Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine Issue I, 2014 | Page 86

CustomersCount BY JACK MACKEY

Are Your Customers
Utterly Charmed?
Delivering a better experience
will set your brand apart

A

t the 2013 Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators conference, Chick-fil-A President
Dan Cathy explained how
the company plans to grow in the future.
For context, let me remind you that their
average unit volume (AUV) has grown
from $2.7 million in 2010 to $3.1 million
in 2013, the highest of any QSR concept.
Considering Chick-fil-A operates only six
days a week, the profit and cash flow generated by these sales are stunning.
Cathy posed the question, “How does
a high-end restaurant get a $35 check average for food when we have a $7 check
average? They are not giving five times the
food we are, so what is it? Is it fresh flowers in the dining room, tableside ground
pepper offered on salads?” If you haven’t
dined there lately, these elements have
become part of the Chick-fil-A experience. Customers feel special and notice
the difference, yet the cost to the operation is minuscule.
Cathy continued pondering on the appeal of fine dining and why people willingly
pay so much more for it. “Is it elevated
service language and genuine hospitality
that satisfy customers’ craving for honor,
dignity, and respect?” To which I would
answer an emphatic, “Yes!” And this insight is not unique to Chick-fil-A. More
than 100 years ago, the great American
psychologist William James wrote, “The
deepest craving of human nature is the
need to be appreciated.”
For a personal example, I just flew 20
long hours on Singapore Airlines. And it
was… wonderful! Now granted, I was flying
business class, with remarkable “delighter