We’ve got to do things better, faster, and more efficiently. While we’re at it, let’s focus on corporatizing our structure. Surely there’s a streamlined mechanism in place to hit KPIs, track ROI, and maximize EBITDA. We need a Director of Sub-Director-Talent-Aquisition-Management-Managers, and for the love of all things holy, please hire some consultants. Their advice, which we’re paying dearly for, is surely going to be a game changer providing the ultimate inflection point upon which we can develop new sales funnels and experience exponential growth guaranteed to move the needle.
Kindly take this moment to wipe the vomit from your immediate surroundings. I know I am.
As businesses continue to look for new success drivers, they lose track of those basic qualities that set them apart from the beginning. Over the last few months, I’ve been watching as SOPs come flying at my head for any and all situations. None of them, however, encourage basic human behavior. Sometimes, it helps to provide a better experience, and that’s not always something that comes out of budgeting and process discussions.
I’ve traveled around the world. And in each new country I visit, I make a point to visit a McDonalds and a Starbucks. Nothing on this more planet is more corporately conceived than these two establishments. And it tickles me every time I order my venti-soy-no-water-chai-latte (don’t judge me), that it arrives exactly the same way in Paris as it did in Bangkok, Tel Aviv, and Bogota. I revel in the absolute consistency. Similarly, McNuggets are exactingly exact from continent to continent. And that’s great!
But apart from locally branded coffee mugs, nobody expects a localized Starbucks. What happens when your business has a more narrow audience (and how could it not?), or seeks to become a true community partner? Suddenly your goal isn’t just offering up consistent croissants or identically replicated arancini. You need a local voice. You need to know your customers.
Back in the day, I worked at Legal Sea Foods. The biggest lesson I took away from the experience, other than expert oyster shucking skills, was that they never, never, never referred to their diners as customers. If you dined at Legal’s, you were a guest. Customers just buy stuff. Guests are those you look out for, care about, entertain, and treat as if they were a (wait for it … ) guest in your own home.
The quest to corporatize and streamline diminishes guests in favor of customers. That’s a tragedy. In my present role, I pitch countless reporters for performance coverage. I know exactly which wines they like to drink, their favorite items on our menu, the names of their spouses, and any assortment of other personal facts. I do this because when they enter my space, they’re my guest. And, if you’ve ever been invited to my house for dinner, you’ll see I take great pride in knowing what my guests like or dislike. Those details matter.
That’s not to say there isn’t a place for the corporate voice and structure, but which would you rather be: a guest or a customer?
I thought so.
