More successful as a small business owner than McDonald's? Inspire with customer service

David versus Goliath: If small Company on the market successfully want to be, then good customer service and quality often help. A practical example.

A bill that works

It is lunchtime when you enter the boulangerie À Chacun son pain in Baie-Saint-Paul, Canada: people are queuing up to the door. Next door in the McDonalds yawning emptiness.

A on account, which seems to be merging with the owners Jean-Christophe Lamontagne and Amick Roy. They have only been running the boulangerie for a few years. The recipe for success against fast food with exemplary character for companies?

One year of Rolls Royce was enough

Jean-Christophe is originally from Quebec City. For the Study he then went to Montreal and then worked for Rolls Roys for a year. There he learned his Ms. Amick, who has been with the automaker for 8 years.

"One year of Rolls Royce was enough," says Jean-Christophe firmly. Therefore, the two quit the secure job and traveled through South America for two years. Back in Canada, the two no longer wanted to live in the city and opted for the Charlevoix region. "There was a lot going on," explains Jean-Christophe die decision.

The recipe for success: hard work and low prices

First, the two opened a youth hostel in an old rectory. "With that we made it into the Lonley Planet travel guide," reports Jean-Christophe proudly. But the earnings were enough to live, but not to travel and to give the son a good education in Quebec.

Therefore, the two also opened a bakery. The secret of success sounds simple: Hard work and low prices: A salad with soup and bread costs 5,25 Canadian dollars - and is therefore cheaper than a McDonalds menu next door - and clear healthier.

Quality versus fast food

"Our Objective is to offer good quality at low prices”, explains Jean-Christophe. And his calculation is simple: “If the prices are too high, they go customers elsewhere."

But how do the two manage to keep prices so low and outdo McDonald's next door? Mainly thanks to cheap ingredients: “Flour is very inexpensive, the raw costs for a baguette are just 25 cents. We also often use regional products, ”reports Jean Christophe.

Fixed cooperation with surrounding hotels

In addition to the bakery, the two also supply some surrounding hotels and have fixed cooperation agreements. Jean-Christophe wants to expand this line of business even further, but not every cook is interested in good bread and healthy food:

“The younger chefs in particular are very concerned about the health aspect. Older chefs, on the other hand, often prefer traditional cuisine. There is still a lot of persuasion to be done. ”

Organic & good service as a recipe for success

Jean-Christophe Lamontagne and Amick Roy's recipe for success is simply excellent service and high organic quality. Organic is one of the trends that futurologists have been predicting for a long time. And at least in the big cities, where there is an organic shop on almost every corner, this is also noticeable.

Neither customer service nor quality can be taken for granted - and that also makes it clear what is going wrong at McDonalds next door: In most larger companies, the important customer service has been outsourced to call centers: Most of them just sit there Peoplewho have precise instructions on how to react in this or that case, but no decision-making authority whatsoever.

Large companies: The customer as a water heater

Ideally, good customer service works in such a way that, as in any small shop, the customer immediately meets the right person to talk to and his request is dealt with quickly. However, ideal cases are rare. It would be better if the Customer forwarded straight to the right place.

Because that is the concern of the customer only easy deviates from the given situations, because the memorized phrases no longer work, then the customer is left unsatisfied - or he becomes a flow heater. This means nothing other than that the customer is passed from pillar to post within customer service: from service to technical support, to the head of department, to the business hotline, finally to the managing director and so on. And every time the customer is a bit less satisfied and the situation escalates a little more - a continuous flow heater.

Load organic in fast food?

The same is true for quality: My Canadian friend Molly, who suffers from a few food intolerances and also likes to give raw food cake seminars, wanted to find out: What is it like when you are looking for organic products where you actually want them? not suspected, for example in the fast food shop or at the snack bar?

Incidentally, it's not that far-fetched, after all, the big fast-food chains or discounters like Aldi have long since jumped on the bandwagon and are advertising lots of organic products. In the kebab shop, Molly asked about organic products, fat and gluten free. The result is sobering: In the kebab shop you can only eat salad with ecological standards - preferably out of and with your hands. The Sellerwho patiently all Ask answered, but is an excellent example of good customer service: always patient and friendly, if a bit helpless at the end.

This is how good service works!

Dear people, it should be possible to make more of this: A shop for organic doner kebabs with gluten-free bread and without plastic crockery and cutlery. With a nice, patient salesman who advises the guests on all the ingredients - so that they don't end up with a salad from the Hand have to eat!

Just like Jean-Christophe Lamontagne and Amick Roy, who are an excellent example of good customer service and high quality.

Top books on the subject

Read text as PDF

Acquire this text as a PDF (only for own use without passing it on according to Terms & Conditions): Please send us one after purchase eMail with the desired title supportberufebilder.de, we will then send the PDF to you immediately. You can also purchase text series.

4,99€Buy

Book eCourse on Demand

Up to 30 lessons with 4 learning tasks each + final lesson as a PDF download. Please send us one after purchase eMail with the desired title supportberufebilder.de. Alternatively, we would be happy to put your course together for you or offer you a personal, regular one eMail-Course - all further information!

29,99€Buy

Skate eBook as desired

If our store does not offer you your desired topic: We will be happy to put together a book according to your wishes and deliver it in a format of yours Wahl. Please sign us after purchase supportberufebilder.de

79,99€Buy

Corporate publishing and advice

You want to publish, increase your reach or as an employer Candidate speak to? For these and other topics we offer special Consultant packages (overview) - For example, a personal phone call (price is per hour).

299,00€Buy