I was out to dinner with members of my advisory board when we ordered some wine. I noticed that each wine glass had a star on it (see the picture below). When asked, the waitress explained that the star was used as fill point for a glass of wine. What a smart system!
Then she filled it to the very bottom tips of the star. I felt ripped off. This is when a great system goes sour. The system only considered the vendor’s needs and not the customer’s experience.
Ironically, the restaurant didn’t need to wow the customer by adding more wine per serving, they simply needed to move the star down on the glass so that the equivalent fill would finish with wine at the top of the star. Even better, the waiters should be trained to pour to the top of the star, and then give one extra mini-pour. The feeling of getting something extra would thrill the customer.
Systems are mandatory for growing your business. Just don’t forget that if it touches the customer, you need to build a system that both serves consistency and wows the customer.
