Michael Leonard: A Brief, Passing Moment in Hospitality [Expert Corner]

Don't Let Marketing Opportunities Pass You By

In today's age of social media and mobile technology, brand management and guest feedback to QSRs is more critical than ever.  What are best practices in obtaining guest feedback? How can you turn bad guest experiences into good ones or even marketing opportunities?

This installment of qsrbuzz™ Expert Corner is brought to you by Michael Leonard, a 20-year marketing veteran and a partner in Promoterz, a marketing solutions company based in New England.

qsrbuzz™: How has hospitality driven new channels of marketing?

A more focused emphasis on hospitality has risen from the tremendous surge in technology in the hands of every consumer. We would put forth that it is technology that has driven and created new channels of marketing and hospitality is more of a result.  Most would agree that the most powerful form of marketing has always been word of mouth, and that has become exponentially more true and effective with the advent of social media on the web. With that in mind, it is hard to argue that one bad customer experience can significantly damage a business where margins are tight and there are a multitude of choices for consumers. Perhaps the most effective channel is still word of mouth, but now a business can empower their happy customers to become champions for them easily and to a larger audience.

qsrbuzz™: Beyond training hospitality, what other factors help restaurateurs, particularly the QSR folks, deliver a great product and keep customers coming back?

First and foremost is understanding and accepting that control of their brand is now almost entirely out of their hands. With today’s technological resources at the disposal of everyone, one bad customer experience can be spread quickly and virally. A restaurant can deliver quality food, have a clean establishment, offer good value and the whole experience can go out the window if that customer is treated with indifference or worse.  Customers will tell restaurant owners exactly how they feel if they are asked, but the method for soliciting that feedback has to be simple and timely.  It’s also encouraged to provide something to that customer for their feedback as a small token of appreciation. Our system has a brief, four-question customer survey that will ascertain customer loyalty. The most important survey question is: “Based on your most recent experience, how likely is it that you would recommend us to a friend or colleague?”  At the end of the day, that’s the ultimate question that will measure customer loyalty. 

qsrbuzz™: What little-known opportunities are present in the quick-service restaurant during guests' visit, particularly when customers are getting take out or rushing through the restaurants for a few minutes?

There are many opportunities for up-selling, branding, capturing customer feedback and their data, and for marketing. The trick is to do it subtly and at the customer’s convenience. We have found that capturing feedback and data via the back of receipt tape is largely ineffective for QSRs. Asking a customer to fill something out on premise (which will then require manual data entry on the part of the QSR) is disruptive to staff and customer. The Promoterz Feedback Card is given to the customer to take home and fill out at their convenience online easily and quickly.

qsrbuzz™:  Experts, consultants and marketers have touted turning poor guest experiences into positive ones for the restaurant for years. How is that done? What is this conversion process and how can you know you are getting the bad feedback along with the compliments?

• Before you can turn bad to good, you have to know about the bad and be able to reach out to that particular customer as quickly as possible - if not immediately - with a sincere attempt to make it right. (Anonymous surveys won’t do that). 

• We’ve found brief, semi-anonymous surveys to be most effective. It’s not face-to-face so the customer feels more comfortable being honest, but there’s still the ability to communicate and make it right. That means just listening to your customer and responding. Let them know you care about their opinion. We have found that people will not accurately fill out lengthy surveys that are cumbersome. Time is today’s most precious commodity.

A Bain & Co. Consulting report shows that a five percent increase in customer retention can increase a company's profitability by up to 75 percent. We have many examples of clients communicating with customers over bad experiences and saving that customer, as well as preventing the spread of negative word-of-mouth -- a two-fold victory if you will -- by merely reaching out to that customer.

qsrbuzz™: How is technology changing the opportunity to get feedback from customers and how can it inspire them to return? Is this necessarily driven by discounts?  Technology makes it more cost-effective to hear from every customer and respond quickly.  With no more table top cards waiting for someone to review and respond to, responses are known instantly and automatically summarized for quick analysis.

• Discounts can be a part of bringing customers back, but even more powerful in creating loyalty is making every customer feel like they are special. Technology makes it possible to make every customer feel special by listening to and responding to their feedback and rewarding their participation. It does not have to be a tremendous offer - a lower margin item like a cookie or fountain soft drink. We have found our clients are rewarded with not only customer loyalty, but also a surge of incremental sales via their offers.

qsrbuzz™: How is this process of capturing feedback and building loyalty different or even more critical, for chains vs. independents? What are additional opportunities for chains?

It is doubly critical for chains because a bad experience with one particular location will affect the entire brand. If a customer has a bad experience in one location, he/she will connect that experience with the entire chain. From a dollars and sense perspective, the return for a QSR chain via a small uptick in customer retention and loyalty has a significant impact on their bottom line.

qsrbuzz™: Can you comment on the biggest key points to follow when implementing or upgrading a self-managed e-mail and social media platform?

 • Invite all your customers to participate and respect their privacy. 

• Nobody is looking for more advertising. They’re looking for inside information that makes them feel special and, frankly, deals.  Don’t expect amazing results if all you are doing is sending them your ads.

• Remember, the goal is to get closer to your customer so go where your customer already is whether it is email, text or social media.
• Social Media is a “pull” medium. No one wants to be sold or pushed something via their social media experience. Again, inside information, special deals and lastly, something a customer would find either useful or informative will pull them towards your brand.
• Perhaps most important - less is more when it comes to email and social media communication. Too much and they start to view you as spam. Be timely and relevant.

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Michael Leonard has been in the marketing and communications field for 20 years, the last 10 working with social media, e-mail and mobile marketing solutions for small businesses and the entertainment industry. Since 2008, he has been a partner at Promoterz and the majority of its clients are in the QSR industry including Subway, McDonalds, Papa Johns, and Dominos. Promoterz provides a comprehensive marketing solution under one umbrella so that clients can respond immediately to an unhappy customer, capture e-mail addresses for future communication, and its referral engine simplifies satisfied customers communicating good experiences to friends.

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