Building Unshakable Customer Loyalty: Lessons from Chick-fil-A
Fast-food customers are among the most fickle in the country, abandoning quick-service restaurants at the slightest sign of poor service or disrespect, according to a recent survey by Qualtrics, a software and consulting company.
Chick-fil-A: Leading the Industry in Customer Loyalty
One company leads the field in earning customer loyalty — Chick- fil-A. The chain ranked No. 1 in the industry in a study by the University of Michigan. A case study of Chick-fil-A’s training and culture shows what it takes to motivate employees to behave warmly toward customers.
A Culture of Care and Attention
New team members receive training covering customer service, food preparation, and cleanliness standards, in addition to ongoing skill development after they start. Chick-fil-A also trains all employees to adhere to shared core values, says Ryan Magnon, senior principal operations lead at Chick-fil-A, in a 2021 podcast interview with John DiJulius, a consultant who has worked with the company.
Operators are taught to value caring for everybody who walks through their doors, and that attitude tends to attract team members who have the same values, Magnon said. The company also trains employees in soft skills. When a customer is upset, employees memorize an acronym to guide their response:
LAST, which stands for:
- Listen,
- Apologize,
- Solve,
- and Thank.
For many employees, “these team members … are learning manners, etiquette, and service excellence that possibly no one else is going to teach them,” Magnon says.
When customers say thank you, employees are taught to say, “My pleasure,” a gracious response borrowed from the culture at Ritz- Carlton Hotel Co.
That phrase, ‘My pleasure,’ comes across like beautiful music if you truly mean it from the heart
says Magnon, a former executive with Capella Hotel Group, a hotel company founded by Horst Schulze, co-founder of Ritz-Carlton.
Operators even feature their bonds with customers in ads. One local TV spot highlights a busy single mother who was late arriving at her local Chick-fil-A Family Night for free kids’ meals, arts, and crafts. Seated nearby on the set was a Chick-fil-A employee who noticed the mother was late and extended the Family Night activities, just for her. The ad leaves no room for doubt: That customer felt cared about by her local Chick-fil-A.
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