“Big Mac” Mentality: The Small Biz Curse

First a trivia question – What was the first fast food chain?  Was it McDonald’s,White Castle, Kentucky Fried Chicken, or A&W? Answer at the end of the post.

Whichever was first, fast food has become ubiquitous (everywhere) and it has occasioned what I call the “Big Mac” Mentality – I want it my way and I want it now.  This mentality is the curse of all small businesses everywhere.  If you own a retail business, how many times have people demanded (1) immediate attention, (2) immediate delivery, (3) immediate help to fix something that’s wrong with your product or service?  I’ll bet it happens all the time.

Consumer expectations are key. Now, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t give great service to people. I’m saying that there is a consumer expectation that immediate service is the only good service. The fast food places were first, but all businesses are catering to the fast food way of service, so we all have to do it.  Or do we?

How to break the curse. You can either give in to the fast food mentality and structure your business to provide immediate customer service all the time, or you can train your customers to accept great service at a slower pace.  How do you train your customers?  You can:

• Let them know from the beginning that “we’re better and the best takes longer.”
• Let them know exactly how long things will take and make sure you don’t exceed that time.  Good restaurants do this; they tell you the wait will be 30 minutes and then you’re pleased when it is only 20 minutes.
• Provide little extras to help people accept the wait.  A small sample of a product, or a brochure telling people how to use it would be a good idea for a product.

It’s all about “managing expectations.”  Let people know what to expect, give them excellent service with a smile every single time, and they will continue to come back to you, even if you don’t give them “fast food” instant gratification.

Trivia Answer: The first “fast food” was Horn and Hardart’s Automat in New York City, which served prepared food in windows like a vending machine. White Castle started selling burgers in 1921, with the slogan “Buy them by the sack.”  But A&W introduced franchising in 1921, selling its special root beer syrup.  So take your pick.  Whichever you chose, it’s certainly true that “fast food” has been around for a long time.  (Information source: Wikipedia)

Image source: sxc.hu