Last week I referenced a Ted talk by restaurateur Will Guidara, in which he described a customer service epiphany that changed his approach to business and inspired what he calls “unreasonable hospitality.”
Which led MNB reader Kiran Smith to write:
Thank you so much for sharing this! It was a great reminder that we all should strive for unreasonable brand love.
If you are ever interested, a great watch is “Seven Days Out, Season 1 Episode 2,” that tells the story of Eleven Madison Park (on Netflix). You won’t be sorry. It chronicles the seven days before they opened the restaurant. Their obsession over every detail, their focus on the team, the experience, etc. is brilliantly told. Hope you have a chance to see it.
I’ll add it to my queue.
Reacting to comments made last week by Walmart CEO Doug McMillon, one MNB reader wrote:
Given McMillon’s comments on the continuing shift in consumer behavior that warrants a strategy of satisfying consumer needs wherever and whenever they want to buy…and the growth of Walmart’s online business…the FTC’s new approach to calculating market concentration based upon the online marketplace being a discrete channel definitely appears artificial, contrived and out of touch with consumer purchasing dynamics.
Certainly worth having the conversation. Which is all I’ve been arguing for.
I was pleased with myself last week when my prediction that Taylor Swift would be named the Time person of the Year proved to be true, and I offered some business lessons from Swift’s approach to the music business.
One MNB reader responded:
Great prediction! And great writing on this one. You have spent years showing business people how “others” are doing good business, whether in the movies or pop culture. It makes sense here, we can all learn from TS and her amazing power of marketing and storytelling. Not just in her songs but in her brand. But you really got me with the last sentence. Great writing.
Thanks, but I confess that I had to go back and check how I ended that story. Here is what I wrote:
Taylor Swift’s core competency, I would argue, is a nuanced and sophisticated understanding of the power of story, and an unparalleled ability to tell that story.
In fact, it isn’t her core competency. It is her superpower.
And it should make every business leader ask these questions:
What is our story? Are we telling it effectively? How can we tell it better?
And even this question:
How can we make our story sing?
Last week, when commenting about how Amazon considered taking away a free coffee benefit from in-office employees, I wrote:
For a company that is so big, has so much freakin’ money, and is built on a culture of innovation, Amazon sometimes can be amazingly tone-deaf and parsimonious.
One MNB reader replied:
Parsimonious – wow….not sure how many of my friends use that word on a daily basis?
I thought it was exactly the right word for the moment.
Responding to my FaceTime about business lessons from Jim Leyland, the baseball manager just elected to the Hal of Fame, one MNB reader wrote:
Glad you brought this up. Jim is a legend and was one of my favorite managers growing up; except when the Marlins beat the Braves in the ’97 NLCS… He was old school. Smoked more than a broken furnace and as you highlighted, demanded the best from his players. I always enjoy going back and watching those clips of him dressing down Bonds. He demanded the best but also wanted the best for his guys. Wish the game had more characters like him today.
One quick note. In my FaceTime, I mentioned a YouTube video in which first-year manager Leyland dressed down Barry Bonds, who already was a start, demonstrating that performance and attitude were more important than status. Through an editing error, the link did not show up until later in the day, so here it is. (Again, this is definitely NSFW.)
I continue to get emails about all of last week’s various stories about McDonald’s, including my attempt to test burgers after management did a big reveal of a seven-year improvement process.
One MNB reader wrote:
Is it possible that McDonald’s didn’t change anything—that they just wanted people to think they did in order to spur more traffic? If so, in your case at least, IT WORKED!
What I really want to know is how much of those sandwiches you ended up eating!
The entire Quarter Pounder, half the cheeseburger and less than half the Big Mac. But I did eat all the fries and drank the entire chocolate shake.
MNB reader Steven Ritchey wrote:
McDonalds is one of those companies that is easy to hate, or at least find fault with and dislike. They have been immensely successful over the decades. First, let me say, I’m not a fan of their food, but they serve an important role in society. When in a strange city where you don’t know where to get a quick lunch, McDonalds is safe, you know what you’ll get, they are held to standards in cleanliness and service. Plus, their breakfast offerings are really pretty good, at least if you’re not a food snob.
I’m not trying to be critical here, but you really are a bit of a food snob and it spills over into your disdain for fast food..That’s ok, we are all snobs about something, I am about tools.
Walmart, I try really hard to not shop there. But I find myself in one every week or so. When I’m in one, I may see employees, but they never acknowledge me, a customer. If I’m looking for something no one ever asks if they can help me. Now, I’m not asking for the level of service I get at Elliott’s Hardware, or a high end department store, but I do expect basics, a simple hello by an employee, being asked if they can help is always nice. Plus, there stores are always a disaster, always a mess.
Whenever I visit an establishment, I try to tailor my expectations to the business. I don’t expect a 5 guys burger at McDonalds, I do expect fairly fast service with an offering I can depend on from one location to another.
