Posted by Jeff Schacher on Wed, Aug 19, 2009 @ 10:04 AM
USA Today published an article
yesterday about how IHOP and other restaurants are trying to lure in
parents by letting kids eat free. Now this is not a discussion about
the power of free. It's just a look at dining from a parent's perspective.
I
have a very vivid memory about one particular lunch in Manhattan two
years ago. My wife and my two young daughters (ages 1 & 5) went to
one of our favorite Indian places in midtown. As we walked in, the
other diners looked at us as if we had the plague. I get it. No one
wants a bunch of kids creating a disturbance during their lunch hour,
but the issue I had is that this attitude was also on display from the
waitstaff and management. They never even gave us a chance. What if my
kids were well-behaved and quiet? (Which they were.)
Well I got the message that we were not welcome there and have not returned with or without my family.
That's
obviously the extreme. The typical experience is often indifference,
but let me point out another experience we had. We ate at another
Indian restaurant in upper Manhattan (I guess we eat a lot of Indian
food). We had one child at the time. She was about one year old and a
little fussy and I think our waiter sensed that my wife and I were a
little stressed out. He started to play with our daughter and then
offered to pick her up. She gladly went with him and he and the rest of
the staff entertained her for about 10 minutes while my wife and I ate
a peaceful meal. It was only 10 minutes, but it felt like an hour.
Needless to say, I left a very good tip.
We have told that story dozens of times to other people in the neighborhood and went back to that restaurant any chance we got.
The
point is that eating out with your kids can be difficult and stressful
and if there's a restaurant that is a little nicer to my kids or has
some crayons to throw at them they will get my business almost every
time.
In these economic times, it makes sense that some
companies are letting kids eat free. How much does a grilled cheese
sandwich cost to make anyway? Not only do they get the parents for a
meal, but they have a chance to create some loyalty and get them back
for more.
I've worked at "nice" restaurants that did not cater to
children and always tried to make them feel welcome when they came,
because it's just another chance to delight a guest, and I know if I
have a delighted child, I definitely have two delighted parents.
Posted by Jeff Schacher on Mon, Feb 02, 2009 @ 09:55 AM
It
sounds like the title of a book from a self-help guru (maybe it is),
but the power of one is an interesting idea for any business.
Basically, I mean that one person or one action can have a tremendous
amount of impact - good and bad.
I live in New York City where
pizza shops are plenty. Most residents have at least 2-3 choices from
which to buy pizza. My five year old daughter always wants to go to the
same place because on our first visit, the gentleman behind the counter
joked with her and now she loves to go back and see him.
That one
person with that one action of connecting to my daughter brings them
our business every week. Do you have one of those people working for
you? Imagine what having three people like that working for you could
do for your business.
On the flip side, my parents can't resist
telling people their story about a particular chain restaurant because
of a bad experience. That single experience has resulted in them never
going back and they have shared that story several dozen times over the
years.
Just imagine the different story that my parents would
be telling if just one of the employees had noticed them and their
issues and managed to turn around their dining experience into a
positive one. Not only would that employee have stopped dozens of
negative comments from spreading, but would have potentially sown the
seeds for dozens of positive comments and at the very least guaranteed
a return visit. This is quite a big swing and it's just one example. If
you multiply it for every employee, for every guest at every location
you can quickly see the potential.
I'm not suggesting that you
merely comp a bunch of items to make someone happy. Your guests want
genuine, authentic, positive interaction. That's what hospitality is.