Right before this past Passover, I had almost finished cleaning my kitchen. That meant eating out for lunch. Because honestly, who wants to cook when you’re cleaning a kitchen?
Hubby wanted falafel.
The rest of us opted for shawarma.
It was easy to do because both stores are right next to each other.
Because it was days before Passover, we knew there would be a line. We prepared ourselves for a wait.
Our Falafel experience
We started with the falafel store.
The line was long. About 6 people before us. Each ordering multiple servings.
The owner was manning the station (with two young women filling up the salads as needed).
Every customer got exactly what they asked for and a smile.
Every serving was overflowing with falafel, salad, pickles, you name it.
Within no time it was our turn.
The owner smiled, said a kind word, and proceeded to fill up our pita with layer upon layer of goodness. You would think there is no more room, but he pushes more in.
We leave happily to the next store.
Our shawarma experience
Only two people ahead of us (yay, short wait right? Wrong)
Four people are manning the station. But there's a mess. It is not clear who is doing what.
Finally someone took our order but then turned his back on us and after a minute someone else asked what we want.
After clearing up the confusion, we ordered and paid.
Now we wait till someone makes our servings.
Somehow, 5 people got served before us.
Finally I put my foot down and they started prepping our serving.
But then someone else gots in front of us (due to the servers, not the customer).
Such a mess!!!
Plus, there were signs everywhere limiting what the store served and what they offered. They didn’t want more hassle before the holiday.
Spot the difference
Such a huge difference in the experience.
One place makes you feel invited and welcome. Really opens up the heart.
The other makes you feel like you are a burden on the employees.
One makes the wait pleasant, the other makes you want to leave at every point in the journey.
And most importantly, one makes you want to come back for more, the other makes you look for an alternative before the meal is even served.
I could argue that the falafel store owner was the one giving the service, whereas in the shawarma store, it was a bunch of employees. And that’s part of it.
Getting your employees to care about your customers and the level of service is important.
But it’s also a matter of having clearly defined steps and values that guide the work.
The bigger picture
You would think I am speaking about 2 specific stores, but in reality, this story is true for any business.
Take a look at the customer service your customers get.
Is it personal?
Accommodating?
Always with a smile?
Do people want to work with you and will they wait in line if they have to?
Now take a look at your employees.
Do they know what their tasks are?
Do they have a clear timeline for performance?
Do they know what others on the team need to do?
Are they clear on where to go if they have questions?
Having order, procedures and systems in place can help ensure your customers get top notch service no matter who is speaking with them.
The clearer your processes are for your employees, the better service your clients will get.
Fix your own process
It’s never too late to define processes and get your business streamlined.
Write out a list of the different processes you have. In the service industry, for example, these can include a sales pipeline, project management, content creation, etc.
For each process write out the different stages in the process. For example, a sales pipeline can include capturing the lead, meeting, sending proposal and/or contract, sending invoice.
Now go deeper. For each of the stages ask yourself what needs to happen and who needs to do it. Try to estimate how long it takes. See if there are any templates you can use as a basis.
Now review the process and identify what tasks you can delegate to tools and which you can hire out.
Need help getting started - that’s why I have a 1 or 2-hour consultation call. We can organize your thoughts and get you moving in the right direction.
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