World’s friendliest restaurant
The world’s friendliest restaurant – Tim’s Place may have my favorite service vision ever: “World’s Friendliest Restaurant.” One rule to creating a Customer service vision statement is it shouldn’t be too over arching, too unrealistic. It needs to be actionable, every time, by every employee, with every Customer. Guess what? Tim’s Place delivers on their service vision! Why? Because service aptitude starts at the top, and their leader, Tim, possesses the highest service aptitude I have ever seen. Tim’s Place is a unique full-service restaurant in Albuquerque, New Mexico, serving breakfast and lunch. Their service vision statement captures exactly who they are and what one can expect when visiting them. The famous quote from Walt Disney, “If you can dream it, you can do it,” has been the driving force behind the life of Tim Harris. Born in 1986 with Down Syndrome, Tim’s life has been defined by exceeding expectations.
We offer Breakfast, Lunch, and HUGS – After working several years in the restaurant industry as a Host and seeing the impact Tim had on people by the way he greeted them, Tim’s parents decided Tim should own his own restaurant. In 2010, Tim’s Place opened for business, where they offer Breakfast, Lunch, and Hugs. “The key to our concept is the Customer service experience. We believe that people have a huge appetite for being genuinely welcomed, connected with, touched, appreciated, and genuinely cared for. We believe too many experiences in our busy modern lives are impersonal, sterile, and devoid of genuine human connection,” so states the Tim’s Place website. You have to watch this amazing three minute video on Tim and his restaurant. I guarantee you will want to share this with your staff.
The father of hospitality – Chick-fil-A not only revolutionized the fast food industry, leaders in nearly every industry used CFA’s approach to the way they treat people, employees and Customers, as a benchmark for their own businesses to aspire to. S. Truett Cathy, the billionaire founder of the privately held Chick-fil-A restaurant chain died Monday September 8, at the age of 93. Over the last several decades, Chick-fil-A has expanded to more than 1,800 outlets in 39 states. By early 2013, annual sales topped $5 billion. The family-owned company has had 46 consecutive years of positive sales growth. Cathy’s $6 billion fortune as the founder of Chick-fil-A puts him on the yearly Forbes magazine list of the wealthiest Americans in the country.
The most amazing culture I have ever seen – In all my years studying and consulting with businesses all over the globe, I have never seen a stronger company culture than Chick-fil-A. From their corporate campus located in Atlanta, to nearly all their restaurants, how they have so many people aligned with authentic genuine hospitality is remarkable. I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Cathy and seeing him speak at their national conference. He was as sincere as anyone I have ever met. I compare him to the Walt Disney of quick serve restaurants.
CXE Panel – We are excited to announce that at this year’s Secret Service Summit, Dave Murray will be facilitating a CXE Panel, which is made up of Customer eXperience Executives who oversee their entire organization’s Customer Experience. Attendees will be able to ask these leading CX executives direct questions during this panel. The CXE’s are from prominent brands that make Customer service their key competitive advantage.
Time is running out – Get your tickets today for the 2014 Secret Service Summit November 5th & 6th in Cleveland, Ohio
Evolution starts the Revolution – Over the next 12 days we did intense, day-long workshops, long hours, back-to-back days. What I witnessed was an extremely engaged and eager group of leaders and employees who never got tired. Yes, we had to discuss some cultural issues that existed, but making a difference internally and externally through the way people were treated and the experience they delivered, was extremely important to all involved, and their passion showed. This theme continued with all brands and all workshops conducted. I was so encouraged and proud of the work all these groups accomplished when we were done.
My biggest a-ha – The lesson I learned from this fantastic experience is that people want to help people, no matter their cultural background. Employees do not want to hide behind policy or disappoint their guests. They would naturally much rather provide excellent service and be good at what they do —we just need to show them how. We, as leaders, need to create a work culture in which our teams know it is not only OK, but preferred, to go above and beyond for our Customers. We need to provide the road map, and reinforce regularly the positive behaviors we would like to see. All of the folks I met at AmRest understand that this will set them apart, and that is why The DiJulius Group methodology was such an amazing fit!
