Electronic House Call - July 13, 2007

ELECTRONIC HOUSE CALL - July 6, 2007

We are halfway through the year already. How has it been going so far? Are you on track to meet your 2007 goals? If not, what adjustments do you have to make to accomplish what you set out to do?

Do you need to align yourself with a Mastermind group? Do you need to delegate more? Do you need to re-think your goal ... or is the problem with your action plan (or lack of one)?

The key to huge accomplishments is Massive Determined Action. Over the past several months, I have shared some powerful interviews with members of my Gold Group -- radical ideas that can have a major impact on your business ... but only if you have the courage to actually implement them.

If you are not already a Gold Group subscriber, you can "test drive" it as my guest. Just take me up on my Best Free Offer Ever and get on the inside track.

FIRST THINGS FIRST
Get Off Your Butt and Get to Work!

At the risk of ruffling a few feathers, I feel a rant coming on.

I travel a lot, so I see a lot ... and what I see is a lot of mediocrity. Of course I am disappointed but it is hearbreaking to see how clueless people are. It doesn't matter if we are talking about restaurants, hotels, airlines or any other business that lives and dies by service quality ... and every business does. I can count the companies that "get it" and consistently deliver the goods on one hand (well, maybe two).

Most companies talk a lot about excellence but very few are willing to do the work required to actually deliver it. All the operators I run into say they want to be excellent, yet I suspect that most of them wouldn't recognize excellence if it jumped up and bit them.

If you are totally honest with yourself, I suspect you would have to admit that you talk a better game than you play ... and you still talk about excellence. You want to be excellent because it will increase sales, right? So what do you actually do? You focus on building sales rather than spending the time required to deliver the excellence!

You buy the latest marketing system guaranteed to "supercharge your profits" and "put your marketing on autopilot." You pour money into advertising. You spend a lot of time creating clever ads. You work on your database. You promote like crazy. I don't have a problem with any of this ... but it is all wasted effort until you do what you should have done in the first place.

In my opinion the way to become number one is to cut your ad budget and invest in better people and more training. You would be more prosperous if you focused on making your food and service better rather than on looking for a better ad agency.

I am fond of saying that there is nothing worse than a successful promotion for a bad experience. I also harp on my belief that the world doesn't need another place to eat. American consumers are becoming more educated and more demanding. Thanks to the Food Channel and extensive travel, many of your diners know more about food than the crew in your kitchen! They know what is possible

No matter how successful you have been, the surest recipe for disaster is to keep doing it just the way you have always done it. You only have to note the decline of two formerly "hot concepts" like Applebee's and Outback to see how quickly the market will grow right past you if you take your eye off the ball and start believing your own press releases.

To survive and prosper you have to be a good restaurant and you also have to be a good business. But it is dangerous to become more interested in the business aspects of your restaurant than in the restaurant aspects of your business.

First and foremost you must truly be a place of hospitality. That means staffing the place with people who give a damn about offering interesting food and personal service. It means high standards that you clearly communicate and are not willing to compromise. It means being very picky about who you hire. It means investing the time (and the money) necessary to be sure everyone on your staff is well-trained before they start ... and it means re-training them continually as long as they are with you. It means that your driving passion is not how good you HAVE to be, but how good you CAN be.

Those companies that invest as much time, effort and money in fostering quality products and responsive service as they do in advertising are going to see real dividends from their decisions. Those that don't will be statistics. Don't become road-kill on the highway to prosperity. Do the Work!

I feel better now.

TECHNOLOGY IS NOT AN OPTION!
Kicking and Screaming Into the 21st Century

Last month's survey dealt with technology and the ways operators are using it to make their businesses more responsive. The replies were interesting ... but there weren't nearly as many responses as there should have been. I say that because utilizing computers and other technology is no longer an option ... therefore everyone should have had something to contribute.

Sure, you managed to get things done for years without computers and using technology can certainly help you do what you are already doing a little faster and easier ... but that is not my point. The real value of current technology is in what it will allow you to do that is impossible (or at least unrealistic) to do without it. There are a wealth of new possibilities out there -- resources that didn't even exist a few years ago but which are rapidly becoming mainstream marketing channels.

Can you tell the same story as well in the Yellow Pages as you can with a well-designed website? Can you take reservations 24/7 without a service like Open Table? Can you transmit orders directly from the table to the kitchen without wireless terminals? Can you be relevant to business people without Wi-Fi access? What about text messaging and podcasts? The list goes on.

I won't try to go into all these possibilities today, but they are topics I will address in the coming months. For the moment, stop being proud of how little you know about computers. It is never too late to teach an old dog new tricks (particularly tricks the old dog needs to stay viable).

THE JULY SURVEY
We are halfway through the year -- time to check in and see what's on your mind. I know that time is tight this month, so let's use the July survey as a way to pause and take stock of where we are and where you want to go.

This month I am interested in knowing your finest accomplishments so far this year, your biggest concerns for the rest of the year and the issues you would like to see addressed in future surveys. I will close this survey on July 27th so I can take your comments into consideration when crafting the August survey.

As usual I will send a compilation of the responses to all who participate. In the meantime, you can download copies of all past EHC surveys -- including the massive WOW Ideas collections.

Add your thoughts to the monthly survey.

THE PERPETUAL QUESTION
"What did you learn from your staff today?"

Over the years I have been in this industry, what I have learned is that there are never bad kids, just bad parenting. Likewise there are never bad staff, just bad management.

When I read some of the "horror" stories in your newsletter, I can only conclude that the management (or the lack of) of these establishments created the environment for poor service. How can they be oblivious to shortfalls when they have a greater investment in the business (ostensibly) and their customer pays them a return on that investment? -- Naved Noorani, Vancouver, BC

When you master the art of listening -- really listening -- you will find that it will quiet your mind and suddenly you become aware of exciting new possibilities. The problems Naved points to are symptomatic of management that does not listen, but only hears what they already believe to be true. You can entertain possibilities without having to agree, disagree or have an opinion one way or the other.

Learning to listen to your staff -- and being intensely interested in what you hear -- will deepen the respect you have for each other. That will show up in the form of increased productivity, lower turnover, a more positive working climate and fewer on-the-job "emergencies."

Never doubt that the most important (and profitable!) skill you can develop is your ability to truly listen.

What did you learn from YOUR staff today?

I will continue to collect your answers to this important question until they put me in the ground. Just click on the link above and contribute your insights for the common good ... and your own as well!