Fast casual board gets cooking at CEO Summit

Fast casual board gets cooking at CEO Summit
Tags: Associations, Fast Casual Executive Summit, Fast Casual Executive Summit, Trends / Statistics
September 22, 2008 - Joseph Grove

Perhaps the most important element of the 2008 Fast Casual Executive Summit happened before the event even started. Downstairs at the Denver Ritz-Carlton, board members of the Fast Casual Executive Alliance gathered at Elway's restaurant for breakfast.

Louis Basile, president of the Alliance and CEO of Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Wildflower Bread Company, outlined recent accomplishments of the group as well as specific and general goals for the next year.

story continues below...

2009 Fast Casual State of the Industry Report

Purchase the 2009 Fast Casual State of the Industry Report and learn everything you need to know about the fastest-growing segment of the restaurant industry, straight from the operators themselves.

Order your copy today!

So far, Basile said, the Alliance was delivering on its initiatives. Making its debut at the 2007 Fast Casual Executive Summit, the group announced board members and released the first edition of the Fast Casual State of the Industry Report.

In 2008, the focus was raising awareness of the fast casual segment. Its first event was a panel discussion at the National Restaurant Association show in May.

Basile recalled being nervous about attendance.

"It felt like I was throwing a party and worried that no one would come," he said. Instead, the room was jammed. "We could have stood there for three hours; we had so many operators interested in what we had to say."

The response was similar for an event at the recent Western Foodservice & Hospitality Expo, in Los Angeles, where, Basile said, enthusiasts talked so long they literally had the lights turned out on them.

For 2009, Basile outlined plans that set the stage for activity beyond continuing to educate.

"We very much want this to be an operator's board," Basile said, "a board that gets things done."

Those things include:

Holding two in-person board meetings in 2009, one at the Summit and one around the National Restaurant Association show, and several to be held via conference call.
Filling the four senior officer positions by elections. Currently, in addition to Basile as president, the board is served by Paul Barron, publisher of Fast Casual magazine, as chairman, and Linda Duke, of Duke Marketing, as secretary. The Alliance is recruiting a vice president.
Set up the composition of other board roles and criteria for them, as well as create committees for specific activities of the board.
Increase the involvement of the board in the production of the Summit.
Represent itself at NRA and shows in California, Texas and Florida.

The keynote

Janelle Barlow, co-author of "Branded Customer Service" and a contributor to Fast Casual magazine, opened the 2008 Summit with a talk about the "future factor" of fast casual.

Customers already expect great customer service, she said, and will expect more in the years to come — especially when it comes to premium fast casual brands.

"Who here when they go to a McDonald's expects them to remember your name?" she asked the group. Few hands were raised. "But when I go to Starbucks, I expect them to remember me, because it costs more."

She cited recent statistics to support the importance of better customer service, which she believes has improved over recent years, but still has room to grow.

86 percent of consumers say they expect better service
97 percent said they have switched brands because of bad customer service
35 percent said they would have stayed with the brand if someone had offered an apology for the bad experience

But more important than service that is merely good, Barlow said, "Whether they say so or not, it's personal experience that keeps them coming back."

To stand out, good service also should be differentiated. Customers should be able to identify an attribute of your customer service and link it directly to you. One airliner based in India polishes the glasses of all its first-class passengers. "Whenever anyone talks about Kingfisher Airlines, they talk about how they clean your spectacles."

In addition, employees should be educated about good customer service, not merely trained.

Ultimately, it's a matter of everyone thinking about service not as merely good or bad, but as on brand or off brand. "Satisfied customers are not loyal customers," she said. "Engaged customers are loyal customers."

The size

The second edition of the summit hosted a record number of attendees — 90 — and 22 sponsors.

Gary "Moe" Meszaros, for one, appreciated the event takeaways.

"I thought it was very thought-provoking," said the co-founder of Sharon, Pa.-based Quaker Steak & Lube. "A lot of great ideas were exchanged, especially from some of the newer fast casuals that are up and coming. They bring a lot of interest to me."

In particular, he liked the idea of "dumbing down" menus to make them easier to understand for customers, and of using signage to mark wait times based on where customers are in line.

Also new this year were Power Sessions. During breaks, sponsoring companies joined Paul Barron, Summit chairman, for videotaped interviews. Other event features included the release of the 2009 Fast Casual State of the Industry Report and the announcement that Dallas would be the site for next year's Summit.

The Fast Casual Executive Alliance and the Fast Casual Executive Summit are operated by NetWorld Alliance, which publishes FastCasual.com, Fast Casual magazine and the Fast Casual State of the Industry Report.