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Smile with a sandwich
by .|Sublime|. Sun Aug 07, 2011 1:20 pm
What makes Pret A Manger a compelling business case study is its
approach to customer service and to training and motivating its staff.
Yes, Pret happens to make sandwiches — but the lessons are worth
knowing, whatever your line of work.
Many businesses have trouble getting longtime employees to work well
and, in particular, to work well together. But, Pret has managed to
build productive, friendly crews out of relatively low-paid, transient
employees. And its workers seem pretty happy about it. Its annual
workforce turnover rate is about 60 percent — low for the fast-food
industry, where the rate is normally 300 to 400 percent.
...
“A very important part of Pret is you see four, five, six to nine people
on till,” Mr. Schlee says, using the Britishism for cash register.
“Pret A Manger does mean ready to eat — kapow! — not ready to wait.”
At a nearby Starbucks, there is just one cashier, versus five to seven
at a typical Pret. Mr. Schlee picks up a wrapped Starbucks sandwich,
flips it over and views the sell-by date. Pret A Manger sandwiches don’t
have sell-by dates — they are made daily, and what doesn’t sell is
donated to food banks.
At Eat (unrelated to E.A.T. in New York), Mr. Schlee points to the
smudged plastic window on the packaging of a beef-and-spicy-bean-salsa
sandwich. That is from handling during transportation, he says. Pret
sandwiches never travel by truck, even for delivery orders. Deliveries
are made by foot, with a trolley.
How does any company encourage
teamwork? At Pret A Manger, executives say, the answer is to hire, pay
and promote based on — believe it or not — qualities like cheerfulness.
.....Every new employee gets a thick binder of instructions. It states, for
example, that employees should be “bustling around and being active” on
the floor, not “standing around looking bored.” It encourages them to
occasionally hand out free coffee or cakes to regulars, and not “hide
your true character” with customers.
A fast food chain that serves up smiles with a sandwich
approach to customer service and to training and motivating its staff.
Yes, Pret happens to make sandwiches — but the lessons are worth
knowing, whatever your line of work.
Many businesses have trouble getting longtime employees to work well
and, in particular, to work well together. But, Pret has managed to
build productive, friendly crews out of relatively low-paid, transient
employees. And its workers seem pretty happy about it. Its annual
workforce turnover rate is about 60 percent — low for the fast-food
industry, where the rate is normally 300 to 400 percent.
...
“A very important part of Pret is you see four, five, six to nine people
on till,” Mr. Schlee says, using the Britishism for cash register.
“Pret A Manger does mean ready to eat — kapow! — not ready to wait.”
At a nearby Starbucks, there is just one cashier, versus five to seven
at a typical Pret. Mr. Schlee picks up a wrapped Starbucks sandwich,
flips it over and views the sell-by date. Pret A Manger sandwiches don’t
have sell-by dates — they are made daily, and what doesn’t sell is
donated to food banks.
At Eat (unrelated to E.A.T. in New York), Mr. Schlee points to the
smudged plastic window on the packaging of a beef-and-spicy-bean-salsa
sandwich. That is from handling during transportation, he says. Pret
sandwiches never travel by truck, even for delivery orders. Deliveries
are made by foot, with a trolley.
How does any company encourage
teamwork? At Pret A Manger, executives say, the answer is to hire, pay
and promote based on — believe it or not — qualities like cheerfulness.
.....Every new employee gets a thick binder of instructions. It states, for
example, that employees should be “bustling around and being active” on
the floor, not “standing around looking bored.” It encourages them to
occasionally hand out free coffee or cakes to regulars, and not “hide
your true character” with customers.
A fast food chain that serves up smiles with a sandwich
.|Sublime|.- Posts : 387
Join date : 2011-05-02
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