To please and keep customers you must please and keep employees. This theme was pervasive throughout the featured speakers’ presentations at Snack Bar University ’99 in Anaheim, Calif., June 7-10. The presentations taught attendees that by communicating and challenging employees and maintaining focus on a business plan, concession operators can continue to be successful and see a positive impact on their bottom line. 

"Great service is not cost prohibitive." In Michael Berry’s keynote on June 8, entitled "Over the Top Service: A Competitive Advantage to Business," the senior vice president of operations at Disneyland challenged attendees to use their imaginations and improve their customer service.

Berry explained that in today’s fast-paced business world, you must use "the present as a service advantage by managing the present into the future by consulting back to the past." Time is our most precious commodity, according to Berry, and how we manage the information that is coming at us quickly will determine how our businesses will survive and prosper. As Berry says, "Nobody can drive to the future on cruise control."

Berry cited several examples of companies who have successfully gotten their products to the market in a timely, competitive way. By creating products and then convincing the buying public that they needed the products, these companies have grabbed the market share. For example, Perrier water brought panache to drinking bottled water, CNN’s ratings shot up during the Gulf War when everyone felt they needed to stay on top of the news, and FedEx proved how sending a package through Memphis is usually the quickest way to get it across a city.

By using innovation and creativity, the attendees were encouraged to become leaders. "Imagination is more important than knowledge," says Berry, "and you may be controversial." He quoted Picasso: "Don’t be afraid to break what is not broken."

The fundamentals of service, according to Berry, are made up of two components: what the customer wants and what the customer needs. Berry encouraged attendees to keep the want and the need together in every transaction, because service providers miss the need aspect all the time. Obviously, this is difficult to manage in a minimum wage industry. Most customers stop doing business because of poor service, and to maintain a service transaction there must be a high level of quality and service. To help make the front-line service worker care, Berry challenged managers to create listening posts and let the staff talk to customers.

He encouraged managers to walk the talk—if you believe in your policies and go down the road with fervor, your employees will as well. "If you are successful in building this service, you will change the whole dimension to cultural service; you will change not just the employees, but the culture at your workplace," said Berry. Berry then outlined the six principles of service at Disney.

1. Establish a cultural foundation for service.

2. Establish an organizational structure that supports service.

3. Put the right people in the right place. Attitude is more powerful than aptitude (Hire for attitude, train for skills).

4. Clearly define guest standards.

5. Train, coach and lead to reach the standards.

6. Reward and recognize systems that reinforce the service standard.

Berry borrowed one of his final quotes from Disney’s Michael Eisner: "Our inventory goes home every night." Berry encouraged attendees to remember that human capital is the most precious commodity. "Have a passion for what you do and focus to create great things."

"Change is inevitable, growth is optional." This was the title of Ira Blumenthal’s talk on June 8, and those six words encapsulated his main message. Blumenthal, president of Co-Opportunities, a consulting firm in Atlanta, admitted to being an optimist as he began. As a strategic planner, his optimistic view is in the face of some startling statistics about today’s business world. "History is full of dinosaurs who couldn’t adapt," said Blumenthal. "Out of the companies listed in Fortune 500 in 1957, only 163 exist today."

Blumenthal outlined the "ABC’s" of success. "A" stands for Alliances; "B" stands for Branding; and "C" is for Capitalizing on change. Starting with "C", capitalizing on change, Blumenthal explained that companies who don’t face change in the way they communicate, market themselves, and do business will face extinction.

As the "graying of America" is underway, and a large number of the country’s consumers are becoming more savvy and sophisticated as they get older, Blumenthal encourages concessionaires to continue to keep up with changes. Older customers are starting to think about the "good old days" and nostalgic food items. "They are thinking about mortality, so why not add some comfort foods to your menus," asked Blumenthal. He cited the three ways to deal with change are to 1. Ignore the change; 2. Adapt to the change; and 3. Make other changes.

Other ideas for change that Blumenthal offered included bundling goods and services to make buying more convenient (i.e., combo meal deals), and communicating better with the customer.

Another main theme was the importance of branding, the "B" in his "ABCs." Blumenthal explained how branded concepts—brands that consumers immediately recognize like McDonald’s and Pizza Hut—give consumers the feeling of familiarity and value. By finding new ways to market yourself, like extending the brand available at your stand or cart through menu boards, commonly known as modularity, consumers will become more knowledgeable about the products or will immediately recognize them and then be more apt to buy them. Kids are also very susceptible to branding. According to Blumenthal, 53 percent of purchases are either mandated or chosen by kids under 14 years of age.

The "A" in the "ABCs" of success stands for alliances. Blumenthal defines strategic alliances as multifaceted partnerships, in which both or all parties share resources and strengthen their management. These joint ventures have certain rules that include: 1. All partners remain independent; 2. No partner can be dominant; and 3. All must make equal contributions. By establishing category credibility for both sides, the alliance will build mutual good.

