concept offers delectable soups and salads, not to mention out-of-this-world sandwiches and frozen delights. What is the reason for the delay? Oh, only two registers are open for business. So what are you telling me, your guest? That you do not care? You don’t want my money? And by the way, I’m the guest; I’m the person who pays the bills. Are you telling me to go stand on the line and wait for my turn? Why do you have to make my experience so lengthy and unpleasant?
The management is so brainwashed to the idea of meeting the quota for percentage-of-labor used that they leave the registers unstaffed. Receiving payment, to them, is not a top priority! We must agree that one of the four keys to driving the customer-branded experience is deliberate customer service. Consider that the guests will certainly talk about a bad experience at length, and usually, there are one or more listeners that will add their negativity to the conversation as well. The guests will generalize one bad experience, followed by another, and they will say that the service of this brand is horrible. Statistics say that 60% of the issues are service issues. It is unbelievable that we have concepts that will set the bar high on the goal for customer loyalty, even as high as 75% satisfaction, and consider a mere 62% satisfaction on the wait-to-order line as a great score!
We, as managers, fail to understand that even when the major complaint is the order’s accuracy, the root of dissatisfaction starts with the guest waiting to order, especially when the registers are unstaffed. Believe it or not, the waiting-to-order lines can average from five to ten minutes. I challenge every manager of a fast casual restaurant with a wait-to-order line (and you, the guest), to do this simple experiment. Please, stand in the middle of a room. Pretend you are the guest who is waiting to order. Stand until you do not want to wait any longer. Ask yourself to estimate the time you were waiting. Check your stop watch. I‘ll bet you that it felt way much longer than you thought. Imagine that you look straight ahead and there are six more registers unstaffed! Imagine that you, the guest, will pay a part of the bills for this concept! How upsetting!
The second key to driving the customer-brand experience is a differentiated customer experience. I’m talking to you, owners and managers. You need to take action, and separate your brand from the pack. Reduce the wait-to-order time if your plan is to drive loyalty and increase the bottom-line profits. You should not shy away from proclaiming that making money is a good idea. Decide and proclaim, “I won’t make my guests wait before I take their money!” Place your plans for staffing in motion, and follow up until every register is ready to accept money from the guests who are waiting to order. Differentiate your service! YOU CARE!
By the way, it is perfectly OK for you, the guest, to ask for the manager and inquire as to why the registers are unstaffed. Consider the fact that neither apologizing, any offered excuses, nor even opening another register, will probably make you happy. You are already upset!
How many times in your life as a consumer run into this issue?
I’m interested on your feedback, your questions, and your best practices. I’ll promise to reply by e-mail.
Tommy Antonopoulos
Your Bottom Line Consultant
Three Decades of Passion and Experience
Bottomlineconsultant@gmail.com
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