Well, last night my sister (Laura) and I stayed overnight at a hotel.
We decided to order some room service. Italian Stone-baked Pepperoni Pizza for her (yum yum) and from the comfort food section, sausage and mash for me served with herbed mash and onion gravy… just what I needed on this cold, frosty night.
So Laura picked up the phone and dialled room service. A lady called Clare answered the phone to take our order and I said to Laura, “check that the pizza’s not frozen and that it is made on site and just double check the mash is actually also fresh”. This is how the conversation went.
“Hello Clare, I wonder if you can just answer a couple of questions for me before I order”
Q: Is the Pizza fresh or frozen?
“Oh, I don’t know, I only ever see it cooked.”
Clare said she would ask the chef and she returned to the phone to tell us that it was indeed a frozen pizza.
Q: Is the mash freshly mashed onsite?
“Oh, ummm, I’m not sure, can I just check with the chef again.”
Clare returned to tell us that the potatoes are mashed off site and heated here.
Q: How about the chicken curry, is that freshly cooked here?
“No. That is also brought in externally.”
So, at this point, we said to each other “oh well, you know where you are with a pizza”. So we ordered two Italian Stone-baked Pepperoni Pizza’s with a side of rocket and parmesan (£14 each).
But guess what? We were wrong about knowing where you stand with a pizza! Do you know the cheapest value version of a pizza that you can buy frozen, in your local supermarket at a budget price? Well, that is precisely what we got. You only have to look at the picture and the commentary on the tweet I sent them (below) to realise that this pizza was not remotely pepperoni-ish either!
So where do you think we are?
Have a guess and then read on, the answer is below
So my Friday thought is this…
- Within our business it is our responsibility to understand customer expectations versus reality, and to identify the gaps. Perhaps this is a little task that we could all do over the coming week? Maybe surveying your customers may help to achieve this. Click here for a link to a great FREE tool to help you.
- The staff that are dealing with customers need to be fully aware of the products and services that they are selling or representing. Are there any gaps here for you and your staff? When you identify this, it’s easy to put right.
- Individuals EXPECT satisfactory. Anything below can get bad publicity. Anything above can get great publicity. Where do you want to be?
Have a great weekend.
Victoria ????
