The Restaurant Leadership Conference is a top-to-top, invitation only event where the most progressive executives and influential leaders in the industry gather once a year. To be in attendance was truly an honor and the caliber of speakers at this event was outstanding (headlined by former President George W. Bush).
Conference Themes
The overall theme for this conference was “The Vision Advantage”, which focused on the trends, ideas and insights that will be key drivers of future success within the Restaurant Industry.
A key issue raised by restaurant operators was with respect to trying to comply with the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act. There are a lot of unknowns out there and everyone is asking what position/steps need to be taken to prepare for the new health care law. With little in the way of answers to these questions, restaurant operators are preparing for anything and everything with multi-layered plans based on what they think will be required of them.
Outside of worrying about the unknown impact of health care, the customer experience was a key topic with a great deal of discussion centered on the following topics:
1. Customer loyalty and expectations are constantly evolving – how do you keep customers engaged and coming back for more?
- The most effective ways to keep your customers engaged and delivering the ultimate experience.
2. Employees = Brand Ambassadors
- There were several great examples of how companies are utilizing their employees to enrich the customer experience and drive customer loyalty. “The customer experience never exceeds the team member experience.” - Taco Bell CEO, Greg Creed
3. Driving behaviors through incentives
- Rewarding employees will drive service, revenue and passion. Five Guys Burgers and Fries COO, Sam Chamberlain, discussed how they’ve empowered their employees to reinforce their brand image by awarding their crew members $18 million dollars in incentives last year for delivering exceptional customer service.
The Solutions
For companies looking to embark on these types of initiatives in an effort to improve the customer experience, we at TrendSource came up with these solutions that are useful in addressing these areas.
1. Employee Incentives – Rewards and Recognition
Get a head start on your competitors and learn how employee/operational rewards programs will encourage service excellence and drive revenue in your stores. A well-developed, communicated and executed employee incentive program will develop a strong service culture by making your employees Brand Ambassadors.
2. Employee Engagement – Why and How?
Employees need to feel like they are an integral part of solving the problem. They need to be engaged from the beginning as the customer experience really lies in the hands of frontline staff. Every point of customer contact must be consistent with an organization’s vision. High involvement from all levels, especially leaders and supervisors, is critical. An unwavering commitment to a solid action plan with understanding of the expectations and ownership of the results are the only ways that a cultural change will occur to support a successful transformation.
3. Tools to Measure Outcomes – Is the Strategy Working?
Proper methodology for measuring results is a critical component of the transformation process. The ability to point to a scoreboard at select intervals in time and say, “Hey, look! It’s working. We’re winning!” is important, because celebrating those successes is what will drive and reinforce the commitment needed from the organization. Presenters at the conference mentioned a myriad of tools that they use as the “scoreboard” including surveys, mystery shops, rewards/incentive programs, profit sharing plans and many more.
So Now What?
First, you should save the date for the 2014 Restaurant Leadership Conference (March 30 – April 2). Secondly, focus heavily on your employees as they are the eyes and ears of your entire organization.
For more information, including the most effective market research tactics for managing your customer experience, contact trustedinsight@trendsource.com.
