Cows, a common bond between Chick-fil-A and Teltek  

Last week I attended a presentation sponsored by the American Marketing Association where Dan Cathy, CEO of Chick-fil-A, discussed his company’s history and values. About five minutes into his talk, I picked up my Blackberry and started to take notes. On average, I probably attend similar events 3-5 times a month, but never have I been as intrigued by a presenter as I was with Mr. Cathy’s message. 

Our readers know I rarely, if ever, blog about something other than technology, telecommunications trends, customer questions and answers, a new product or a special/ promotion, but I really think his message should be shared with as many people as possible. 

The way I see it, Chick-fil-A  is a company that was established upon five main values: 1) hard work, 2) creating a consistent and positive customer experience, 3) constant innovation/seizing opportunities, 4) being true to who you are and where you came from and 5) doing what you love to do. With over 1000 restaurants nationwide and revenues exceeding $1 billion dollars annually, I think anyone would have to agree that the Cathy family knows a little something about business success! 

Here are the main points that I took away from the presentation: 

• Share your personal story with your customers – they want to hear it.
• “A good name is more desirable than great riches” Solomon
• You must constantly be listening for what is coming next and be ready to deliver your customers’ demand.
• Some examples of how Chick-fil-A  has developed fast-food service innovation: they have staff walking around the restaurant with a pepper grinder, they let the customer sit down first and present their order from their left side, they package expired chicken nuggets special for vehicles that come through the drive thru with dogs so they can have a treat too- “doggie nuggets”, they have a full- blown mock restaurant set up at their headquarters office for training purposes; they simulate  a live and  fully- packed restaurant: customers are paid to order and be served, golf carts simulate vehicles in the drive through. Every time a new restaurant opens, hundreds of people camp out in the parking lot the night before waiting for the grand opening. Dan Cathy is alongside of his customers; the first 100 people through the doors get free Chick-fil-A meals for a year.  
• “When the rate of external change exceeds the rate of internal change, disaster is imminent”
• “The handshake of the host affects the taste of the roast”
• Honor, dignity and respect are in short supply and  high demand … “cha-ching”
• Owning a business is not about customer satisfaction, it is about creating raving fans.
• Every business owner should read the book The Experience Economy by James Gilmore

  

Dan concluded his presentation with the quote “Use what you have and do what you can”.  His presentation stands out to me because as a young business owner, I have struggled to decide what I want Teltek to be. Dan Cathy hit the nail on the head and over the past few years our team has been working hard to deliver a similar experience. While we don’t sell chicken sandwiches and we are not making a billion dollars a year (yet), we are true to who we are, work extremely hard to please our customers, deliver Trusted Innovation and even use cows in our marketing materials! 

 After reading hundreds of books, attending countless seminars and presentations and talking with our customers every day for the past six years, we have developed Teltek’s mission, vision and values. I refer to this as a guideline that everyone on our team should consult as they go about their day and interact with our customers here at Teltek. If you ask any member of our team, I believe they will tell you that they work hard, enjoy what they do and are proud to be part of a company which distinguishes itself through exemplary customer service and loyalty. 

Tags: Chick-Fil-A, similar, Teltek, thinking

This entry was posted on Monday, July 26th, 2010 at 8:29 am and is filed under Teltek News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.