Blumenthal stresses that by challenging your workforce and yourself, you can change the way you change and adapt. "Stop doing anything that doesn’t have anything to do with growing, and make a plan to meet innovation."

"Customer satisfaction comes from employee satisfaction," said Harris Plotkin, president of The Plotkin Group, an international management consulting and training group. His presentation, "Building a Winning Team" on June 9 contained a multitude of tips and advice on how to hire, recruit, train, manage and retain employees.

Plotkin stated that the two most common ways businesses lose money are failure to have a business plan and mishandling personnel. The cost of doing business today is high, and "turnover is an insidious cost," said Plotkin. "Turnover is a loss of productivity, and it’s a reason that everyone forgets." Besides absenteeism and employee theft, sexual harassment suits and workplace violence all add up to increased costs that may be prevented by careful and investigative hiring, says Plotkin. He said that 80 percent of employee turnover is due to hiring mistakes. "Small businesses want employees who are dependable, honest, competent and have a good attitude," says Plotkin. "In a small office, compatibility with the organization’s culture is extremely important."

Plotkin explained the equation for successful employee hiring and retention is made up of recruitment, selection, training and treatment. Plotkin suggested the following methods of recruitment: create a great work atmosphere, recruit early and often, employee referrals, bonuses to employees, web site ads, place ads in different sections of the newspaper and use local job centers.

Plotkin explained the benefits of using tests to help determine if a potential employee will fit into a work environment. "Overall, the way to be your best as an employer is determined by your attitude, your expectations, your ability to stick to your business plan, and your willingness to hire for attitude and aptitude," said Plotkin.

In-house training has many benefits, according to Plotkin. It can establish a long-term corporate commitment, clearly set goals and objectives, set a personal example between management and internal customers, and establish a reward system. Training also helps reiterate the importance of customer service.

"A comfortable and well-planned lobby equals increased profits." This opening statement made by Mark Hanne, sales director for the Proctor Cos., a concession stand design and manufacturing firm, kicked off the Concession Stand Design session on June 10. Accompanied by Randy Collins, CCM, of the Charlotte Coliseum Authority, Charlotte, N.C., and Carmen Torzon, CCM, of Volume Services America, Rosemont, Ill., Hanne explained the importance of a prominent location of a concession stand.

Hanne works primarily with movie theatres in developing their stands. He explained the keys to an effective concession stand are:

1. location

2. distance from box office

3. creating a focal point (e.g., positioning, lighting, designing elements)

4. number of stations

"The goal is to keep the transaction time down to under a minute," said Hanne. He explained that the theatre’s menu drives the design. All menus contain the core items (popcorn, candy, soda, nachos) but some have expanded to include items such as bottled water, ice cream, pizza, cookies and bulk candy.

There are several styles of concession stands that are pervasive at movie theatres. Hanne outlined the pros and cons of each.

Linear—Each attendant has easy access to items. There is always a cash till home base, but the cashier does it all without support.

Pass-through—Cashier can easily reach the items so the turn-around time is fast. This particular style is profitable for theatres that sell more than 750,000 tickets a year at the box office. There is high initial cost, as patrons have access to both sides. It usually doesn’t work for less than a 16-plex theatre.

Island—Features an attractive focal architectural design and allows for creativity in design, but restocking is inconvenient. Traffic does not easily flow back to selling stations.

Cafeteria—Allows patrons to pick and choose and saves on payroll expense, as less staff is needed. It can dominate lobby space, though.

Self-serve—These increasingly popular stands can be easily combined with pass-through or linear stands and allow for ease of traffic flow. There is initial customer confusion.

Café—These concepts allow patrons to linger before and after shows and provide additional menu and beverage options. There are longer transaction items and costly specialized equipment is usually necessary (i.e., specialty coffee drink machines).

Hanne said it is important for operators to remember that a concession stand can be easily ignored by patrons if it is not placed in the correct spot or the lines are too long. "We want someone to come into the lobby and immediately go get a popcorn and soda before going into the auditorium," said Hanne.

Collins then addressed the stadium and arena aspect of concession stand design. He offered some cost-cutting tips in a re-design, like securing vendor-supplied equipment and instituting remote beer technology.

Torzon, who has an extensive background with many types of facilities, reminded operators that the approach taken in concession sales, either the casual or speed approach, will affect the design. "Good planning up front is important, and stay involved with the architects—don’t let your guard down," said Torzon. He reiterated Hanne’s point that the menu drives the design and that the speed of the event directly affects the speed of the transaction expected. Less product choices would be evident at a "faster" event, like a hockey game or car race.