The Simple Truth

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While you start making changes, you need to understand a few things that will make it easier on you and on your team. 

You are not in the business of ensuring food costs are below 30%. You are not in the business of posting the schedule on Tuesdays before 9 AM. You are not even in the business of training your team to execute today’s special perfectly. These are only areas of responsibility that help you succeed in your business.

You are in the business of hospitality. The Simple Truth is that your job and the job of everyone that works for you is to create great guest experiences. Your precise definition may differ, but it needs to be something along those lines (unless you can think of something much better).

Everyone in your company should have the exact same answer when asked what their job is:

"We create great guest experiences."

How they contribute through their actions and responsibilities will differ, but identifying your Simple Truth allows everyone to unify behind a single purpose: Creating great guest experiences.

The Simple Truth is your communications strategy for when people push back or question the systems you're beginning to implement. You're not being crazy or demanding, you're setting up systems that help us ensure we deliver on the one thing we're all here to do, every time and at every interaction.  

The simple truth also simplifies decision-making. For every action, a team member only needs to ask, ”Will this contribute to a great guest experience?” If the answer is no, then they shouldn’t do it. If the answer is yes, then they should probably do more of it. This works whether your Simple Truth is to create a great guest experience, create smiles, create great memories, etc. 

Remind your team frequently about EPOC or Every Point of Contact. This means that your guests should experience the delivery of your Simple Truth across every point of contact, from the dishwasher to the district manager. 

To effectively work on your business, you must know your Simple Truth and the answers to these three questions:

• Hurdles- What are the barriers that the guest must cross in doing business with you, and what are the barriers that your team must cross to work for you? 
  • Anticipate these needs and take care of them before they happen, ease them, or have an explanation ready that makes it clear that you have considered the issue and that you care. This is an ongoing exercise. New issues will always arise, and you should always be working to anticipate the next ones.  
• Secret Ingredient- What extra element sets you apart from the competition? 
  • If you are the same as everyone else, then you are a commodity and have no choice but to compete on price alone. Then it becomes a race to the bottom. The less homogeneous your offering, the less susceptible you are to price comparison because you simply aren’t the same as the others. You can charge the price that makes sense for you and afford to create the experience that you want to create with the right secret ingredient. 
• The Bag Fries- What is the unexpected little something that cements you in your customer's heart?
  • Don’t even pretend that getting the extra pile of fries at the bottom of your bag when you order from Five Guys doesn’t make you smile. That's their special unexpected something. 

We can’t answer these questions for you, so take a moment to write down some initial thoughts.

When you and your team fully understand these three points and everyone in your organization can answer the question, “What is your job?” with the same answer, you can deliver on your Simple Truth.