In N Out in Tempe Isn’t Just a Fast Food Restaurant
Just the other day, my family and I visited In-N-Out Burger in Tempe. There I saw a line of people, all wearing swim suits (and enough clothes), waiting to order In-N-Out burgers. I was amazed to see a bus load of people getting off at this “fast food restaurant”, but I wasn’t surprised to see them at all. After visiting Sunsplash in Tempe, their day must have not completed until they made that trip to In N Out. This is a scene you never see at McDonald’s, only at In N Out.
No Compromisation
Here is why. In-N-Out Burger doesn’t compromise. Today, the world is full of corner cutting, compromising and under delivering standard operating procedures. Most companies run fast food restaurants, paying minimum wage, using only frozen foods, making customers believe they too should compromise (hey, it’s only $6 a meal, what do you expect?).
Once you set the standard, you create a commodity — people only seek your products, because it’s cheaper than eating out at other “sit-in” restaurants, not because they want to.
However, going to In-Out-Burger isn’t like that. In fact, it provides exactly the opposite experience. The food cost is never more than $6 a meal (mostly under $5), it is decent to good, french fries are peeled and cooked in 100% cholesterol free vegetable oil, workers earn way more than the minimum wage (like $9-10 an hr) and don’t mind working.
No sign of compromisation, is there?
You Are Just As Good
Maybe though, your organization is just as good as In-N-Out Burger. However, In-N-Out’s difference is, they make sure customers know that’s what they stand for. Their customers can feel it, experience it and see through the organization.
Companies with great ideologies thrive, but the companies that can output such belief systems grow. They’re visionary and charismatic. They’re not charismatic because they had charisma to begin with, but consistently outputting that message through their stories create charisma.
So here is something your organization can do immediately. If you have procedures that you’re most proud of, and you know that they’re not compromised, start articulating that in everything you do. But, make sure though, the message your trying to articulate is something that matter to your customers. Many companies fail because all they’re trying to tell is what their industry cares about internally, you know, the JD Power Associate awards or the patented feature or whatever.
But your customers don’t want that industry jargon non-sense (and don’t care). They want straight, benefits oriented, and what’s in it for me messages.
You can develop an ideology by starting to uncompromise your work and refusing to settle for less. If you can output that in everything you do, it’ll create an organizational ethos that will last for years to come.
You can stand for something or nothing at all.
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