Food for Thought

Let’s be totally honest here. Collecting feedback is the easy part.

There, i said it.

It’s like going to the gym once and expecting abs (guilty). Or buying a cookbook and assuming dinner will make itself (I wish).

Understanding your customers? Essential. But it’s only the first step.

Buzzwords are fun.
Synergize. Leverage. Move the needle.

But Voice of the Customer is more than just a buzzword. It’s a a way of approaching how you do things. A powerful approach that you can use to capture customer expectations, preferences, and sentiments, and directly shape how you engage and foster loyalty with your audience.

When Karen first heard the words “customer feedback solution,” she reacted the way she reacts to somebody applauding when an airplane lands: with a mix of deep suspicion and visible disdain.

Ever wonder what your customers truly think about their experiences at your venue, stadium, event or product? More importantly, ever wish you knew exactly what they were thinking in the moment, right when you could actually do something about it?

There’s a famous scene in  Moneyball, one of my all-time favorite movies, that perfectly illustrates the age-old battle between tradition and innovation. The fight between the old school and the new. Don’t be the old scouts in that room…

There’s a common belief in the hospitality industry: online reviews are king. They shape reputations, influence bookings, and can make or break business.

But here’s the uncomfortable truth, reviews were never designed to help businesses.

I said I hate reviews but let me nuance that.

I don’t hate reviews; I hate what reviews have become…

Would you believe that nearly two-thirds of full-service restaurant customers say experience is more important than price?But here’s the challenge: What defines a “great experience” varies from person to person.
So, how do you create something that is, by nature, subjective

It’s 6:47 PM on a Friday, the dinner rush is in full swing, and Michael, the restaurant manager, feels like he’s juggling flaming swords while riding a unicycle. A table in the corner is complaining that their food took too long. A kid at another table just spilled orange juice all over the floor. His Head Chef is yelling something unintelligible about a broken fryer…

Click-click. Click-clack. The sound of Karens heels reverberates through the car park with a menace that seems to grow step by step.
Karen’s upset already. She’s had a rough morning, a client was late for a meeting, and her beloved Chihuahua, Coco, spilt coffee all over her favorite tablecloth.
Anyway, it’s date night. “Breathe, Karen,” she says to herself. “You deserve a nice evening.”