2.7: The Customer across Considerations.

Once the demographic numbers have been crunched, and psychographic faces has been placed on age groups, and generational inputs and differences are considered, the new foodservice operator is still faced with the difficult task of defining customers. Is there such a thing as a 'typical' customer? Is there some commonality among all customers? Research has been done in this area and a few common characteristics have been uncovered that help to illuminate the essence of a restaurant customer.

Personal opinion influences selection

When considering an evening out at a new restaurant, customers tend to rely primarily on information obtained from personal sources. They will ask the opinions of friends, relatives, and acquaintances they consider knowledgeable and trustworthy. If they must rely on strangers, they will seek out people who they think are familiar with the restaurant business such as restaurant critics, or hotel front-desk personnel or the concierge. Restaurants should attempt to affect positively those persons potential customers may contact. Larger cities have concierge associations that operators can host to create productive relationships with association members by letting them experience their restaurants so that accurate advice is available to hotel guests.

Post-purchase decision is key

Customers generally determine that a restaurant's food and service were great the following morning when they wake up and say "what a great meal we had last night." For a restaurant, that is as good as it gets. Restaurants provide experiences that are difficult to judge beforehand. All of a restaurant's first-time customers are taking a chance; they are there on a trial basis. If you give them excellent product and service that exceeds their expectations, chances are they will come back and tell their friends. If you fail to meet customers' expectations, they will generally not return - and they will tell their friends about the disappointing experience.

Price equals quality

Customers often use price as an indication of quality. Customers who enjoy fresh seafood and see a shrimp entree on the menu for $6.75 may assume that it is a low quality, frozen product since fresh domestic shrimp are usually considerably higher in price. When a restaurant attempts to influence customers demand with price, take care to ensure that inaccurate consumer perceptions about the products' quality do not result. If an operation is not careful, it could accidentally give the impression that the restaurant is cheaper, or more expensive, than it really is.

Inform customers and reduce risk

Customers generally feel that they are taking some 'risk' before they purchase a meal in a restaurant. They cannot judge the evening a head of time so it is natural that they are somewhat apprehensive - at least until they get to know your operation and are comfortable with the servers. It is paramount that a new restaurant be sensitive to the ‘customers' initial feelings because so many people eat out in groups, with family, friends, business contacts, clients, and so forth. If a customer wants to impress their associates or business clients, they will generally take them to a favored restaurant they have visited often. If your restaurant is one of these operations, it will enjoy this type of loyalty. This is the strongest type of loyalty a restaurant can achieve. Not only does the customer return, you stand to garner his or her circle of friends and associates which in turn leverages the restaurants sales revenue.

Customers complain

Customers have a tendency to blame themselves when they are dissatisfied with a meal. A person who orders a seafood gumbo for the first time at a new restaurant may be disappointed with the dish but not complain because he blames himself for the poor menu choice. He loves the way his favorite restaurant fixes the dish and thinks he should have known that the new restaurant would be unable to prepare it the same way. When the server asks how everything was, he replied, "okay."

Employees must be sensitive to the fact that many dissatisfied customers may not complain. They should be alert to potential sources of guest dissatisfaction so they can address them quickly. In this particular case, the food server should have noticed that the guest was not eating the meal with pleasure and should indicate that the restaurant would be happy to replace the dish with an alternative that could be prepared and brought out quickly. This is a clear opportunity to impress the guest - always take it. Thus, a negative and be transformed into a positive because most of the time the guest will decline your offer. However, points accrue with the guest, who will appreciate the gesture - and win you another chance for their patronage.

Negatives are opportunities in disguise

I recently brought a business associate to lunch at a restaurant I have enjoyed for years. While it had never happened before, both of our menu selections were inaccurate. Upon placing the plates on the table, the waiter looked carefully, and to his dismay, noticed the problem. To his credit, his reaction was instant - "I 'm sorry, this is not correct." Before I could speak, he had whisked the plates from the table and taken them back to the kitchen. I assume he would return with the proper order. To my surprise, the correct order did return quickly to the table, carried by the restaurant manager - followed by the writer. The manager conveyed his apology and asked if he could do anything to "overcome this inconvenience we created for you?" I thanked him for the quick response and assured him that the problem was resolved. At that moment several things had occurred. First, I never got a change to complain - the waiter did that for me. Second, the attentive waiter acted immediately - on his own. Third, the manager understood the opportunity and acted on it. If things remained unsettled with the new meals, he was personally ready to respond to any dissatisfaction. In the end, the actions of the restaurant created a situation that dispelled the problem entirely. Finally, the restaurant, based on the meal and the actions of the restaurant, gained another customer - my guest was as impressed as I was and could not stop talking about what happened and what the restaurant did to make sure we enjoyed our meal. Customer satisfaction results by attacking problems with opportunistic responses. It is that simple. You could also consider the cost of replacing a meal versus the cost of replacing a customer.