Service Review: Sol Aztecas on 4th Street

There’s been a great buzz of excitement around the opening of the new Sol Aztecas on Fourth Street in Louisville. Everyone here is a big fan of their location on Bardstown Road, and we were thrilled to hear that one was opening just a few blocks away from our office.

The new location has great promise, but there is room for improvement in a few key service areas.

Timing is Everything

Our favorite mystery shopping clients are the ones that demand that their service be evaluated during their busiest, peak hours.

As a dedicated manager once put it: “If we can’t be at our best when we know we are going to be busy, then what good are we?”

With that in mind, our team (and a few guests) walked down to Sol Aztecas at high noon on a Friday with a party of eight.

We had called at 10:30 that morning to make a reservation but were told that lunch reservations are not accepted (a policy that may need to be reconsidered on busy days).

First Impressions

We had a very rocky start to this visit for two main reasons:

• There is no formalized greeting process
• The physical layout of the entrance needs improvement

Greeting Process

They need one. Especially for busy times.

Customers enter into a bar area. There is a register on the bar with a woman frantically ringing up tickets for every server on duty. All around, a chaotic mass of people bump into each other and wonder what’s happening, as there is no greeting process at all.

Aaron tried to request a table, but 15 minutes went by and he had never been acknowledged or spoken to in any way. He stood at the bar watching the woman at the register ring up tickets, but she never looked at him.

So not only did we not know the wait time, but no one on the staff even knew we were there. Had they acknowledged Aaron, someone could have been putting tables together for a large party. Someone could have gotten us drinks or appetizers. Taking just 20 seconds to acknowledge us would have greatly cut down our wait time and allowed them to move us along faster.

As Aaron observed: “Waiting for a seat is understandable. But waiting to just be acknowledged makes things harder on both the customers and the staff.”

This is a new location that is probably in the process of working out all the kinks, so hopefully they address the greeting process soon.

Physical Layout

Because of the confusion just inside the door, the rest of our party waited for Aaron outside.

There were no employees to encourage us to sit at the outside tables and no clearly defined waiting area.

So for the 15 minutes that Aaron waited to be greeted, the rest of us formed a huddle just outside the front door.

A few other customers gathered around us, and that’s when Sol Aztecas lost business.

We watched six pairs of potential customers approach, assess the size of our group, and decide to take their chances at another restaurant.

And the shame is that there were open two-tops inside. Had the staff been processing new customers effectively, the twelve customers who walked away could easily have been accommodated.

Seating

A staff member matter-of-factly confirmed that Aaron needed a table for eight, and then hurried away.

He returned three minutes later and asked Aaron to follow him.  Aaron turned around to motion through the window to the rest of our party. While he was doing this, the seater walked away, so we were left without our escort.

We found our table, but I hate to see service staff miss opportunities to build rapport, and the walk to the table is a great opportunity to connect with at least one member of a party.

At the Table

The service at our table was better, but by no means excellent. Our server did not introduce herself, and as the staff members do not wear name tags, so we didn't know who to ask for when we needed things.

The person assisting our server (I think he was a manager) did not consult with the server to see who ordered what, so he was forced to auction off our food instead of simply presenting it to the correct diner. The auctioning broke up our conversation and gave a haphazard impression.

No one realized we lacked silverware. We sat with our food for an awkward second or so before we took initiative and asked the server for it.

Refills were very slow, even as the crowd thinned out.

There was a confrontation with the server and expediter right next to our table (it’s never good to argue in front of customers).

Our food took a pretty long time to arrive, and our entire experience was 90 minutes.

Menu Miscellany

If you’re a fan of the Bardstown Road location, expect a different menu and a very different vibe. This location has a more upscale, urban feel to it.

It also offers a more upscale menu than that used by the Bardstown Road location.

And if you order fajitas, make sure to ask for extra tortillas, as we didn’t have nearly enough.

Conclusion

The Fourth Street Sol Aztecas' location has not been open for long, and we're sure they’re still streamlining their processes.

As the staff becomes more comfortable with their roles, they should feel less pressure, allowing them to offer friendlier, more personable service.

In the meantime, establishing a better greeting process and moving the register will definitely provide better experiences, shorten wait times, and prevent potential customers from walking away.

I bet they get there soon, but it might be too early for a great service experience just yet.

