Hi Everyone,
I’ve been thinking about how COVID is forcing change economically, socially, and culturally. We all wrestle with change, sometimes we embrace it and other times we fear it. What is unique about the COVID situation is the change that is required isn’t always obvious. I was interviewed for a podcast yesterday, mostly about digital marketing and running a company during this period. After the show ended the host and I began talking about her next show. She is putting together a panel that will be focused on health and wellness. We were discussing eating healthy and the many options for food delivery.
I was pointing out to her that restaurants have become retailers. She asked me what I meant, I described how my favorite restaurant nicely packages that food for delivery. It’s always hot, my order it spot on and there is an extra treat in every order. Think about how well Apple products are packaged. The retail experience isn’t just in the store or online, it’s also when you get home with expectation and enthusiasm to open your package. Good retailers have spent years perfecting this part of the experience. I am sure all of you can tell which present is from Nordstrom during the holiday season.
Back to my point. The world has changed, and takeout food is here for the foreseeable future. If you’re a good restauranter, you know how to make good food and create the right environment for our customers to sit and eat. Why aren’t more restauranters thinking like retailers? It’s a small change in the business model, but if executed well, it could make a substantial difference in the success of a business during this trying time. If done really well, it could be a mechanism for growth. It’s surprising to me that many restaurants aren’t picking up on this opportunity.
The problem with forced change is that it is not always obvious what needs to be done or what needs to change. It requires companies and the people that work there to rethink old paradigms, step back, and put themselves in their customer’s shoes again. A good portion of our work is helping our clients rethink their customer experience. What are the small things they could do to improve the experience? With respect to Tahzoo, we’ve been running our business fairly consistently for the last few years. My charge to each of you is to think about our business, put ourselves in our customer shoes and ask what needs to change? Are their little things or big things that we could do differently that would improve the quality of our customer experience during COVID? I asked the Studios team to help us do a better job with Zoom and Teams calls, this is a small example of how we can make our customer experience better, but what else could we be doing?
If we are going to be forced to change … let’s control our destiny and lead our customers and ourselves into a new world of customer experience!
Let’s go be great!
Thanks,
Brad