More than a year ago, we ran a blog post called “Gone Mobile” that highlighted two photos taken from the same vantage point at St. Peters Square in the Vatican – taken eight years apart.
It was a stark reminder about how much our world has been changed by the mobile movement in less than a decade.
Last week on Facebook, we had another of those reminders – this one written from the point of view of a New York City restaurant that made an amazing discovery about its customers. Noticing that more and more bad reviews were cropping up about slow service, this restaurant hired an outside firm to help get to the bottom of it. In their efforts to explain the complaints, they subsequently discovered a video from 10 years earlier that contrasted the dining experience back then, making it possible to do a then-and-now comparison using a video of the restaurants and its servers from today.
I’m assuming this is a real story that apparently first appeared on Craigslist. The challenges this restaurant faced serving their diners today and a decade ago become very clear. The smartphone has changed everything, and in this case, made it much more difficult to provide a great dining experience to customers who are hopelessly addicted to their mobile phones. Here’s their story:
Now chances are, you may have come away feeling sorry for this restaurant, struggling to serve its customers in this crazy mobile madness environment. You may also feel a sense of revulsion toward rude diners who act as described in this story – taking photos of their food and of each other, asking the waiter to take their pictures – well, you get the point.
But this plea from the restaurant at the end of the piece got my attention, and caused me to rethink my initial reaction to the story:
“We are grateful for everyone who comes into our restaurant, after all there are so many choices out there. But can you please be a bit more considerate?”
Doesn’t their takeaway miss the point?
In essence, they’re saying, “We’re running our restaurant the same way we always have. But today’s rude customers make it impossible to provide great service because of these smartphones and their bad manners.”
But the reality – and the Vatican photos say it all – is that people’s lifestyles and habits have changed as a result of mobile phones. Rather than try to change or alter their behavior by hoping they learn better manners, doesn’t it make more sense to reassess your customer experience?
Because when we do things the same way we always have done them, our CX is going to suffer. That’s because people change. It’s our job to recognize that, and react to their shifting needs.
And of course, it’s like that in the radio business, too. Think about how “the way we’ve always done it” has very little resonance with today’s consumers:
We’ve never answered our phones on a timely basis.
We’ve never offered the ability to customize your music listening experience.
We’ve never bothered to ask for listener feedback.
We’ve always run 12 minutes of commercials an hour, jammed together in two long breaks, that we play at the same time as everyone else.
We have always played what we want to play, regardless of what people say they want to hear.
We’ve always been the only choice in the car – we’ve got that market cornered.
And we keep wondeirng why people don’t seem to like “the food” as much as they used to.
People have changed. It’s not a matter of whether it’s for the better or the worst. They’ve just changed.
And it’s our job as radio and restaurant operators to understand those changes, and adapt our product and our service to meet their changing needs, desires, habits, and behaviors.
Whether you’re serving veal parmesan or Classic Hits, it doesn’t matter. It’s about understanding and serving your audience, and providing them with the best CX you can.
Let’s not feel sorry for ourselves because consumers aren’t the same as they used to be.
Let’s figure this out and give them what they want.
Jacobs Media has consistently walked the walk in the digital space, providing insights and guidance through its well-read national Techsurveys.
In 2008, jacapps was launched - a mobile apps company that has designed and built more than 1,300 apps for both the Apple and Android platforms. In 2013, the DASH Conference was created - a mashup of radio and automotive, designed to foster better understanding of the "connected car" and its impact.
Along with providing the creative and intellectual direction for the company, Fred consults many of Jacobs Media's commercial and public radio clients, in addition to media brands looking to thrive in the rapidly changing tech environment.
Fred was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
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I think your takeaway for radio is spot on…but not for the restaurant. Yes, people live differently than they did 9 years ago because of their smartphones. But they expect the restaurant to deliver the same service as they did before and that’s just not possible. If you’re going to take server time connecting to wifi, taking pics, retaking them etc. and extending the time it takes to order, you’re just not going to get your food as fast as you did pre smartphone. Its a different experience and both restaurant and customer have to realign their expectations to reflect the new reality.
Where radio is concerned, the smartphone has had the opposite effect – its allowed people to access more customized programming in an endless number of formats, while radio is delivering a similar, but inferior product.