But hey, what a great excuse to go back again soon!

This visit: Two Magnets.

Welcome!

A big welcome to everyone stopping by after seeing our Business First article today. Our regular readers enjoy:

• Customer service reviews (like restaurant reviews, but focused on service, not food)
• Insightful discussions on customers & customer research
• Guest posts by training managers and other service industry professionals
• Myriad other fun, informational things about what we do

Next week we’ll be providing our service review of Sol Aztecas, the new Mexican restaurant on 4th Street in downtown Louisville.

So bookmark this page, check out some of our other great content, and enjoy the ride.

See ya Monday with our Sol Aztecas review!

The Mark

Thanks to all of you who have provided glowing feedback on our new mark.

We love how perfectly it conveys what we do (help clients attract customers) and how excited we are about it.  

All the creative work is the vision of one man. One thoughtful, amazing, and award-winning man.

We thank him deeply, and hope you all take a moment to go learn about him on his site.

For creative work, we can't recommend him enough. Truly, he's magnetic.

Be well!

What Attracts Your Customers?

The question that every business needs to be able to answer:

What attracts your customers? 

Sometimes businesses don’t even know who their customers are or how they got them.

A while back, Churchill Downs launched a new website to sell Kentucky Derby party goods to Derby parties around the world.

The site was a hit, but there was little information on the customers:

• Who are they?
• How did they find the site?
• What do they like/dislike about the site?
• What else would get them to use the site more?

So we got to work and deployed research teams to attend, observe, and document Derby Day parties across the country and learn about these customers. (Okay, and we had some fun, too.)

What did we discover?

• The features of the site that customers love.
• New services they want.
• Ideas to improve the product lines.
• The main competitors they also use.
• Fifty different ways to make a mint julep.

The best way to keep your customers is to know why they choose you.

And knowing that it’s easier to grow an existing customer than to cultivate a new one, it’s imperative to keep talking to customers and learning about them.

So let’s get to it.

“Please tell my boss I did a great job!”

[editor’s note: In a recent post, we discussed the idea of “selling past the close.” In customer research, this occurs when a rep provides phenomenal service, but still shamelessly asks the customer to give her/him high scores on the follow-up satisfaction survey.

Strong sales people should never do this; it simply stains an otherwise ideal experience that will already garner high scores.  Ryan’s story is a perfect illustration of this.]

Admission of Anxiety

Buying a new car scares me. Not from any direct experience, but from all the pressure we expect from car salespeople. So like many of us, I have avoided the experience.

Previously, the only car I had ever bought from a dealership was from Saturn, which has the reassuring motto: “No haggle, No hassle.” The sticker price on the window is the price you pay- no negotiations.

I like that motto.

But this week I decided to be brave. I decided to step up to the plate, to take the bull by the horns, to belly up to the bar, stand up for my rights, to boldly go where no man…okay, I got off track.

The Sales Experience

The point is, I was expecting it to go poorly. But the salesman I dealt with was great. He was friendly and easy to talk to. In fact, he wasn’t remotely pushy during the sales process.

He showed me my options and let me test drive the car that I was interested in. He seemed to be honest about the estimated payments and the trade in value of my previous car. He even explained that I may want to pay some more on my Saturn before purchasing a new car. No pressure at all. 

After a little bit of haggling and re-working the numbers, I decided to go for it and am now the proud owner of a black and sporty 2009 Mazda CX7. (Let me know if you need a ride to work).

I feel really good about the whole experience and have no regrets on my decision. (I’d give my salesman five magnets!)

The Mistake

But an awkward thing happened after we finalized the sale.

The rep told me that I would soon receive a phone call from Mazda’s corporate headquarters. He even showed me a copy of the survey I’d be taking when they called.

He added that he would really appreciate it if I would give them high scores because it would make the dealership look good.

Uncomfortable!

I would have definitely given them high marks (and I probably still) will based on the service I received. There was no reason to undermine a positive experience with an awkward appeal for a high score. It brought up feelings of guilt and slightly soured an otherwise great experience.

So why sell past the close? I was already elated. Don’t ruin it.

Guest Post: “Can you imagine a world…”

[editor’s note: Being in customer service research, we hear many horror stories of surveys gone awry. Here’s one of our favorites, as told by Robyn Davis Sekula, who recently survived a very poorly done satisfaction survey by her bank.]

