Routine. We are all creatures of habit. It’s evident in everything we do. From the wake up routine each of us has in the morning to the way we manage our email inbox. We each go about our day and manage ourselves through a series of routine events that makes each of us successful and able to efficiently navigate our day.
With a passion to continue driving high customer satisfaction from our existing customers and a team goal of expanding our install base, we have been diligently working over the past few months. In ten short weeks, our team signed five new franchise groups to deploy the Radiant solution and are now deep in the trenches of installation, training and go live support. It’s easy in this situation to rely heavily on our routine to get through the long days.
Every now and again, an activity comes along in our business day that shakes our routine up just a bit and if you look closely enough, that seemingly small change can energize and reaffirm for you why it is we do what we do each day at Radiant.
In mid-July, our team had been working around the clock to quickly turn a business quote and deploy a solution that would 100% satisfy our new customer partner. I was on site for our installation and go live with a new franchisee in Kansas City, MO. The site would be taking advantage of the full suite of Radiant’s products; including Radiant hardware, Aloha POS software and Menulink Labor and Inventory back office software. We successfully completed cashier training for Aloha POS and had our store managers ready to go for the above store processing in Menulink back office. The installation went smoothly.
On go live day, the Radiant team returned to the site bright and early to introduce the morning shift team to the new Radiant solution. I couldn’t help but find it odd that the above store management team, that had been very engaged up until now, was no where in sight. It wasn’t until around 10.30 am when the IT Director surfaced at the site. He was all smiles. I said “wow, you look really cool and collected for go live”. He grinned and said “yep, I’ve been watching everything from home through our security system since 4:00 am. The team has done a great job”. As if that wasn’t a proud enough moment for the great work that our team has done; he went on to brag on each of the team members individually.
By lunch, this high volume store was trucking along and dealing with the new system change with ease. This high volume store was buzzing with excitement, employees and customers alike. A little before noon, an elderly couple came in to the dining room. After selecting their usual table, the woman walked to the counter to place her order … it’s the same every day; a number 4 value meal with no cheese for her and mac n’ cheese and fries for him. When she returned to the table, I could hear her explaining to her husband that they had a “new system” that they were using. After their meal, the story was repeated for another elderly couple sitting a few booths away, another daily patron. This time I was able to overhear.
From the mouth of a customer that would be considered by any demographic or technology adoption study as “technology averse” or “disinterested in change”, I was able to hear her explain to the group, “Did you see the new screens? You can see what they are ringing up and your total as the cashier puts it in. I really like that.” She went on to point out that your receipt now shows your ticket number so you can be ready to pick up your food without remembering the number. I heard her tell the group that the cashiers are already equally fast on these new systems as the old ones and once they get the hang of it, “it’s going to be good”. She even noticed that they were no longer using mag stripe cards for manager approval of her 10% discount and instead used a finger print. She thought that was pretty cool too.
I couldn’t help but smile. As she was leaving I introduced myself and asked her what she thought. She gave us a rave review and was very pleased to see the new system in action. This story was echoed by many other customers that were pleasantly surprised to find the C1200 customer-facing displays and the new systems in place. They seem to appreciate the element of interaction with the transaction and those paying with credit LOVED being able to swipe their own cards. The cashier team also loved how much easier this made their process.
I know we all understand the value of the Radiant solution in our customer’s sites; but it was amazing to experience this and see how even something as seemingly insignificantly small to a consumer as a “new screen” can be noticed and impact the day of even the most unlikely consumer.
Routine. It’s a wake up call to each and every one of us. To know that in both small and big ways, Radiant’s products have the reach to impact the routines and day to day lives of business owner operators and customers too. It’s nice to be reminded … sometimes the smallest changes to our routine are the little things that matter most.
I love the fact that the customers eating at the site noticed the difference in technology and were happy with it. It’s a whole different dynamic when you think about the impact that technology has on consumer interactions at a restaurant. People generally do not like change in their daily routines. I’m happy to see they thought the change was for the better!