The idea I have for this paper is relating to chefs and their idea of creating a new restaurant that satisfies customers’ needs. I think it would be very fascinating to explore this area and to find out what customers expect when they walk into a restaurant. For me, personally, this topic seems particularly interesting because one day in the future I hope to become a chef with my own restaurant. My true passion is cooking. I watch the food network channel every chance I get. After I get my degree in accounting, I plan to work for a couple of years in this field of work, and than eventually start learning how to cook, either in a culinary school or just by taking cooking classes. I already have a pretty good foundation of how to cook, but I think if I want to become a professional chef, there is a lot more I still need to learn!
This topic can cover a variety of areas. At first I was thinking about writing about what a customer expects from the entrée when they read a description of food on a menu. However, after more thought on this subject, I decided that it may be a little too narrow of a topic and that I needed to think of something that would expand my research. Opening up a new restaurant and creating a certain type of experience for customers is an area that I can really look into. There are so many different things to think about when opening up a restaurant; such as what color lighting to have; or what paintings to have on the wall. I think I will be surprised by what research I find relating to these different aspects. I would be interested to know how big of a role all of these different characteristics play in the overall experience for customers. The food will probably play a big role, but I think researching these different areas will be most surprising! Also, I want to find out what the most important thing is to customers when entering a restaurant? What do they hope to get from their dining experience? What aspects other than the actual food are critical in evaluating whether or not the customers enjoy the restaurant? I hope I will be able to get all these questions answered and more after I start doing my research.
The connection to the gathering and identification of customer insights to the design of valuable customer experiences is pretty strong. I think in order to effectively design a valuable customer experience, the gathering and identification of customer insights is appropriate. The more information you can get from customers, the more likely you are to design a valuable experience for them. It is also important to get information from customers in a way that presents useful information. After learning about all of the errors that could occur in gathering information from customers, I now know to be more careful in phrasing my questions, and performing other research techniques.
As soon as class was over on Monday, I used the Google Scholar search tool and was able to pull up a lot of information relating to this subject matter. I had never heard of this function on Google and was really excited to start using it! I searched for “restaurants and customer experience” and this one article came up called “Managing the total customer experience”, by Leonard Berry, Lewis Carbone, and Stephan Haeckel. This article didn’t only mention the experience for customers at restaurants, but it also describes customers’ experience at various other organizations. The article mentions that the first step in determining if the customer is satisfied with the total experience is to recognize any clues given to the customers. These clues relate to both the functional and emotional aspects of the environment. I feel that this article gives good tips and suggestions on how to effectively run any company. The main point of the article is that for any company, creating a valuable and enjoyable experience for consumers is one of the most important aspects to consider. I think that when designing a new restaurant, a key to success is to understand how each component affects customer’s satisfaction levels. From there, you can effectively design a restaurant suitable for your customers.
One example I can think of in my own personal life was at this one sushi restaurant that I felt was one of the best designed restaurants I had been to. The reason why I think it was such a great experience was because of the attention to detail they portrayed. For example, when you walked in, there was a very nice smell that masked the odor that could possibly come from the food being prepared. Also, on each table there were decorative wet napkins you could use in case your hands got dirty from the sushi (which is very likely to occur!). Another thing I appreciated was the colors and choice of decorations placed around the restaurant. All of these things made a difference in my overall experience at the restaurant. Above all, the service was phenomenal, along with the food. I truly enjoyed this dining experience from the moment I entered, to the selection of food, and even the delicious chocolate you could pick up on your way out.
I find the article by Schmitt, “Framework for Managing Customer Experiences” to be very useful. In this article, he mentions how you can divide the customer experiences into five types that form the framework for customer experiences: sense, feel, think, act, and relate. Like the article says, you should strive to create an experience that integrates all of these components. I do think it is difficult to achieve this, but with the right strategy you can be heading in the right direction!
