R&I - 10 Min Manager`s Guide to Customer Feedback
by Lisa Bertagnoli,
featured in Exerpt from Restaurants & Institutions
on August 1, 2004
 R&I Insider
The Ten-Minute Manager`s Guide To... Customer Feedback
By Lisa Bertagnoli, Special to R&I
The woman staring at her salad. That couple toying with dessert or the senior guest who sends back a plate that`s barely been touched. Whatever are such customers thinking?
Inquiring operators want to know, and they find out via written comment cards, high-tech in-house surveys, e-mail questionnaires and the old-fashioned waystopping by the table and asking.
It`s a two-step process, this business of "touching" the customer. Step one, gathering comments, tells guests you`re interested in what they have to say. Step two, turning diner comments into store-level changes, shows customers that an operation is serious about keeping their business.
Marketing Maneuvers
Palm Restaurant uses the 87,888 members of 837 Club, the chain`s frequent-diner program, to get feedback on menu and service.
More specifically, the 29-unit steakhouse chain uses 837 Club members to help it more effectively spend its $6 million marketing budget, says Fred Thimm, president of Washington, D.C.-based Palm Management Corp. "We have altered our marketing strategy as a result of customer behavior we measured through the club," Thimm says.
For instance, Palm used to give its entire mailing list gift certificates for a 3-pound lobster to be used during the member`s birthday month. Thanks to a survey, the chain found that members were joining just for the free lobster.
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