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Mystery Shopping Snapshot: One Picture, Two Lenses

 

Mystery shopping captures a particular snapshot in time of one person’s experience in your place of business. While it is a great tool to get an idea of what customers experience, especially from an operational standpoint, sometimes doubling up could give you additional insight you didn’t expect.

 

Recently, a client asked us to send two shoppers into one of their locations on the same day, around the same time. Coordinating schedules, two shoppers visited the same location within the same general time frame.  What happened next was interesting…

 

Both shoppers were in the restaurant for the majority of their respective visits. One was seated at a table at one end of the restaurant, and the other was seated in a back corner, somewhat out of the way from the “main” dining area.

 

One of the questions on the report asked if a manager visited the table. The shopper who was seated in the more populated area of the dining room, closer to the kitchen and bar area, was visited by the manager on two occasions during the visit. The other shopper, seated a bit out of the way, was never visited by a manager. In fact, this shopper reported that the manager did visit those tables within close proximity to the kitchen/bar area, but never visited tables on the other half of the dining room.

 

One visit, two very different experiences. On further exploration, the company learned that this was the manager’s typical methodology, tending to only visit tables that he could visit quickly and get back to his other tasks, leaving a good portion of diners ignored.

 

While this could have been an isolated case, the double shops revealed some interesting information that the company may not have known. And sometimes it’s good to double up for the mere fact of changing up the mystery shopping schedule – over time, employees will come to realize the shopping schedule, which may impact the performance scoring.

 

In short, changing up a mystery shopping routine has many benefits, one of which is looking at a snapshot from two different lenses.

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Olive Garden: The Comeback Kid?

 

olive garden

 

 

Olive Garden has been beat up over the last few years, but it looks like they are making a comeback with some small changes.

 

The company was recently taken over by a hedge fund, who made some changes that are resulting in an increase in same store sales of 2.2% this quarter. This follows a small increase the quarter before that, making for the first time the company has shown consecutive increases in sales since 2010. Could it be the rebirth of Olive Garden?

 

The changes are interesting; while they seem small, they seem to be making a big impact. Back in September, the hedge fund group provided a game plan of how to reverse the death of Olive Garden, and have implemented some of those changes, which in part are attributed to the turnaround. Some of the changes include:

 

1. Bring on the salt! One complaint was that the restaurant did not use salt when cooking pasta. This is a mistake, as it can compromise the taste of the pasta (just ask any Italian!). The company previously stated that salt was eliminated, in part, to save the longevity of the pots they used. This has since changed, according to a recent article, and salt is now used in the restaurants, thus improving the overall taste of the menu items.

 

2. Cut the portions, increase value. One feature that Olive Garden boasted about in the past were unlimited breadsticks and the “never ending” bowl of pasta. While this was seen as a good deal for some customers, it was actually hurting sales. One menu change included rolling out a three course dinner for $9.99, a move the company explains as “trying to emphasis value over sheer gluttony like its famous neverending pasta bowl.”

 

3. Cutting portions also increases revenue! By eliminating the never ending bread sticks and pasta bowls, the company is experiencing a nice side effect – dessert and alcohol sales are rising. It makes sense – if customers are not taking advantage of the “all you can eat” options, they will have more room for dessert at the end of their meal. While the article does respect the fact that increased sales in these areas can also be attributed to the improvement in the economy, it is a positive move forward overall.

 

The company is still facing an uphill battle; they are recovering from a 5.4% decrease in sales over the last year. While the gains are modest and definitely a move in the right direction, the company is still experiencing lower traffic. This is a positive indication that the company can still salvage itself and proves that sometimes small changes can make a big difference.

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How McDonald’s & Burger King Are Using Sales Prevention To Their Benefit

 

It used to be all about upselling and cross selling – retailers and fast food companies alike would train staff to take every opportunity to suggest additional items to increase sales. Some recent developments in two fast food chains, Burger King and McDonald’s, are doing quite the opposite in reaction to consumer perception, speed of service, and overall improved service levels.
At first glance, it seems counterintuitive, but it seems as though both are responding to customer demands in an interesting way.

 

First, let’s look at Burger King. They recently stopped marketing soft drinks with kid’s meals, and instead promoting healthier items, such as milk, chocolate milk, and apple juice. The company did not formally roll out this program, instead opting to quietly launch the new initiative. According to a recent article, Burger King says this move was done “as part of our ongoing effort to offer our guests options that match lifestyle needs.”

 

McDonald’s did something very similar. While on a recent visit to McDonald’s, after not visiting in some time, I ordered a Happy Meal and was met with the question, “Would you like Apple Dippers or yogurt with that?” Confused, and feeling guilty for even asking, I asked if fries were still an option. She said they were and finished the order. I have to admit, I understand what the company is doing, and many parents do want healthier options. They are facing some backlash for their unhealthy menu, and I get that. But, as a parent who can make her own decisions about what her child eats, I did feel guilty ordering fries. I would hope that is not McDonald’s intent, and don’t believe it is, but this subliminal sales prevention might be a problem.

 

Another thing McDonald’s is changing potentially is their drive thru menu. After consistent issues with slow speed of service, the company is considering a bold move – remove some menu items from the drive thru so that customers do not see them and will be less likely to order them. If there are fewer items customers see, it may be less of a variety of items ordered, which is easier for staff and may potentially improve speed of service.

 

A recent article discussing this change does say that if a customer would like to order something that is not visible on the menu, they can do so, but their hope is that customers will focus on ordering the limited items visible on the drive thru menu.

 

They are also considering removing the items with the least amount of sales. This might be a more effective move than quietly removing menu items from the drive thru and hope that out of sight is out of mind.

 

Maybe this is a smart move; if a customer is in the drive thru, they are obviously wanting to get in and out. If they see that something they’d like to order is not there, they may quickly find something that works for them and move on. However, if this is not done effectively, it could cause more hangups in the drive thru. Imagine the customer who really wants a certain item, and they came specifically for that item. If they don’t see it on the menu board, they may ask if it’s still available. If the drive thru employee isn’t sure, or isn’t sure if it can be sold in the drive thru, they may take an extra moment to confer with a manager. And then, it may take extra time to ring into the register, as it is an item they are not used to ringing up. Time could also be added if, while the employee is finding out if the item could be ordered, the customer finds another alternative in the meantime, and changes the order midstream. This could take more time than is needed, causing further delays.

 

These recent developments are very interesting. Have companies now turned to sales prevention in order to improve business?  I will admit, as a parent, the stealth move of not advertising soft drinks and not mentioning fries can be helpful. If a parent is trying to get healthier items for their child, it’s easy for the parent to say, “Look, they don’t offer soda” or “they asked if you wanted apples or yogurt, which one would you like?” because the dreaded “bad” items are not even mentioned. This could help parents and I could see how this would be viewed as a positive move. On the flip side though, it could make other parents (like myself) feel guilty about even asking for the unhealthy stuff.

 

The fast food industry is definitely in a tough position – they want to cater to both types of customers, those who want what they usually order and those who are demanding healthier options. With these recent changes, the pendulum seems to be swinging toward the healthier options crowd, a move that could cause backlash among those who just want some fries.

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