All Employees Are Involved in Sales – Part I

Posted on | June 20, 2009 | No Comments

Have you ever been at a restaurant and your food order is wrong, but the waiter or waitress blames the cooks?  More than once I’ve heard a waitress say something like: “They get half the orders screwed up on Friday nights.”   Or, “They’re not the smartest cooks.”  Or, “We’re short on help back there tonight.”  Here’s my all time favorite: “I’m not your waitress.  You’re not in my section.  I’ll send over your waitress.”

Frankly, I don’t care!  That’s not my problem!  I don’t work here.  I’m the customer, for goodness sake!

When I order coleslaw, rather than fries, I do not want to hear a waitress blame the cooks.  I just want my coleslaw.  And, I want my waitress to make me feel like the entire restaurant staff feels bad that I didn’t get my coleslaw.  After all, I came to a restaurant for the service as well as the food.  I could have served myself a meal at home.  Part of the reason I went to a restaurant is to sit there and not work.  I expect service.  Good service. 

I AM NOT UNIQUE IN MY EXPECTATIONS!   That’s every customer’s expectations, which should drive virtually every business function in every business.  The businesses that make customers feel special win.  Period.

I expect warm food, and my order served timely and as ordered.  I should NEVER hear a waitress distinguish herself from the kitchen.  There are not two separate operations within a restaurant.  There are no seating or service “sections” that the customer needs to know about.  Not from the customer’s perspective, and only the customer’s opinion counts.  No host or hostess should talk about the kitchen staff or the wait staff as different or distinct from the host’s job.  No waiter should pass the buck to another waiter.  If a customer needs something, EVERY waiter in the joint is eligible to address that customer’s needs, wants and demands.  A restaurant is a single entity and offers a single customer experience.  And that concept should be drilled, taught and mandated by management in restaurants and every other business type.  YOUR BUSINESS INCLUDED!

 For more thoughts on this subject, please take a look at the follow up post-  All Employees Are In Sales-  Part II

Recession? Or opportunity to increase market share?

Posted on | April 3, 2009 | 2 Comments

You think we’ve got it bad here in the United States?  You think the recession feels like the end of life as we know it?  Do you think this is as bad as it can get?

Hogwash!

We’ve got it made in the USA!

Hard work and intelligence go a long, long way in this country.  This is truly, absolutely and without doubt THE land of opportunity.  Unfortunately, it’s also the land of complainers and whiners.  We’re spoiled.  We have an extremely high standard of living, ready credit (even now!), free primary education, tons of governmental services, social safety nets, and opportunities every where.  Yet, most of what you hear these days is doom and gloom.

I just got back from the Caribbean, Panama and Costa Rice.  I can tell you from personal observation that we are very, very lucky to be in the USA.  The fine folks living in Central America do not have the infrastructure, markets, education, credit or opportunities we enjoy here in the USA.   It’s not even a comparison!

Yet, all I hear these days is how bad things are, and how people are suffering.  We’re suffering?  Really?  Tell that to 90% of the World’s people.  THEY are suffering.  WE are just feeling sorry for ourselves.  I know people have lost jobs and income in this country, but we have it GREAT here compared to what the rest of the World has to endure.

If you want to end the recession, then GET MOVING.  Stop waiting for Congress (which helped to screw this up in the first place!) to solve our problems.  If you own your own business, grow it faster.  Hire more workers.  Order more materials and parts.  If you manage business operations, get better at it.  Do something to make your operations better and better and better.  Get better every day, and your business will grow.  You’ll have to hire more workers.  You’ll create more jobs.  And, you’ll make more profits.

If we all stop listening to the bad news, the media will stop reporting it.  So, turn off the TV and stop reading Yahoo’s news on line.  Instead, get busy!

92% of us are employed.   Interest rates are still incredibly low.  Credit is hard to find, but you can still find credit or credit substitutes.  Try building strategic partnerships and alliances in lieu of financing.  Consider trades and exchanges with other businesses.  Talk to your customers, clients, vendors, suppliers, employees and even your competitors.  You never know where you’ll find opportunities. . .  especially if you’re not looking.

So, stop worrying.  Stop complaining.  And start making it happen.  The sooner we all get busy, the sooner the recession will end.