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It’s Friday, and it’s a food-related weekend with both Passover and Easter happening. So for today’s weekly foodie post, I’m inspired by something that happened last night as we went out for pizza. Now for most of you, that’s not really a big deal. For me, however, pizza is something I have maybe once a year (a boy needs to keep his figure) so when I go, it’s to someplace special.  Frank Pepe Pizza qualifies as someplace special. Coal fired ovens, fresh clams and shrimp, top-shelf ingredients – a great pizza experience. Except for one part of that experience and that’s our business point today.
Pepe’s doesn’t take reservations. You queue up and are seated in the order of arrival. The line usually runs well out the door. This was the case last night when the Mrs. and I showed up. No big deal – it was past the main dinner rush and although it was cold standing outside, tables seemed to be turning – there was a steady stream of people walking out.  So here was what we saw next:

• Four unoccupied tables remained un-bussed – all that was needed was a quick cleaning and more customers could go from cold and hungry to warm and fed (and generating income);
• Despite “first-come, first-served,” larger parties were brought from the back of the line to be seated first.  Now, I understand that from the restaurant’s perspective, seating a table of 6 is better than seating a table of 2, but that’s not a perspective shared by those of us who had been waiting 35 minutes in the chill.

The reality is that if a manager had addressed the first point (available, uncleaned tables), the second point would not have been an issue.  There was a bit of grumbling by the parties of 2 that remained unseated while the relative newcomers were let in.  I think it boils down to having a customer-centric perspective, something we talk about a lot here.  While Pepe was doing what was right for the pizzeria, they weren’t doing the best they could for their customers.

The Stones wrote about “standing in line with Mr. Jimmy.”  The song is “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.”  The difference is you CAN always find someplace else to get it, and none of us in business should ever forget that.

Happy holiday weekend!

Fascinating look at the relationship between brands and customers this morning from the folks at Loyalty360 and Acxiom. And I quote:

As… empowered customers become increasingly savvy, marketers need to re-evaluate how they define and build customer loyalty. The issue, according to a recent survey of 129 marketing executives conducted by Loyalty 360—The Loyalty Marketer’s Association on behalf of Acxiom, is that although marketers know they need to focus better on customer retention, they aren’t doing it.

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Think way back when – you know, like maybe 30 years ago.  Customers knew the companies with which they did business based on the faces they saw.  The butcher, the tailor, the book seller.  More importantly, those faces knew their customers and who bought what.  Today, those mom and pop businesses are, for the most part, history.  Instead, we’ve got chains and online megastores, and with that comes the ignorance mentioned in the study:

Only 49.6% of respondents agreed with the statement “I know who my most loyal customers are, and I know the best way to reach out to them and get them to engage with my brand.” Only 10.1% strongly agreed.

You’ve probably seen the TV shows about people who love coupons.  I’m not one of the extreme types, but I like to save money as much as the next person and based on what I see at the grocery store, I’m not alone.  That’s why I read an article about coupon usage this morning with great interest. One would think that given the challenging economic times that coupons would be pretty popular and one would be correct.  That said, as I read the article, it seemed as if there is a huge opportunity being missed here.  Let’s see what you think. Continue reading →