Conforming to expectations

One of the reasons as to why the process matters is, if visible, it must conform with the way it plays out in the mind of the customer.

Witnessing a lady's anger at the way a Chinese food dish was prepared at a Food Court outlet, I was reminded of the same scenario playing out with me at the very same outlet a few months ago. At that time, I decided never to order from the outlet again. Something tells me the lady will follow in my footsteps.

The true taste of Chinese food is in the way its stir fried in a wok. This particular outlet at the Food Court of a Bangalore mall chose an easier way to serve Chinese food to its diners. Prepare the sauces separately and hold it in a Bain-marie. As and when an order for a particular dish is received, fry the item in question, dunk it into the previously prepared and held sauce and serve it to the customer. And do all of this right in front of the customer.

What does the lady, who saw how the Chinese dish was prepared, not in a wok, do? She tells the counter guy to go stuff the food where it truly belongs. She meant the dustbin.

Its important for firms to stick to set processes, even more so when the process is visible to the end customer. In fact there are some firms that display the process for all to see.

Now that builds credibility!