Aihearkisto: Sekalaista

Value of service

Kategoriat: Sekalaista

I’ve been wondering about restaurant service quality. And I mean the whole package; food, drinks and personal service. On top of that I most often think about the quality aspects as inner and outer service quality meaning how well things that do not show out are done and how well things that customer sees are done. Quite often I get the feeling that someone is taking shortcuts…

Let’s say that you go to a restaurant and make an order. How many times out of ten does the food you get meet your expectations? Nine times out of ten…? Six? Three? One…? Honestly how many times you think “Wow! This is really good!”? Or how many times do you think that the food you get is really worth the money you pay for it? I would say two times out of ten. Max.

Most of the times I eat out I order a steak. At least five times out of ten I have to return the steak back to kitchen as it’s not done the way I asked. While doing this the restaurant has showed that they do not take care of their inner service quality. If they did take care of that then I probably wouldn’t have to return my steak. Well, you can always argue that what do I expect to get with 30 euros… Well if they promise to sell me a steak which is done the way I ask it to be made then, yes, that is what I expect. Is that too much to expect when it’s a 30 euro steak? Should I realize that a 30 euro steak is NOT supposed to be what I ask it to be and what they promise it to be?

I bet that if you take a friend with you and go to any medium or medium-high quality restaurant in Helsinki and order a three course menu, you or your friend will at least once say that this could have been done better. If two persons go out and get the whole thing (starter, main, dessert + drinks) it’s going to cost around 150 euros in total. What do you expect to get with 150 euros? Do you expect that the food, drinks and service are as high as you can image possible or do you allow some of the service components be medium or low quality. How much do you expect to pay for top quality overall service?

If I were in restaurant business I would definitely want to sell more than less. I guess selling more is what everyone wants but how do you wish to get there. It’s always easier to raise the profit margin by lowering overall service quality. That way you don’t have to sell more in order to make more money. Everyone does that eventually as it’s said to be cost efficient and what not. Every industry is thinking how low they can make the inner service quality (i.e. costs) and still be able to sell their products… and why not? Why do more than what is expected when you can get more profit with less input?

Somehow after realizing all this I’m still, almost everytime I go out to eat, disappointed of the quality. To be honest, the most realistic value for your money and expectations, you get from McDonalds. You always know what you get and eventhough you might not be happy with it, it’s still what you knew you would get.

Ego

Kategoriat: Sekalaista

Last week I was in a conference were I listened a lot of speakers giving speeches. I didn’t think too much of it then but later it came to me that almost every speaker used 10-15 minutes of their time to tell about themselves. “I’ve done this and that and graduated from there and recieved this and that award.” Now, honestly, I would rather hear their thoughts and ideas than hear about their education or previous work history.

Is it the way to go when you’re giving a speech or is it just that people are so egoistic that everytime they get a change they want to tell about themselves rather than their thoughts? Or do they not have enough to say so they fill the gap by telling things about themselves?

All the speakers were excellent and I enjoyed listening them. None of them seemed too selfish so I guess giving a 10 minute introduction of yourself is the way to go. Now, what does that tell about out business world?

If we need to make sure others know who we are and where we come from to gain respect then I think we’ve lost something. Our young generation is out of work and they have no chance to ever build their track records if we keep valueing too much previous employment history.

If Einsteins track records before the introduction of the theory on relativity would have mattered too much then I doupt the theory would never have seen the daylight. I think we value certificates, diplomas and previous employment records too much. I think we should give more room for new ideas and innovations and utilise the enthusiams of the younger generations. I think we also need to renew our business world and think about the way we work but let’s have that one another time…

Let the world end

Kategoriat: Sekalaista

I say let the world end. I hope the world as we know it would come to an end today.

I say the Mayans were right to say that the end is here, today. So, let’s take this opportunity and wake up tomorrow to a new world. Let’s wake up to a world where we say no to violence, poverty, hunger, rasism and close mindness.

Let’s have a fresh start and wake up tomorrow saving our planet, helping people in need, making a personal change to be a better person and having a positive attitude towards each other. Let’s stop rasism and wars, let’s not use religion as a weapon of mass destruction and let’s not oppress others because of skin color, politics, birthplace, socio-economic status or for any other reason for that matter.

Tomorrow we can make the difference and be a part of the new world where we all work towards a better future for ourselves and for our children.

So, again, I say let the old world come to an end today and let’s have a better new world tomorrow.

Define me

Kategoriat: Zen

I do not hope be defined by my victories or success. I hope to be defined by my mistakes and imperfections of character as those things make better stories. Most likely the success I’ve had is not entirely my own doing but every mistake I’ve made, every single misstep I’ve taken and every shortcoming I have is completely mine. So, hopefully my imperfections define me as a person and my only fear is that I don’t make enough mistakes to be an interesting person.