Do you (or anyone else reading this) ever discuss this with radio’s top management? Do they think the connected car complete with Apple and/or Android phones on their dash will have no effect on radio? Are they doing anything about it? Are their any plans to try some things out before the you know what really hits the fan? Are they counting on the royalty structure to kill off all the digital competition before that?
Bob, thanks for the perspective. I seriously believe that every business that interfaces with the public has to reassess their service model. And while restaurants have a difficult challenge, they have had to adapt others aspects of their model, like online reservations and apps (which many of them originally opposed).
As you note, radio is especially challenged by the technology as are other traditional media providers. We are having these conversations with broadcasters, but many are still asking the same questions (“Are you tired of hearing that song?” or “Would you rather win $100 or a pair of concert tickets?) rather than truly get to the essence of how technology, personalization, and choice are impacting entertainment consumption.
I have some thoughts about innovation for radio that I’ll share later this week, and that should open another can of comments. Thanks again.
Many restaurants have adopted a no cell phone policy, some going so far as to have people put their phones in a basket and retrieve them on the way out. While this may seem radical, I do think it makes some sense. I have not personally visited one of these places yet, but if/when I do I will not personally be the least bit offended if they ask me to put down my phone.
I have not heard of this, Gary, but I’m not surprised. I don’t believe you can legislate good behavior even for a 90 minute dinner, but I give them credit for trying. Thanks for the note.
Excellent point .. I can chime in on the restaurant as well .. They should understand the changing dynamic of the customers either by syncing with yelp for an interactive way of ordering in advance on the menus or putting an electronic timer on the table like some do if you’re a diner .. To keep focus and and keep the flow moving .. Eventually the restaurants in New York will get it because you see the effect in your receipts very quickly so it can be very critical to react or die ..
Obviously with radio it takes a little longer but not as long as the past with results of ppm coming out monthly now and while it is a better means of measuring listening habits than the old arbitron diary way there are kinks with that system as well .. Fred it has come down to the same thing we’ve had to deal with for years in radio .. How to play the best music for your demo and how to communicate between those records in an impact full interesting way . The spot loads … Liners .. Noise are all obstacles to the listener experience but critical to reach the bottom line of the store . I really believe the innovation needs to focus on the obstacles of good radio and I think we can then adapt to this new generation of instant gratification .. The people we should be competing with are the smart people in Silicon Valley who must innovate to survive… see apple vs samsung.
I really hope. We can get there… Because radio is such a powerful local personal medium and the opportunities are endless for it .
Sorry for the rant … Had a double espresso this morning 🙂
Frank, thanks for the comment. It would be very interesting to hear from someone who does (or has) run a restaurant. I believe that all businesses have to adjust, and as you point out, you can see the impact of not doing so on the bottom line.
For radio, it is indeed a challenge. To a great degree, the fundamentals are…the fundamentals. As you note, the basics matters, of course, but without innovation, we’re standing on the polar ice cap. We need to continue to reinvent this business as the consumer changes. And I think that restaurant story frames it well. Appreciate you taking the time.
Your blog got me thinking about the evolution of radio. About change and innovation…
I have a question for you and the other Programmers that read your blog.
Let’s say you just got hired as the new Program Director for a major radio station. This station is privately funded. They do run some commercials, but all money is donated to charity. Also, because of the private funding they don’t care about PPM ratings.
You have a clean slate and free reign to do whatever you want.
Where do you start? How do you get people interested? What do you do to advertise? What kind of music do you play? Are you even a format? Maybe you’re a multi-format station? Do you have the same typical DJ’s and Morning Show?
I feel this is a great question to get the ideas flowing. I’d love to hear what people would do! I understand PPM is still in the cards and will for the foreseeable future. However, to truly innovate, I think we need to brainstorm with it out of the equation. As if radio was invented today and we could do anything we wanted.
Thanks for always coming up with great content!
I think you could do the format you pitched to get the job … No ? You can finally execute your strategy in its most pure form …? I aplologize in advance if what I’m saying is obvious but the question is pretty broad .. Just make the station fun , not predictable and uber local … That’s what’d i do 🙂
Fun, unpredictable, uber local – my kind of place!
Eric – you already have that – PUBLIC RADIO!!
It’s a breath of fresh air….