I cheerfully concede that I am a bit of a food snob. Though not as much as this next reader suggests:
I too would love to have a leisurely five course lunch with a fine pinot noir. Unfortunately my profession in site location did not allow me the time for such indulgences.
Being on the road and always in a rush has instilled a loyalty for the brand for these reasons.
Time is money. I can’t waste it on long restaurant waits while they smash my burger or whatever. I need glucose now and I can get it at McDonald’s without fear of ptomaine, breakfast, lunch or dinner.
To save time, I eat while I am driving. Cheeseburger please. Those fancy sauce filled burgers drip on my shirt.
When nature calls, I can count on McDonald’s facilities being clean and fresh. For a mid-day pick me up there is nothing in the whole wide world more tasty and refreshing than a McDonald’s fountain Coca-Cola.
While McDonald’s fills my work needs I must confess that when I visit my kids in Lodi this Christmas, I will partake of a messy burger at In-N-Out.
For the record, I’m not sure when the last time was that I had a five-course lunch with a fine pinot noir. Though I will admit that I’ve certainly enjoyed a number of one or two-course lunches during which I had some pinot. (Next time you are in Oregon, I heartily recommend the tasting room at Willamette Valley Vineyards. The wine is wonderful and the menu is excellent.)
While I can be very critical of McDonald’s, I will concede that they have their place – especially when on a long road trip. The bathrooms are clean. The wi-fi can be good. And, to be clear, had the burgers been better last week, I would’ve said so on-camera.
I wanted to be delighted and surprised. I wasn’t. But I will try again.
Regarding McDonald’s new format, CosMc, one MNB reader wrote:
Couldn’t agree with you more…not a well enough differentiated offering from the basic McD’s…likely will fail in test market—but give them credit for at least exploring the possibilities.
I do.
Another MNB reader was fed up with the conversation:
Dear God! All this over analyzation of MD’s food gives me agita. As an older individual, I seriously can’t see going to MD unless I want to shorten my life span. Don’t get me wrong, I am not a food snob and enjoy a good ice-cream or Frito every now and then, but MD’s food quality does not justify the health impact for me. When I do enjoy a burger, it is certainly not from them.
And from one more reader:
I will say that prior to your McD’s taste test, you looked like a kid on Christmas morning! Here’s to fun in-the-field reporting!
I wouldn’t read too much into my demeanor in terms of the location. I’m just a generally happy guy. Plus, I do enjoy getting out.
And finally, reacting to my review of Mike Lupica’s new Spenser novel, “Robert B. Parker’s Broken Trust,” which continues the series started by the iconic author (who died in 2010), one MNB reader wrote:
I too am a huge fan of Parker, one of my favorites if not my favorite author. My first foray into Spenser was “The Catskill Eagle” which in my mind was a literary masterpiece..
It’s true that when you write as many novels as Parker did, some end up being formulaic, but not all. All of his series had the same formula. Jesse Stone is a more flawed Spenser, good man, great cop, a guy you want on your side, but he has his demons. Sunny Randall is a female Spenser.
What I loved most about Parker was his use of language, it went to places you didn’t expect, I remember Spenser describing a rattan chair he was directed to sit in, “It was ugly, but it was uncomfortable.”
My Dad’s first name was also Spencer, different spelling, but that was a draw as well.
I have a friend who is the now retired owner of a rare book store. I would go in to peruse his wares when one day I went in and saw a book of Spenser novels sitting on the floor. I looked at them and said, “So, I see someone is giving up their Spenser collection.”
Jim surprised me when he told he it had belonged to my Senior English teacher from high school. She was the epitome of a lady, and I didn’t see her enjoying Parker’s earthy language or sexual entanglements.
She had died a few months before and her widowed husband was clearing some of her belongings. She had been a long time fan of Spenser.
That legitimized Parker for me, until then he had been a guilty pleasure, but if this lady who loved classic literature, who taught me to appreciate classic literature loved Parkers work, well, he became more than a guilty pleasure and one to be treasured.
I hope you bought whatever hardcover versions you did not have. There are only a few hardcovers missing from my collection: “The Godwulf Manuscript,” “God Save The Child, and “A Savage Place.” The rest of them I have – plus, a hardback copy of his nonfiction book that he co-authored with his wife Joan about her battle with breast cancer, “Three Weeks In Spring.” (Mine is signed by both Robert B. Parker and Joan Parker.)
I’m also a big fan of “A Catskill Eagle,” largely because it was when that book was published – 1985 – that I first met Parker. I drove up to Boston one day to meet him for a beer at what used to be the bar at the Ritz – a locale featured in a number of Spenser novels. Sitting there, drinking Sam Adams and talking Spenser with Parker … well, still one of the cooler things I’ve been able to do in my career.
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