"It's
ShowTime, Baby and You're the Show"
Part
II
Orchestrate
an Experience
"
The story creates an emotional franchise... with the customers.
It allows them to take part in the experience of the dish.
Everything should have an origin and a story to it. Everything
ties into what the restaurant is about."
- Kevin Cronin, founding partner of Tre Vigne
Your
guests define value by the quality of the restaurant experience
and the memory it creates. Memories of great value last
and are shared with others
Quality experiences don't 'just happen'. They get orchestrated
like a play or piece of music, scene by scene, note by
note. It requires a process |
Phil Romano, King
of experiential restaurants, created Fuddruckers with a single
idea. Segregate all the elements in the preparation of a world
class burger and put the guest in the middle of it. Simple,
exactly to the point and brilliant. That it happened in 1979
doesn't diminish its genius. It makes it a little like Shakespeare;
timeless and worthy of repetition. He took
the guest on an epic journey through the story of "The
World's Greatest Hamburger". Bakers made buns from scratch
and baked them as guests lined up to order. The air was redolent
of the sweet aroma of fresh bread. Four quarters (bloody carcasses
to many) hung in the butcher shop, viewed in all their primal
beauty (or whatever) by those in the queue. Phil Romano did
not just say "fresh, from scratch". He put on the
Ziegfield Follies of "From Scratch". Burgers were
grilled to order on buns that had been grilled as well. And
the finale, the veritable cherry on this masterpiece, was
allowing the guest to finish it off any way they chose from
the most abundantly stocked fresh produce and condiment bar
ever produced. Not every detail worked. Subsequent guest research
revealed that hanging carcasses were too much reality for
many. There were other ways to say, "Butchered here".
Yet, Phil got it. Subsequent difficulties were never about
the brilliance of the central story. The company exists today,
and it continues to grow.
THE
LESSON:
A powerful central story told every time to
every guest will not fail.
Putting
Your Play Together
You have made your initial tour through the current show.
You have identified your guests' emotional triggers. Your
key staff has defined both what turns them on (the things
they want the guest to love) and what operational values drive
the story. Time to make choices. Direct the group to pick
two key points from each column, A through D. (Refer to 'Orchestrate
an Experience, Part I.) It's a democracy with you, the Director,
the one who decides. Once you have selected the magic '2'
keys for each column, it is time to return to the stage. Before
you go out to 'rethink the play', teach your key staff The
Five Golden Rules.
THE
FIVE GOLDEN RULES:
Mobilize All Five Senses
"At
Krispy Kreme, donut making is part of the magic, part of the
draw. It's a sensory experience."
- Stan Parker, SVP of Krispy Kreme
Provide
the guest memorable sights. Create appropriate sounds. Provide
wonderful cooking aromas. Give them things to feel (e.g.,
warm crusty bread). Prepare flavorful, tasty food. These five
have their dark opposites. Every ungainly sight is part of
the show. Every jarring sound, voice or inappropriate remark
heard is part of the show. Stinky is no good. Creepy, tacky,
dirty and seedy, may be good names for dwarfs, but these are
not the qualities we want guests to think of as they 'touch'
various parts of the restaurant. Lousy food = Bankruptcy Court.
Rewriting the Play
Together, walk the restaurant again, 'zone' by 'zone',
Have everyone bear in mind The Five Golden Rules and the "2"
key points from columns A through D. Let them come up with
suggestions for each 'zone'. Don't permit 'design geniuses'
to drive the process. Form must follow function. The concept
can be limited. Simple can be beautiful. Just combine guest
triggers, operations capabilities and your true values. This
holds true for a Sliced Meat Sandwich at a quick serve restaurant
to a wood grilled Seven Spice Crusted Tuna at a high-end restaurant.
Both offer the potential for perfection.
Now that we've gotten to know the guest and have orchestrated
an experience, it is time to address how to maximize your
profitability. --> GO
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