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If You’re Standing Still,
You’re Walking Backwards
By Jim Sullivan Copyright 2008 Sullivision.com
 2008 is shaping up to be a year of uncertainty and even fear in the minds of many operators. While no one can predict the future, (unless of course, your parents own the company) smart operators recognize that we must adjust to a new reality. Hundred-dollar barrels of oil, rising commodity prices, shrinking margins, sub-prime lending crisis, a stagnant economy and an election year to boot is enough to make you tremble.
Depending on your segment, and how your mindset’s tilting, you’re either determined to survive or panicked with fear. Well, the truth is that it’s either going to get better, or it’s going to get worse. So I say focus on the things you can control instead of worrying about the things you can’t. And a quick note about this Downward Cycle we’re in. While most people are focusing on “downward” I’d suggest we all focus instead on “cycle”. Here’s a few things to consider.
Yesterday is not today. The biggest difference between the 1991 recession and today’s foodservice arena is that the restaurant experience is much more woven into the social fabric of American society today. I just don’t think that our customers will give up their daily or weekly foodservice fix. The restaurant business is like oxygen. If you’re breathing, you’ll use it.
Be realistic. Find ways to cut costs, but not at the expense of the things your customers value most.
Aim for the block. The classic hockey axiom is “skate to where the puck is going, not to where it is now.” But retailer Annie Dillard offers a more provincial analogy: “Aim for the chopping block. If you aim for the wood, you will have nothing. Aim past the wood, aim through the wood, aim for the chopping block.” In other words, focus on the goal line. Know the difference between strategies and tactics and you’ll improve your aim. For instance, “better service” as a goal is meaningless. “Improving customer loyalty by behaving in a manner that every guest leaves happy,” is much more clearly defined.
All work is teamwork. Working through tough economic times is essentially a question of discipline and teamwork more than strategy and tactics. Discipline means setting standards, being a moral leader, and sharing ownership shift by shift. “Training, setting goals and then giving them the tools to achieve those goals on the floor is critical to creating a sense of ownership for our hourly team members and managers,” says Kirstie Johnson, Regional Training Manager for Dave and Busters. “Our managers and our Shift Leaders work together to formulate an operating plan for each shift. They ask ‘what should we focus on today?’ By soliciting their input and not relaxing our standards, this allows all of the Team Members to feel like a bigger piece of the whole, and that what they did today at work really matters.”
If there is no wind, row. “Volume can hide a multitude of sins,” Grandpa Sullivan used to say, and if the Boom Times of the last eight years had you profiting in spite of your weak or indifferent service or marketing plans, then you’d better get back to the fundamentals ASAP. Create your own foot traffic by piling on the service to every customer you serve. It’s free. And that’s the kind of advertising money can’t buy.
The heartbone’s connected to the headbone. “What this means is that we must do more than change—we must change the way we change,” says author Richard Moran. “Remember the Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz really did have a brain.”
Keep it fresh. “Give your guests what they remember and give them something new each time they visit,” says New York City restaurateur Danny Meyer. Your daily goals: keep it fresh, keep it focused, remember to say thank you.
To win you have to risk losing. Not to decide is to decide. The key priority is to keep playing to win instead of playing not to lose.
And finally, paralysis by analysis is not allowed. And neither is freezing with fear. You’ve got to do something. Either lead, follow, or get the hell out of the way.
“Hope” is not a strategy. And no matter what happens next in 2008, this much is certain: Change is inevitable. Growth is a choice. Abandon hope for a better yesterday, stop waiting for a better tomorrow, do something better for your business today.
Jim Sullivan is the CEO of Sullivision.com and a popular speaker at manager conferences worldwide.
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