A few weeks ago, I got a call from my bank. I like my bank. The tellers are friendly and call me by name even before they see my deposit slip. They even called me at home recently to tell me they’re closing the branch I frequent. I have two checking accounts, a savings account, a safe deposit box and one of my children’s college savings accounts with them. I’ve banked with them for almost eight years.

So, when they called to ask me about my experiences with them, I was happy to spend a few minutes filling them in.

First, they asked me about a branch I visit only occasionally. But I thought I’d be nice and play along anyway.

The interviewer would read a statement, and I’d reply with a 1 for ‘strongly disagree’ or a 5 for ‘strongly agree.’ Ok, fine. I did my best. We flew through the questions at a brisk clip. On questions when I had no idea, I’d pick a three or four. Isn’t that what everyone does?

Then we got to one statement that stopped the entire interview.

“I cannot imagine a world without XYZ Bank.”

I sat in silence. “What? Are you serious?” I asked. I started laughing. I cannot imagine a world without my children, my husband, sunshine, and chocolate. But a bank? Really? The surveyor said, “That’s what it says.” So I gave that a two.

How can a bank seriously wonder if it’s one of the most precious things in life?

And what good does this question do, anyway? Why does it serve this bank to know that? If it gets a 3.5 average, what happens? Does the bank call a party planner, play “Celebration” by Kool & the Gang at a party with a balloon drop and give out cake to employees? If they get an average of a 2, do they have long, ponderous meetings with a consultant where they try to figure out how they went wrong? What exactly do they DO with that information?

It doesn’t tell them anything. If I have a relationship with more than one bank, it doesn’t tell them if I like them better – and if so, why. Frankly, the bank I have my mortgage with is a treat to deal with, too, but it also has its flaws. I’d be happy to compare and contrast and tell you something you could actually use. But, my dear bank didn’t ask me that.

We continued to move through the survey, and I was asked if I had ever had a problem with the bank. I said yes, so I was given another statement to either agree or disagree to: The problem was resolved to my satisfaction. In truth, I had never brought the problem to the bank’s attention. I just simply hadn’t taken the time to do it. I told the surveyor the entire problem, and at the end, he said, “So what number would that be?” He had no place on his form to actually write down what the problem was. To the bank’s credit, they did have someone call me to try to help. It still isn’t solved, but that’s because I haven’t had the time to work it out.

Really great customer service surveys provide space and time for surveyors to listen as much as they talk. They let customers really tell them how good they are – or how poor – in comparison to their competition. They might even glean insight into how to move past being an institution to being something they look forward to visiting.

I can imagine a world without my bank. I’d just …. go to another one! Sorry, dear bank. You’re not a spouse. You’re not nearly as fun as my children. You aren’t nearly as tasty as chocolate. You’re necessary. I like you, but yes, I can imagine life without you.

[Robyn is a media and marketing consultant. She spent most of her pre-freelance career as a newspaper reporter, and last worked at Business First. Her clients include Ivy Tech Community College, the Family Investment Center in St. Joseph, Missouri, the Jeffersonville Carnegie Library Foundation and English, Lucas, Priest and Owsley, a law firm in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Robyn writes advertising, brochure and web site copy, and press releases. You can contact her here.]

“Please tell my boss how totally awesome my service was.”

Sales people often talk about not selling past the close."Was I good to you or what? High-five, champ!"

The basic idea is: Once someone agrees to buy your product, stop trying to convince them!

Likewise, once a service rep has given someone outstanding service, why proceed to beg them for high scores on a satisfaction survey?!? Just trust that the excellent service will speak for itself.

Recently, both Ryan and I had terrific customer service experiences which were followed by appeals to take a satisfaction survey from the corporate office.

Importantly, how our service reps informed us about the surveys reveals a stark contrast, and offers a wonderful lesson about the one question companies MUST include on their follow-up satisfaction surveys.

[If that isn’t a teaser for our research friends, then I don’t know what is.]

Also, don’t miss this terrific post on this topic by our friend Jeffrey at Vovici. He offers some very smart insights on doing this research the right way, and shares some hilarious pleas for high scores via a post on The Consumerist.

Back next week with Ryan’s tale.

Enjoy!