Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their very own.
Sustaining a excessive customary of customer support whereas increasing is usually a daunting process for native companies. Tony Gemignani, proprietor of Tony’s Pizza Napoletana in San Francisco, skilled his fair proportion of challenges when making a restaurant he believed in regardless of the naysayers.
“Tony’s is exclusive,” Gemignani says. “It is the primary restaurant of its form, and no person actually believed in it — a number of kinds, a number of ovens, from fuel, wooden burning, coal, electrical, rotating fuel. Relying on the type of pizza that you just like, we just about virtually have that on the menu. Fifteen years in the past, you by no means actually noticed a Roman and Neapolitan man get alongside. It was like, ‘I make New York, I make Chicago.’ You by no means introduced all of them collectively.”
With so many decisions on the menu, Gemignani knew his employees had to have the ability to articulate the variations in pizza kinds and, extra importantly, discover the right match for every buyer.
“I like to inform my servers to go to a desk, ask them the place they’re from, how they’re doing, and say, ‘What sort of type do you want? Do you prefer it thick or skinny? You prefer it within the pan? Do you prefer it spherical or sq.?'”
This strategy personalizes the customer experience and helps information them towards a pizza they’ll get pleasure from, thereby rising buyer satisfaction.
One other key facet of buyer happiness is adaptability. In the course of the pandemic, Gemignani notes that many well-known eating places that relied on common clientele have been at a loss for methods to keep afloat as a result of they would not change their enterprise mannequin, resembling packaging meals for supply.
Gemignani, however, did what many resourceful enterprise homeowners noticed as their solely possibility and rapidly pivoted to new strategies of service. This ensured that his high-quality meals was nonetheless accessible to prospects via supply regardless of the challenges concerned. He additionally underscored the significance of getting a digital presence so new prospects can discover you regardless of the circumstances.
Yelp reviewer Dominic B. echoed this recommendation, noting that when a enterprise engages with its viewers on social media or platforms like Yelp, it helps shoppers put a face to the corporate, hear the mission assertion and get a greater thought of the standard they’ll count on.
“Seeing what occurs within the kitchen, behind the bar, behind the operations… I feel that is all tremendous fascinating and an effective way to indicate folks how genuine your components are and the place it [all] comes from,” Dominic says. “It is rather more accessible to listen to about that on a social media platform than having somebody go to your web site, go to the about part, after which learn a number of paragraphs about it.”
When discussing the benefits of constructing a digital presence, Gemignani highlighted the significance of participating with buyer suggestions, significantly online reviews. He understands that not all suggestions might be constructive however sees vital critiques as alternatives to enhance and join with prospects.
“I’ve folks now that have a look at them day by day and handle them as fast as we will,” he says. “Am I them day by day? No. Infrequently, my managers come to me and say, ‘It has been superior. We have had 20 5-star critiques, after which we had a foul one.’ Possibly one thing wasn’t clear, or it was loud. I get it. It is sort of out of my management, however we do take it to coronary heart. I do have a look at those which are critical, and we wish to make [the experience] higher, and we wish to educate the shoppers and the staff.”
Gemignani has relied on these small enterprise methods to reinforce operations and maintain progress, even in difficult instances:
- Educate your staff. Guarantee your staff is educated about your services or products to allow them to help and advise prospects confidently.
- Adapt and innovate. Be able to adapt your small business operations to satisfy altering circumstances, calls for and limitations.
- Rent for match and willingness to be taught. Hire employees who’re expert and desirous to embrace your small business’s strategies and tradition.
- Interact with buyer suggestions. Frequently evaluate and respond to customer feedback. This reveals that you just worth buyer enter and are dedicated to enhancing their expertise.
Hearken to the episode beneath to listen to straight from Gemignani and Dominic, and subscribe to Behind the Review for extra from new enterprise homeowners and reviewers each Thursday. Accessible on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pandora and Soundcloud.
This text is a part of our ongoing sequence highlighting family-owned and operated companies.
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Editorial contributions by Kristi Lindahl