I met with a CEO recently, a good friend and smart businessman. He shared a disturbing piece of intelligence about his company. He did some internet research and found 20 other companies that said virtually the same basic things about the restaurant experiences they each offered, "We make our food from scratch. We offer great service in a fun atmosphere." Now, granted, there were variations on the theme. Select adjectives or nouns were added to further clarify just how 'from scratch' the food was. Service might be characterized as 'friendly'. Fun might be modified to include (pick your word) bar, TVs, promotions, etc. It still boiled down to the same basic narrative: great food and service in a fun, friendly environment. 20 versions on a boring theme, and, I'm sure many more like them. It's not just two dimensional business thinking. It's also the beginning of an obituary. What's missing?

We're missing the story.

Now, what's 'a story'? I mean it in several ways:

• It's the branded narrative that describes the ideal customer visit in three dimensional terms and with all five senses engaged. It shares what the customer experiences as they move through your establishment within a set period of time.
• It's the recognition that you have set your guest upon a journey, one on which they seek to restore emotional or psychic balance in their life. This part deals with matters of the heart and mind. It's what the customer feels and thinks, as they undergo the experience. It's the emotional associations they make along the journey based on the stimulus your give. It's the messages they pick up and the opinions they form based on what you communicate. It's the memories created, both from the actual experience and the happy (or unhappy) connections they make with other experiences.
• It allows a guest to change in a safe environment. If you tell your story right, it allows your customers, who are always the protagonists in their own lives, to change, even for a moment. Today, we seek transformation. Transformation from being anonymous to recognized. From being 'a dime a dozen' to valued. From being depressed, cynical, furious, lax or otherwise disengaged to invigorated, hopeful, happy and engaged. Remember that Starbucks offers a guest "A safe haven, a fortress of solitude, a happy place. Who says you can't change the world?" They're not just referring to being a good global citizen, but also to the possibility of personal change.
• It brings your values and your guest's disposition together in dynamic harmony, where you 'walk a talk' that matters to the customer.

"All that?" you say. Yep. Why should you make such a big deal out of making a sandwich? Because, in our collective unconscious, we all share a belief that everything can be solved over a meal. Whether it was true or not in our individual histories, the kitchen, the dining room table, the breaking of bread, the sharing of the bounty, all speak to a most fundamental hunger we have: that our life has meaning and we are all, somehow, connected to one another.

So, you're not in the human feeding business, but in the storytelling and storyliving business. It isn't easy. The other way, the two dimensional path most often followed, is much easier because it's tangible, practical and tactical. But that way leads straight to the hospitality grave yard. Same old, same old takes on a whole new and deadly meaning.

So when someone asks, "What kind of place are you?" don't share facts, tell your story and live it.

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This month I want to recognize an individual unit that's part of a very successful chain, Texas Roadhouse. I had the chance to spend a day in both the back and front of the house of their restaurant in Everett, Massachusetts. I saw a powerful experience unfold. They too make everything from scratch, but the pride about the results was palpable. I never heard a complaint about how hard it was to do. Or how expensive. They did it because they care about giving the guest an extraordinary experience. Plates are overflowing. Flavors are multi-dimensional. Awards abound. The values of the company are evident everywhere. The results include virtually no turnover. NO TURNOVER.

The food is terrific, but the place is about giving the guest a high spirited respite from the enervations of modern life. Texas Roadhouse transports people to someplace specific and mythic. It has all the trappings of Western swing and country, the Texas two-step and unforgettable BBQ ribs, but it intends to make you feel better about everything while you fill your belly. And they do it for thousands and thousands of enthralled customers. I think that's awesome.