Page 40 - Flathead Beacon // 7.9.14

40 | JULY 9, 2014
BUSINESS FLATHEADBEACON.COM BUSINESS IS PERSONAL Mark Riffey
Thank You to Everyone Who Made the 2014
“Making Miracles Happen” Dinner & Auction
a Huge Success!
Able Body Shop Advantage Water Conditioning Allen Jimmerson Alpenglow Dental Artemis Acres
Ashley Creek Ramblers Automotive Professionals Baskin Robbins
Bear Mountain Mercantile Beckman’s Furniture Best Western Fernie & Boston Pizza
Bigfork Summer Playhouse Big John’s
Big Sky Framing
Big Sky Water Park Bitney’s Furniture
Blue Cow Car Wash Carpet Studio
Chris Bond
Cindy Bitney
City Brew
Clean Getaway Car Wash Conlin’s Furniture Corporate Image Outfitters Crooked Tree Motel Daryl & Rose Askvig DeBartolo Holdings Debra Cousey
Don K Chevrolet
Dr. Dennis Dugger Eagle’s Nest
Earthly Beauty Eisinger Motors EnVogue Salon
Erin Barbee
Escape Outdoors Evolve Hair Salon
Farm to Market Pork Flaming Arrow Flathead Concrete Products Flathead Health & Fitness Flathead Lake Inn Flathead Valley Community College
Fun Beverage
Gail Erickson Gardner’s RV
Gil’s Furniture
Glacier Bank
Glacier Insurance Strategies Glacier Pilot Club
Great Northern Pasta Flowers by Hansen
Hair Affaire Hallmark
Hampton Inn
Hank Galpin
Hattie Stahlberg Holiday Inn Express
Horse Sense Healing Hungry Horse Liquor Store Imagination Station Insty Prints
Jane Austin Monk
JD & Nicci Carrabin
Jeff Fleming’s Bear Country Gallery
Jim & Tami Adams
Jim Catalano
Joyce Moon
KAJ 18
Kalispell Art Casting & Gallery Kalispell Regional Medical Center
Kristyn Morin
LaSalle Equine LaSalle Gravel
Laura Ricks
Lisa Bexten
Linda Mengwasser Louis Kiser
Lower Valley Meats Mark & Jamie Askvig McGarry’s Roadhouse Meadow Lake Resort Midway Rental
Mike & Carla Clarke Mirabelle Salon
Missy Cobb Montana Coffee Traders Montana Raft Company Mountain Valley Foods Murdoch’s
Nancy Roberts Natural Grocers Nelson Hardware Nickel Charlie’s Norm’s News
North Bay Grill
North Valley Ag
North Valley Hospital Northwest Imaging Northwestern Energy Patti Holm Performance Heating & Air Phil Gregoire
Pine Lodge
Plan B Organizing
Plant Land
Plum Creek
Powder Horn Trading Premium Property Building & Maintenance Rainbow International Raj Salon
Red Lion Hotel Richard & Kathy Morris Riddle’s Jewelry Rukus Fermentation
Sage & Cedar Schellinger Construction Schooley Mitchell Scotty’s Bar
Shanna K
Shelle Lindholm
SM Bradford
Soucie & Soucie Spencer & Co.
Spirit Quest Archery Sportsman & Ski Haus Stillwater Quilters Stumptown Quilters Society Subway of Whitefish Sue Shea
Summer Aldrich Sutherland Cleaners Swan Mountain Outfitters T-Bend Construction Tailwaggers
Teri Coldwell
The Nite Owl/The Back Room The Forge
The Home Depot
The Computer Place Teletech
Tiffany Blue
Trail Head Supply Travis Cattron
Travis Hutton
Triple Divide Sports Whse Triple W Equipment Tumbleweed Designs Tupelo Grill Universal Athletic Valerie McIntyre Village Shop
Valley Bank Wal-Mart
Western Building Center Western Outdoor Whipped Express Whitefish Lake Golf Club Whitefish Lake Restaurant Whitefish Liquor Store Whitefish Soroptomist Whitefish Therapy & Sport Center
Consistency Critical to Repeat and Word-of-Mouth Business
LAST WEEK, MY WIFE AND I went to a place we’d been look- ing forward to for some time. Our 31st wedding anniversary dinner was the perfect occasion to try a new (to us) place, so we went to a local Cajun res- taurant whose entree price ranking is $$ and name includes “Orleans.”
