How do you function at maximum capacity?

No doubt you have walked into a restaurant or establishment and seen the maximum capacity sign. I often wonder what some of these places look like when they get that full. But as a business owner do you have a plan to handle that kind of traffic? Will your service drop off or will the people being served still get the same feeling as if they were the only people there.

Today I had the pleasure of seeing this comparison between two companies. It started when I left the house to run errands and noticed it 45 degrees out-- which is really warm for Iowa in January. So I did like everyone else in Iowa and went to the car wash. I figured I could breeze through with only a minimal wait considering they have 8 wash bays. I was wrong. They were choking in a big way. There were many cars in line- good if your the car wash owner- bad for the rest of us. The owner was running around trying to get quarters to everyone because the change machine was broke. As well was the credit card machine, which I found out after waiting for 10 minutes, getting a wash bay, and then seeing the blue screen of death.

Frustrated, I left. He lost my business. He was at maximum capacity and couldn't handle it.

Two stops later I arrived at Panchero's Mexican grill for lunch. They too were at maximum capacity. The line was easily twenty people deep, and the seating area was full. The difference was how they handled it. They were prepared. The line never stopped moving. And when I ordered the workers were pleasant- not the usual frustrated and short tempered-which can often happen to restaurant workers during busy times. In only a few minutes I had my burrito and I was given a frequent buyer card with a brief explanation by the cashier while he ran my credit card. I then sat down to a clean table that had just opened up. Yes-- a clean table.
I was in in awe! So I sat back, sipped my soda, and watched what was happening. They had a system, each worker did their time on the customer service line before being rotated out to wipe down tables, check the soda area, or refill the ingredients.

They were at maximum capacity and thrived on it!

Whats the Great idea here?
A good business gives customer service when its slow and expected. A great business gives customer service all the time, especially when its unexpected. So as a business owner when was the last time you took the company out and ran it hard? I mean really pushed the workers?
I recommend doing this as soon as possible, especially in this economy, when every decision by the customer is important.

Getting great customer service like I did today from Panchero's means that when I want to spend some of my hard earned cash I will go there first. I have seen them in action and they don't disappoint. This is important to me and I bet its important to your customers.

So go out there today and run your business hard, who knows you may find some weak spots that are areas for improvement.

Technorati Tags: Customer Retention Customer Service Differentiation Retail