Spur of the moment
Editor's note: Julia Nufer is a senior account manager with Maritz Marketing Research Inc., in Los Angeles.
The fast-food restaurant category grew by 5.2 percent in 1992, yet Taco Bell's sales grew by 21 percent. Taco Bell's annual sales per unit rose from $579,000 in 1987 to $866,000 in 1992, a compound annual growth rate of 8.4 percent. How can a company grow so much, year after year? According to John E. Martin, Taco Bell's president and chief executive, the restaurant "has been listening to our customers. We committed ourselves to delivering value to the customer . . . We decided to deliver what they asked for, not what we thought they wanted."
Taco Bell keeps in touch with customers through many channels. One of the most important ways is its Customer Satisfaction Program, now in its fifth year. The program is so valuable that after three full years of implementation in a randomly selected national sample of restaurants, the company has expanded the program to include virtually every company-owned restaurant in the United States and Canada - over 2,200 stores.
What are the keys to making Taco Bell's program work so well? One is its strong foundation. Over a year of research preceded the first national rollout in 1990. Extensive research was done to determine what drives customer satisfaction. The questionnaire was designed to incorporate those elements that are both important to the customers and operationally actionable, items such as the cleanliness of the restaurant, speed of service, and friendliness of the staff - instead of issues the restaurant manager can't affect, such as the convenience of the location. The questionnaire format, content, and many aspects of the data collection process were pretested extensively to fine-tune them prior to rollout. The pay-off: a process that assures Taco Bell of excellent customer information.
Why "moment-of-truth" surveys?
The data collection process is a key component of any customer satisfaction program. It must take into consideration how involved the customer is in the transaction. For most people, buying a car is a highly emotional, memorable and costly purchase decision; buying a taco is not. For transactions that are frequent, low cost and low involvement (like most fast-food purchases), it is important to catch the customer at the "moment of truth," at the time of the transaction. Surveying customers after the moment of truth doesn't work as well since memories of the food, the service or the environment quickly fade. As a result, people may forget key components of the experience, or may mistakenly recall (and rate) the wrong meal, the wrong location, etc. Surveying at the moment of truth helps ensure that the results are more accurate, sensitive and discriminating - and therefore more useful to the restaurant manager.
Taco Bell surveys customers at the restaurant. Customers are asked to rate their experience that day, in very specific terms. The survey is distributed over the course of one day by a professional interviewer, who also collects the self-administered questionnaires. The survey is short and easy to complete, and cooperation rates are high. There are enough responses to report the results at the restaurant level, which is essential.
Other methods of collecting the data have been considered. Some options are:
Distribution: Restaurant staff actively distribute the surveys, or surveys are made available at the restaurant for customers to take if they wish.
Collection: Restaurant staff collect the surveys, or customers drop them in a locked box as they exit. Customers might even mail questionnaires (postage prepaid) to a central location for processing.
All of these methods are appropriate and are used in some circumstances. But they are not appropriate for this program primarily because of the lack of control over who receives and completes the survey. Control is extremely important, since Taco Bell uses the ratings as part of the performance evaluation of its managers. The program has high credibility with all levels of management because a neutral party, the interviewer, is collecting the information, and because the evaluation comes directly from the customers of the individual store.
Making it work
The survey process is very simple and straightforward, but even so there is rigorous training of the interviewers to assure consistency in how the job is done. Quality of the interviewing staff is always important - especially true in this situation, since there is no supervisor on site. To ensure quality, interviewers review a training video which clearly and succinctly communicates the process. There are also extensive spot checks on the interviewers, and store managers are encouraged to contact the research firm or Taco Bell if they have any questions. Communication systems are in place to uncover store manager or interviewer issues; action is taken very quickly if a problem arises. These steps are all part of the process of ensuring the job is done right; they also build the confidence of Taco Bell managers in the program.
Using the information to drive change
Taco Bell's Customer Satisfaction Program is powerful because every restaurant manager receives a brief and clear report showing how the facility performed on key measures; directions for change are clear. The results are also aggregated at other levels of the organization. Results are issued very fast - over 2,200 store reports, plus numerous market and zone reports, are produced within a few days of the end of interviewing. The information helps the managers more effectively and efficiently allocate their resources. Taco Bell uses the Customer Satisfaction Program results as part of their evaluation of restaurant performance. Incorporating results into the evaluation process demonstrates a commitment to listening to the voice of the customer, and to providing customers with the experience they want - tailored to the individual restaurant level.
The Customer Satisfaction Program does more. Since interviewers survey customers in virtually every company-owned restaurant, there is an excellent opportunity to obtain information customized to a specific market or region. Some markets receive surveys which contain a few questions pertinent only to those markets. Multiple versions of the survey can be fielded on a national level to cover broader issues by varying a small portion of the survey page. Because there are so many respondents, the sample size for any one version is still very substantial. Input is sought from across the organization for these versions, which makes the Customer Satisfaction Program even more useful to the whole company.
The Customer Satisfaction Program has proven its value to Taco Bell. The "moment-of-truth" interviewing format, controlled by well-trained interviewers, provides all levels of management with the feedback they need to operate more efficiently and at the same time meet and exceed customers' expectations. The proof is in the sales and profitability figures - listening to the customer is indeed a very effective profit strategy.