Long time readers know I rarely name poor performers. I’ve made note of the theme, price range and part of the name to set the expectation you’d expect to find there.
EXPECTATIONS VS. REALITY
The combination of Cajun, $$ and Orleans implied white tablecloths, a Bourbon Street vibe/atmosphere and good Louisiana cuisine prepared to or- der, perhaps with an emphasis on sea- food.
The menu’s broad selection of Cajun seafood dishes nailed that, but expecta- tion delivery faded from there. There was little to tie the ambiance to New Orleans. The table settings resembled something you’d find in a pizza joint. This created a bit of disconnect with the pricing, menu and the restaurant’s name, which im- plied fine Bourbon Street dining.
Despite arriving at about 7 p.m. on a Wednesday, the place was empty. Warn- ing bells went off, but we figured we’d give it a shot anyway. After being seated, I noticed the floor was filthy. It seats 30- 35 and on a busy night and I can see how the staff might not be able to get to the floor between turns. However, the din- ing area has a tile floor and the place was empty except for us, so finding it consis- tently dirty throughout the restaurant was pretty surprising.
The chef arrived at the restaurant at the same time we did. Rather than going to the kitchen, the chef sat down in the dining area with a couple of website con- sultants and discussed the menu, pho- tos and what should be changed on their site.
At no time during our visit did the chef enter the kitchen, including from the time we ordered to the time we re- ceived our food. Likewise, neither the waiter or cook staff approached the chef’s table for guidance. I suspect that the chef has their hand in their sauces and general guidance of the kitchen, but in a place this small in this price range, I expect direct chef involvement in the food and perhaps even a table visit on a slow night in an otherwise empty res- taurant.
Instead, there was no welcome, no eye contact, no thank you and no time in the kitchen. Nothing from the chef.
Speaking of empty, it was quiet enough to hear the microwave beeping just before my wife’s étouffée arrived. Despite the microwave, the étouffée was surprisingly tasty and easily the best part of her meal. Oddly enough, the waiter discouraged her from ordering the entree, so she ordered a small cup to get a taste of it despite the waiter’s rec- ommendation.
The inconsistency returned with my wife’s shrimp pontchartrain entree, which turned out to be a massive platter of heavily salted pasta/sauce with little sign of shrimp. Meanwhile, my catfish tchoupitoulas was very good. I’d defi- nitely order it again.
Quality and branding inconsisten- cies can damage any business - even if they don’t serve food.
POLICE YOUR INCONSISTENCIES
Inconsistencies plague small busi- ness and can destroy repeat business, as well as word-of-mouth business. The more processes, systems and training you can put in place to root out these issues, the closer your business gets to marketing itself by reputation.
Our visit included a number of in- consistencies with the business’ pricing, name, menu and food.
The menu listed numerous chef and/ or restaurant honors, yet the most re- cent award was four years old. The years without an award stood out as much as the period of years where consistent an- nual awards implied high quality. If you can’t show award consistency, don’t list the award years or list them as “Five- time winner.” Meanwhile, address the inconsistencies that caused the wins to stop.
Whether you operate a three star restaurant or a tire shop, cleanliness is important. It’s a signal that a business cares and pays attention to details, while sending a message about the cleanliness of other parts of the business that you cannot see. Given the filthy condition of the dining area floor, would you expect the walk-in cooler, prep table or kitchen floor to be clean?
What inconsistencies can you ad- dress to increase repeat and word-of- mouth business?
Want to learn more about Mark or ask him to write about a business, operations or marketing problem? See Mark’s site, rescuemarketing.com, or contact him via email at [email protected].