We spend a lot of time these days discussing the increased “speed of business”. The speed of which we conduct our daily business activities has increased exponentially even in the past few years. With the increased capabilities of our smart phones and tablets, we have more information available at our fingertips than ever before. Our lives are seemingly moving faster and faster…. especially when it comes to the availability and the flow of information. Combine all this readily available information with the fact that success is often determined by a restaurant’s or a company’s agility and ability to quickly adapt to changing market conditions… and, pretty soon, you can see the treadmill beginning to move at breakneck speed.
Whether we are a guest selecting our restaurant for our dinner or a sommelier selecting a new wineglass…. in mere moments, we can find out all we need to know whether we are in our office, in our car, or simply walking down the street… it makes no difference. More and more, the information we seek is always at hand. And, while we all are much more empowered to make decisions than we could have imaged just a couple of years ago, it can be unsettling for some. However we may feel about this increased pace – both our personal and our business lives aren’t ever going to return to the “good ol’ days”.
So, we are faced with a couple of choices. We can choose to avoid the fast-paced changes to the world around us by remaining focused on what has made us so successful so far. Yes, its true, some hospitality operators really don’t care to read guests’ reviews or follow what’s being said about them on social media or even to adjust their menus to today’s more health-concious trends. The same is true of the supplier side as some supply-chain people don’t care to listen to what their customers are talking about on social media or keep up on the latest in dining trends so they can provide better, more relevant products to their customers.
Or, we can choose to engage and participate in the current acceleration and explosion of information that is available that’s underway in our industry. For those of us who have been around for a while and used to doing things in a certain, more predictable way, choosing this path of participation and engagement is not very easy. In fact, it’s damn hard. But, rarely will what made you successful a few years back keep you successful in the future. The world moves too fast for that.
And, consider this….for the segment of our population under the age of, say 36 or so….they have not ever known a world without this level of communication and available information. It’s inconceivable to millennials (and younger) that there could possibly be a world without texting…. or Facebook and Twitter (what! no Instagram! OMG)….or even the basic Internet (amazingly, only in widespread use for the past 20 years!). Who needs a library when I have Google?
So, success today often involves agility and adjustment – both personal and professional. But, keep in mind, that responsiveness and agility must be paired with relevance to achieve lasting success.
So…. restaurateur, manufacturer, or supply chain participant…. in today’s high-speed environment, how are YOU doing at remaining relevant to your customers?
Remember…you have a choice – and, so do your customers.
