When You Lose Focus

I visited one of my all-time favorite delis last night. I was on a daddy-daughter date and I was so excited when she chose this particular place because I had not eaten there in a long time. When we arrived I was surprised that it was not busy at all, even on a Friday night. However, I soon found out why.

This eatery was known for two particular things—great sandwiches and spuds and great customer service. Okay maybe three since their sweet tea is the bomb. Last night, I discovered that the food was okay and the customer service was below expectations—not what I had come to know and expect from this deli. What happened?

They had made some changes to their menu board. The old menu was fairly simple with a few great and creative sandwiches, soups and spuds to choose from. Now the menu had tripled with so many side items and breads to choose from that I felt confused. In spite of the expanded menu of bread choices, they were out of the first two I requested. I also remember that they made the best chocolate chip cookies (I was sure my grandmother was in the kitchen personally cooking and wrapping them just for me!) so I ordered one fully anticipating my taste buds to explode as they once had. Instead, I found a cookie that had obviously been pre-purchased from an outside vendor. I guess as this company expanded, they began to look for ways of mass production that made this cookie something I could now purchase anywhere (not that I would want to now).

The other obvious change was in their customer service and ambiance. Gone were the plastic baskets of old. Now you could dine on real plates with real flatware. Gone were the days when an employee would constantly patrol the deli to see if you needed a refill. Now employees seem to stay busy restocking napkins, busing tables, and washing those great plates. The other thing about their customer service was that you would always find a friendly smile and an excitement about being a part of this deli. The employees were now competent, but with no excitement.

It seems that this deli lost its original focus—make a few great food items and offer great and exciting customer service. That focus caused it to be one of the fastest growing delis in the United States. With the addition of all those new menu items, they are trying to be all things to all people. They tried to retool their image by upgrading to real plates and flatware. However, this affected the utilization of their employees who now had to spend more time busing tables and washing dishes they never had instead of looking for ways to make the experience better for the customer. I have to be honest, I would much rather have great service using plastic baskets and plastic-ware.

Instead of being really good at a few things, they have become average at all of them.

I think every organization from businesses, churches and governments can learn a valuable lesson—when we forget who we are and lose focus, we begin to spend an inordinate amount of time and effort focusing on petty issues and forget to focus on the one or two things that made us great.

What are your thoughts?