They SERIOUSLY believe in their doctrine.  Anything else would be hypocritical.  We, as a species sniff out hypocrites.  Ultimately we shy away.   But not this bunch.  There is always a line of cars waiting at their drive up window.  Always!

Chick-fil-A.   They really do believe in their doctrine.  Of course they make great food, but what is the magic fairy dust that really sinks its hooks into their customers?

Hospitality.

In a conversation with Andrew Allman, an owner/operator of one of their franchises, he shared that in a few days he was going to have a crew of new employees over to his house for dinner.  “We want them to meet the family, and start seeing that we really do believe in service.”

When was the last time the boss had you over for dinner?   Ah . . . never.  (well not true for me, but that is another story).

I asked how they ingrained the service mentality, and the hyper politeness into employees?

“We call it Hospitaility Language,” he responded.

Huh?

He went onto explain that over and over the proper language for a Chick-fil-A team -member (no employees here) is drummed in, coached, rewarded and encouraged.

The customer says, “Thank you.”  The Chick-fil-A “team-member” replies, “My pleasure.”   Seriously.  They one up your manners with a “my pleasure” hyper polite response.

But it doesn’t stop there.  Consider the following . . . .

Average Fast Food	Chick-fil-A
“Let me clear your trash.”	“May I take your tray?”
“I can help the next person here.”	“My I serve the next guest?”
“To stay or to go?”	“Will you dine in, or carry out?”
	“Have a good afternoon”
Yes/no	“Yes Sir”  or “Yes Ma’am”
“Would you like a refill on your drink?”	“May I refresh your beverage?”
	They offer mints to guests.

 

I mean, look at the “May I refresh your beverage?” comment.   As you drink, the ice melts.  Instead of just topping off the glass with more soda, the “refresh” comment entails, maybe adding ice to the right amount, in addition to more soda.  Incredible.  The difference in a word, and the implied higher level of service.

When you meet Andrew, you FEEL that this is someone who seriously believes in his product and the value added service that it requires.

You have three choices with this information.

#1 – C.A.S.E. – Copy and Steal Everything.  You either start believing in and practicing this type of TLC or

#2 – Get run over my this charismatic behavior

#3 – Be afraid, be very afraid.