Small-Change Investments

Modest improvements can make a big impact on customer satisfaction

Restaurants & Institutions

Margaret Sheridan
Senior Editor

Improving customer satisfaction doesn't take miracles or millions. Sometimes, modest changes or simple ideas trigger waves of approval from guests and staff.

In settings that include captive audiences—whether patients, employees or students—new décor, displays or service methods can invigorate their interest level and provide reasons to return. Increased participation in turn boosts staff morale and revenues.

Though customer convenience was the primary goal when Baptist Health Medical Center in Little Rock, Ark., redesigned its food court, improved business soon followed. “We just moved things around,’’ explains Paul Hysen, a healthcare-foodservice consultant from Northville, Mich., who worked on the changes. He suggested reconfiguring the food court to maximize accessibility and minimize waits.

The hospital invested $15,000 in three open-front refrigerator cases that replaced one refrigerated counter used to display salads and sandwiches. Now, cold items have enough room for dramatic presentation. The larger cases need to be restocked less frequently, saving labor. Traffic flows smoothly, and customers select from three grab-and-go destinations instead of one. “Waiting times have diminished, satisfaction increased and sales tripled,” Hysen says.

A second initiative relocated grill and broiler units from the rear of the hot-foods prep area to a counter closer to customer traffic. “It created sensory appeal,’’ he explains. “Customers now smell the burgers and see and hear foods being cooked. The $10,000 investment doubled sales of hot items. All we did was improve convenience and merchandising. No new foods, no extra labor,’’ Hysen adds.

On Stage
When executives of 260-bed Clark Memorial Hospital in Jeffersonville, Ind., launched a hospital-wide initiative to improve patient satisfaction, each department drew up a strategy. Bruce Key focused on room service and the 31 employees—of a total foodservice staff of 75—who make it happen.

“How well they do their job directly affects the patient experience,’’ says the director of food and nutrition services. Key organized a retraining program for room-service staff. Over a four-week period, each step of tray delivery was examined, from the posture, grooming and demeanor of employees to how to knock on doors and announce visits.

Employees role-played as servers and patients. “They took turns getting into beds to better understand the patient experience,’’ Key says. Employees acted as grumpy patients, sad and tired patients, and as patients with limited English skills. During the sessions, voices were coached, smiles checked and grooming and posture critiqued. “Employees put themselves in the patient’s frame of mind. Being in the hospital Ian’t much fun,’’ Key says.

After the training sessions, foodservice visits to patient rooms not only became more pleasant, they became more frequent, averaging 12 per day. And when Clark Memorial surveyed guest satisfaction six months later, foodservice scored a 95% approval rating, higher than any other department. Monthly brush-ups using interactive media and quizzes revitalize skills and enthusiasm.

“Now, the rest of the hospital looks up to us,’’ adds Key.

Cycle Improvement

Students at Central Michigan University take foodservice surveys seriously, seeing them as a pathway to improvement. Feedback is solicited at the end of fall and spring semesters. “In spring, students can be very harsh,’’ says Jill Coughlin, director of marketing for dining services. “They’re tired, cranky and facing finals.’’

Vibrant color schemes and computer-controlled lighting energized customers and sales at Purdue University's Earhart Dining Court (shown here and above).

She was in for a surprise last spring when students at the Mt. Pleasant, Mich., campus gave raves to the quality and variety of food and to staff courtesy. Coughlin attributes the high marks to several factors.

A new restaurant-style marketplace more attractively merchandises foods, allowing foodservice staff to cook and serve students face to face. “And investments in new plates, bowls and serving utensils make items more attractive,’’ she explains. Rather than scooping macaroni and cheese from hotel pans, it arrives in individual 6-ounce ramekins. Students no longer reach for portions of gelatin on plates but instead are handed parfaits with whipped cream served in special glasses. “Sales soared from 30 portions a day to 400 parfaits in 90 minutes,’’ Coughlin says.

The survey also cited major upgrades in staff attitude and service. She credits the improvements with boosting daily participation at Woldt Residence Restaurant by 56% from 1,939 students during the fall semester to 3,020 in spring.

“We retrained staff to make more independent decisions, to do extra things for customers without asking the manager,’’ she says.

Another positive was Coughlin’s decision to cycle menus every three weeks rather than five. Now students get favorite foods more often, including Chicken Philly sandwiches, barbecued ribs, Monte Cristo sandwiches, Asian noodle bowls and stir-fries.

Menu changes were backed with marketing that extended invitations for tours, tastings and free meals to student-newspaper staffers, university employees and 200 residence-hall directors. Forming solid relationships with departments and employees raised the profile and reputation of dining services, Coughlin adds.

Sweet Meets
The nutrition needs of cancer patients pose special challenges. Medical treatments wreak havoc on appetites and tolerances for certain foods. At 60-bed Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center and Hospital at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, Director of Food and Nutrition Services Marta Shand works hard to get more calories into patients.

She says her best method for boosting appetites and patient morale costs just $25 a week: the price of cookies for Friday tea service. When the idea was first suggested, however, Shand didn’t have the resources. With help from the hospital’s auxiliary committee, volunteers raised $250 for elegant linen and china and designated a college-age volunteer to manage and host the event.

Nurses applauded the efforts and pitched in as marketing agents, talking up the first tea and passing invitations to patients and families. Six guests attended the debut event last April. Now, 20 to 25 guests regularly gather.

“Patients use the Friday teas to entertain families and friends,” Shand says. “There are music, lavender sachets, linen tablecloths and real china. Family participation is up to 75%. The event is patients’ escape from a clinical setting.” Doctors and nurses also drop by between rounds to sample cookies and chat with guests.

“It’s a morale booster for the department and for patients. And it raised our profile around the medical center,’’ Shand adds.

Restaurants & Institutions is the leading source of vital information for the entire foodservice industry, covering chains, independent restaurants, hotels and institutions.

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