What turns Customers into Fans?

Consistently delivering a valuable customer experience is important; it drives and sustains business growth. The big chains and even the fine dining restaurants focus on delivering better quality customer service. Customer satisfaction is something which can help you gain popularity in this food-driven society where advertisement through media is more powerful than word-of-mouth. And this can only be done if you have a motivated and inspired staff.

Nilesh Mitra, HR Director, Carlson Rezidor Group of Hotels says “I think till the time an employee is not motivated enough, he/she will never be able to give a valuable customer experience to the guests. It is extremely important and can in fact be a great differentiator between various businesses. To maintain the enthusiasm employees bring to their jobs, management must understand the four sets of goals that the great majority of employees seek from their work and then satisfy those. The acronym race defines it. R for Respect; A for Achievement or a Purpose to achieve more; C for Camaraderie (extremely healthy relationships); and E for Equity.”

“To maintain an enthusiastic workforce, management must meet all four goals. Indeed, employees who work for companies where just one of these factors is missing are three times less enthusiastic than workers at companies where all elements are present. One goal cannot be substituted for another. Improved recognition cannot replace better pay, money cannot substitute for taking pride in a job well done and pride alone will not pay the mortgage,” adds Mr. Mitra.

Talking about the same Venkatraman Girish, Sr. VP- HR, Corporate Affairs & Administration, Jubilant Foodworks Ltd says “People experience is the result of the physical experience and how it is served to you-whether served at a restaurant or delivered at your doorstep. In our business giving attention to detail is important and this happens with employees. And that builds a brand. I think what builts a Domino’s is its consistency and an extremely good experience to the customer. Once your customer knows that the restaurant tends to reliability then they’ll keep coming.”

Speaking on this aspect, Rahul Parasher, Marketing & Sales Manager, B-Bar says “Team building is an important part in a restaurant. If there won’t be team building it won’t be possible to get the best out of the employee because they are the ones who keep a customer happy.”

To make your customer a fan and thus a repeat customer it is very important to give them the best service. Time to time loyalty programs helps in gaining customers. However, all these are only possible when your employee is willing to work and is giving the customer a service where he is bound to return back and become a fan of your food, ambience and the attention at your restaurant.