Page 40 - foodservice magazine Feb 2019

40
MANAGEMENT
TONY ELDRED
FOOD SERVICE
The number of hospitality operators who don’t recognise the weaknesses in their businesses that are obvious to their customers is a constant source of disappointment to me. Many factors contribute
to this, but mainly if the operator has been there a long time, they can often become store-blind and no longer
see the dirt in the corners, metaphorically speaking.
They can also succumb to
the unrepresentative positive feedback from a small group
of regulars who crave the personal attention of the owner, meanwhile others are avoiding returning because
of poor perception of quality, service or value.
The problem is diminished when the owner hails from a front-of-house background, because they may communicate directly with more customers and should therefore gain
much more accurate feedback. Businesses that are owned by chefs who are running them from the kitchen are much more likely to adopt the attitude
that “it’s all about the food”, while ignoring the many other
factors that create customers’ perceptions of their venue.
I learned many years ago, after losing a couple of clients who shot the messenger after being told that a basic problem with their business was that their standards were just not competitive, to assess business performance by objective means. I now avoid giving an opinion, and measure customer perception almost scientifically.
In an early incarnation I was
a senior manager in the fast food industry. The company I worked for sent “mystery shoppers” into each store once a week. The resulting reports were quantified and the managers lived and died by their scores. Initially, most managers hated it, using emotive terms like “big brother” and “company spies”. I was one of them.
What I wasn’t prepared for was the rapid improvement in store performance that resulted from concrete, regular feedback. This came to be regarded as the most important of a manager's KPIs (key performance indicators).
Customer satisfaction underpins growth and profitability, and it soon
Tony Eldred operates Eldred Hospitality, The Hospitality Management Specialists. Contact him on (03) 9813 3311 or at www.eldtrain.com.au
dawned on all of us that successful businesses evolved by listening to customer feedback and reacting to it.
I was converted. In retrospect it’s obvious, but many people don’t seem to get it.
Most hospitality operators measure money and stock, and religiously track the ratios of income to wages and COGS (cost of goods sold) and so on. However they fail to accurately measure customer satisfaction. Because many make no attempt to measure and manage satisfaction, I have to assume they do not place real importance on it. I judge them by what they do; not by what they say.
CHECK YOUR BLIND SPOT
WEAKNESSES IN A FOODSERVICE BUSINESS ARE OFTEN PAINFULLY OBVIOUS TO THE CUSTOMER, BUT INVISIBLE TO THE OWNER. TONY ELDRED EXPLAINS HOW REGULAR REPORTING OF CUSTOMER PERCEPTION CAN HELP RETAIN A BUSINESS'S LOYAL CUSTOMERS, AND ATTRACT NEW ONES.
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