Where's Your Third Place?
Dec 10, 2010 Celebration Worthy, Something To Think About
Where’s your third place? The one after your home and workspace, that you really look forward to heading and feel downright welcome, wanted and relaxed?
At Maude's for a Birthday celebration
I’ve had a few before and the search goes on in my new(er) home base. One of my most favorite recent third places is Aunt Maude’s. Another was Granite City (Sioux Falls), yet another ….well, you get the idea.
There may seem to be lots of choice, and it all depends on tastes, atmosphere preference, the others who frequent the joint and the staff and service level.
If you’re a business, who considers your place their third place? What are you doing to attract your regulars and keep them coming back? They will help you survive and thrive. They patronize you, spread the word farther than you could ever do with any tools, and really want you to succeed.
Be sure to treat people right. Whether you’re the consumer being served, the service staff, or the ownership. Taking care of business means taking care of people. Start with a passionate and motivated staff (both of which are your duty to recruit and keep developing) and then infect the patrons with that same enthusiasm, however overt or subtle it is.
Tags: raving fans, regulars, service, third place
What Makes A Place Return Worthy
Oct 12, 2010 Beer, Beer & Food, Education & Training, Something To Think About
Yesterday, I dumped on an exceedingly poor experience. Today, let’s shine some light.
If you read this and say “Ah! These are no brainers” then don’t tolerate it elsewhere either! Speak up – if you’re in the craft/beer community, say something so this does not get repeated (it was an embarrassment).
Okay – what to do:
1. Curb appeal - like it or not, it matters. Make sure your place looks inviting, the lighting is appropriate and not ugly, ugly industrial, too high, weak, fluorescent or otherwise bad. Curb appeal infers you care.
An excellent customer experience can be had at The Publican in Chicago
2. A sign to indicate you’re open or not needs to be nice and readable, not the $2 hunter orange and black variety. Geez, you put so much into your beer (theoretically) why skimp on a bad sign that turns people off?
3. Smell. What does your place smell like – and you can’t be the one to answer it. You smell it so often you’re immune to it. Ask others. Fresh, yes. Like beer is brewing – yummmm! Like industrial pine cleaner (horrific on a taste experience) or urine or garbage, bad bad bad. Clean it top to bottom with your crew 1 – 2 times per year. When everybody cleans it, everybody keeps it cleaner.
4. Clean fixtures – tables, chairs, floors, baseboards, bathrooms. Clean Clean Clean. Things should look, smell, feel, and be clean.
5. Only serve quality goods – beer and food. Simple is good – a simple fresh bowl of pretzels will always be better than a poorly executed and wasted dish of some other ilk. Don’t insult your beer by serving sub par foods.
6. Service. The very words connotes that you will indeed be served – whatever your model looks like. Drill home the servant mentality, train, teach everyday, reinforce, retrain, reteach, reinforce, rinse repeat. the passion for the customer has to come form the top too.
7. Value. Value = experience + company + environment + time spent + dollars. Get all the pieces right and it’s a fit. Get any of them wrong, then it’s time to evaluate and start over.
8. Training and education, leadership and guidance are critical pieces of the pie if you’re a one person show or if you employ hundreds. People love to patronize well run operations. Give them lots of reasons, starting here.
Tags: clean, curb appeal, excellent experience, quality, service, to do, training, value
Graham
Mar 4, 2010 Good People
A big thanks today to Graham at the Zappos.com resource desk. He’s apparently processing a return for me. In the process of making sure everything plays out accordingly, he left me a message on my phone (sorry, Graham I wasn’t within earshot).
I like talking to Zappos folks. They’re a service company that sells shoes (plus). Really.
Why the connect today of shoes to beer (kind of like Otto’s jewelry to beer thread)?
Because at the end of the message he said, “your blog is awesome – Women Enjoying Beer is so cool.”
Day maker! Graham – if you read this, tell me why you like it.
Cheers – beer and shoes. All good.
What Are You Talking About Today?
Feb 24, 2010 Education & Training, Something To Think About
What will you talk with your employees about today?
Will it be cleaning? Will it be operations? Will it be other employees? Will it be supplies? Suppliers? Vendors? Ingredients? Community? Events? Sales? Donations? Service?
- Laurie understands the servant mentality
Will you give them some helpful knowledge on how to better inform your clientele? Will it be to challenge them to rethink the status quo – especially if the status quo needs a swift kick to re motivate?
Whatever you talk about, focus in. Make the time count, be prepared.
Success relies on preparation, thoughtfulness, discourse, action, follow up. Skimping on any of them does a disservice to all.
And in the beginning , middle and end, it’s all about service.
Tags: service, serving your employees, talking
Wise Man
Nov 30, 2009 Education & Training, Something To Think About
Is this you?
David Edgar put a post on the BA Forum recently. It was pertaining to service and he referenced Women Enjoying Beer.
“The industry is 2/3 brewpubs and I know that if they can’t deliver on basic service, it doesn’t matter how amazing the beers are. Good luck and keep up the good work.”
He gets it.
It’s about opportunity, dedication and really being in tune with what makes it all tick. It’s about starting right, not cutting any corners, paying attention.
Every business is in the customer business. With internal and external customers. I could name several breweries that really have it nailed. There are several that need to improve – everything from service to cleanliness to how they answer the phone to realizing that passion for beer simply is not a complete picture of running a sound operation.
And if you have the passion for the beer, then find others that have passion or at least enthusiasm and competency for numbers, for QAQC, for dealing with customers. For all the areas that are not the beer and are still essential to successful beer business.
Any less is an affront to your blessed beer.
Back to basics, folks.
And I will do my best to keep it up, David. Thanks.
Tags: back to basics, David Edgar, service
