Editorial, October 1996

Some idle thoughts
about product, service
and lunch on Tuesday

By Brian Alm, Editor

Tuesday I went to a new place for lunch. The decor was nondescript, like most fast food joints. It was a noisy place built for fast turnover, not a place where you linger over dinner in light conversation, twirling a winestem. You get in, get the job done and get out. So that's the setting for this story.
How was lunch Tuesday? It was outstanding, memorable and worth telling about. What made it so special? The product and the service.
I walked up to the order counter and a woman greeted me happily and asked if I'd ever eaten there before. I noted right off that she did not yell at me as soon as I drew near, like they always do at the fast food joints - as if reading the menu board wasn't something nice people did. But this woman smiled and said, in the most civilized way, "Well, I'm glad you came! Now, let me explain " Whereupon, with a grand sweep of her hand, she called my attention to a bank of glass cases in which rotisseries were turning turkeys, hams and chickens. "We do it all right here," she said proudly. "We even make our own mashed potatoes - here, try some." She had already filled a little cup with mashed potatoes and a little brown gravy, and was handing it to me. "And you get your choice of any of these side dishes," she said, spreading her hands over the array of food. "You can sample anything you like." Then she stopped talking and waited, smiling. No rush.
I, the customer, was now in charge - my decision, my timeclock.
Oh, and let's not forget the product itself. Everything was just as good as it looked. I picked macaroni and cheese, and it was just right - not the overcooked, two-day-old, anemic dose of congealed cornstarch that the supermarket deli stuff turns out to be when you get it home and pry off the lid. No, this was as good as Grandma's. Somebody cared about making it right. I'll go back to that place.
Now, what does all this have to do with a rental business?
Well, tell me: How much time and nuisance do you invest in making sure your product and service are top-notch, beyond customers' expectations? Is there anything a customer could think of that you haven't already thought of, and have taken the initiative to do - before the customer asks you to or the competition forces you to?
These are hard questions. Perhaps no one could answer without hesitation, "Yes! Of course! Always, without fail!"
But I bet this new lunch place could answer that way, so I know it's possible. Now just add some decor and some merchandising savvy, some marketing and promotion, and you've really got something.
Lunch, by the way, was $5.76. That's a little on the high side around here, but price really didn't seem like much of an issue.

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