Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine Issue I, 2013 | Page 84
CustomersCount BY JACK MACKEY
It’s Catching!
Creating a contagious culture of service
C
apriotti’s Sandwich Shop has
been named one of T
echnomic’s
Top 100 Sandwich Chains and
received Sandelman’s Award of
Excellence for Customer Service. Capriotti’s
also leads SMG’s Benchmark Database of
Customer Experience Metrics among fast
casual restaurants.
“Culture and service are based on having
the right people in the right places,” says
James Gimbel, who operates two Capriotti’s shops in Iowa and one in Las Vegas.
“We genuinely care
about customers and we
really want to get to know
them because we do plan
on seeing them again and
again in our restaurants.
Our goal is really to befriend our customers, to
know their names, their
families, where they work.
That’s not possible with
every single customer,
but that’s how we think
about it,” he says. “The
first thing we train every
new employee on is to
immediately greet everyone who comes through. Smile is number
one, and saying ‘Welcome to Capriotti’s’
to reinforce where they are. When people
leave, we say ‘See you next time’ and thank
people for coming in.”
Gimbel’s regional manager, Marc Kustner, explains that a contagious service
culture is “more about being passionate
and energetic, but it’s hard to teach that.
I can teach almost anyone how we make
a great sandwich. I need to hire the right
personalities for our culture.” People with
the right service aptitude can learn how
to channel their natural service instincts
to create loyalty-inspiring customer experiences.
For example, Kustner teaches new employees to “Always get a name with an order,
never call out ‘Number 32.’ Always give
our own names too, and get a conversation
going. I love to send new employees to a
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Multi-Unit Franchisee Is s ue I, 2013
table to ask if everything is perfect. Never
just ask how lunch is, or if everything is
okay. ‘Is everything exactly as you wanted
it?’ ‘Was your sandwich perfect?’”
There are clear business reasons to
train new employees like this: to focus on
the importance of “Taste of Food” and
“Friendliness of Staff.” Add in “Speed of
Service” and these are the three Key Drivers of Customer Satisfaction at Capriotti’s.
The accompanying chart shows how
customers evaluated their experiences at 15
fast casual restaurant brands over a recent
6-month period. The numbers indicate
the percentage of customers who rated a
“5” on a 5-point scale, also known as Top
Box scores. Customers who give Top Box
ratings on Speed, Friendliness, and Taste
are Highly Satisfied, not merely Satisfied.
That distinction matters a lot. Why? Because Top Box scores on Satisfaction correlate with repeat business and positive
word of mouth, which drive comp sales
and average sale amount.
“Asking employees who are 15 to 20
years old to take an interest in metrics is not
easy,” Kustner admits. “But you can make
the service experience real with customer
comments. At Capriotti’s we post customer
satisfaction scores along with real customer
comments for all employees to see during
brief shift meetings in the morning and
afternoon. We do meetings with manag-
ers and talk about key drivers and the big
difference between a Satisfied customer
(a “4”) and a Highly Satisfied customer (a
“5”), or Top Box score—and how Highly
Satisfied customers are twice as likely to
return in 30 days and three times as likely
to recommend us to friends.”
Being at the top of SMG’s Benchmark
Database on Taste of Food “creates a sense
of pride about where we all work,” says
Doug McCartin, operator of two Capriotti’s
shops in Maryland. McCartin opened his
first location in July 2010 and broke sales
records for opening day, opening week,
and opening month at that time.
“I think it begins with the quality and
uniqueness of the sandwiches—nothing
pre-sliced or pre-cooked. We roast whole
turkeys and make our own
meatballs. Then it’s how you
treat your people. These
are young people, so we
try to make it fun. I want
my employees to want to
come to work. I don’t want
them to dread coming to
work because they don’t
enjoy themselves. We have
good music on and we make
sure there’s proper staffing
for the volume,” he adds.
That last comment
about staffing makes a great
point about creating a contagious culture of service.
While you depend on front-line employees to create a great customer experience,
they depend on franchisees to provide the
resources needed to do the job right. It
takes partnership between managers and
employees to achieve real breakthroughs
in customer service.
The only way to grow sales profitably
over the long run is to have customers and
employees who love doing business with
you. As a result, they become loyal and
stay with you for a long time—and they
recommend you as a place to work and a
place to shop, dine, and do business.
SMG Vice President Jack
Mackey helps multi-unit operators improve customer loyalty and drive growth. Contact
him at 816-448-4556 or
[email protected].