I’ve spent more than 35 years in hospitality. In that time, I’ve watched owners pour thousands into ads, new menus and fit-outs, hoping it’ll fix a quiet Tuesday.
Most of the time it doesn’t.
I recently came across a fantastic interview with one of Chick-fil-A’s VP’s of Customer Experience. He talked about a mantra the business has carried for decades. One simple question:
What does it take to create a raving fan?
According to Chick-fil-A, raving fans do three things.
They come back more often.
They happily pay full price.
They tell others.
That’s it. Three behaviours. But look at them through a business lens, and they’re worth a lot more than they first appear.
More visits are revenue.
Full price is margin.
Telling others is free marketing.
Let me unpack that.
1. Come back more often (retention)= revenue
Most new clients I coach are focused on getting new guests through the door. I get it. New faces feel like growth.
But the quickest path to more revenue is usually already sitting in your venue. The guest who comes in twice a month instead of once has just doubled their value to you. No ad spend. No discount. Just a reason to come back.
That reason is a consistent experience. Same great coffee. Same warm welcome. Same standard on a Sunday afternoon as on a Friday night.
And consistency doesn’t happen by accident. It happens because you’ve built systems your team can follow every single shift.
2. Happily pay full price = margin
Notice the word happily.
Raving fans don’t hunt for vouchers. They don’t wait for the two-for-one. They pay full price because the experience is worth it.
This is where so many hospo businesses get stuck. Margins are tight, so they discount to fill seats. Discounting teaches guests to wait for the deal. Then margins get even tighter. It’s a nasty little cycle.
When you deliver real value, you protect your price. And when your team runs a proper Selling System, recommending the wine that suits the dish or the dessert that finishes the night, guests don’t feel sold to. They feel looked after.
That’s margin, earned the right way.
3. Tell others = free marketing
Word of mouth is still the most powerful marketing in our industry. In the last 10 years, it's become scalable with platforms like Google reviews, etc.
A raving fan doesn’t only tell their mates over a beer. They leave a 5-star review that a stranger reads at 6 pm while deciding where to eat tonight. You can’t pay for that kind of marketing, and it compounds over time.
The flip side is true too. One poor experience, shared widely, can undo months of good work.
So where do raving fans come from?
Here’s the bit most people miss. Chick-fil-A doesn’t create raving fans with chicken. Plenty of places sell chicken.
They create them with people. Well-trained, well-led people delivering the same standard over and over again.
Engaged teams deliver 5-star experiences. 5-star experiences create raving fans.
You can’t have 5-star guests without 5-star employees. The two travel together.
Your challenge this week
Grab a coffee and ask yourself four honest questions:
Have I created & communicated a clear mantra around our guest experience?
Why would a guest come back more often?
Why would they happily pay full price?
Why would they tell others about us?
If you can’t answer them clearly, you’re not alone. Most owners can’t. But that’s the work.
Get those four answers right, build the systems, align the culture, and the revenue, margin, and marketing start to improve significantly.
James
