044 The One With The Chick Fil A Guy

Scaling UP!

If you’ve listened to the show for any length of time, you know I love business! Due my love of business, I study businesses in how they conduct regular transactions and issues. This can sometimes get on my wife's nerves since I'm always turning every customer service experience into a learning opportunity, just ask her... In my observations, I have noticed that successful businesses seem to rally around a core set of values that you can see throughout their entire company. I’ve also noticed the opposite is true when companies lack a set of values that are followed by all. Just think back to when you had an issue with something at a place of business, it's impossible not to see how core values are applied if you look for it. Observing this is one of my favorite things to do. One of my best examples of this came from my service manager, Chris. He took his father-in-law out for dinner and his father-in-law wanted to order a meatloaf sandwich. The waiter told him NO, he could not order that because it wasn’t on the menu. However, meatloaf and bread were on the menu, just not together. This was an example of enforcing rules that did not give the customer want he wanted. And the kicker is putting meatloaf between two pieces of bread would not have cost the company anything. In this situation, what do you think the company's core values were? If they had anything to do with the customer, they weren't followed. If they did, they weren't trained or at the very least followed by all. I'm not going to tell you the company that owned the meatloaf saga, but I will use the story to introduce a company that I think gets core values right, each and every time. That company is Chik Fil A. If you have ever been into a Chick Fil A I know you were greeted properly and told that it was their pleasure for them to serve you. I also know you got the best chicken sandwich put on this earth! In case you didn’t know, I'm am a fan of Chick Fil A. They are a staple here in the south. In fact, they have built much of the Atlanta landscape. And truth be told, I eat there probably more than I should. But when I'm there I'm conducting research, at least that's what I tell my wife... My guest today is Daniel Perry, Owner of the Lawrenceville/316 Chick Fil A. His store is practically in walking distance from my office and we have become friends over the years. During this time, I have seen him, and his team demonstrate how much they care about their guests, handle complaints and reach out to the community. Simply put, I have seen them LIVE their core values in everything they do. It's my hope you will be inspired to work on your core values from this episode.