Archive for June 2010

The adage goes, “the customer is always right” and many customers often abuse this term to get an advantage. On the other hand, many others have valid issues with the product or food you provide and thus file consumer complaints. When at the hotdog stand and you encounter one such incident, here are some tips to use in order to resolve the issues right away.

Preserve the evidence. Often, if the condiment is already stale or the hotdog is burnt, the first reaction is to throw it to the trash bin. If the rotten food is served, then at the first instance, you need to keep the food intact. Apologize profusely to the customer and provide an add-on to replace the returned food. Keeping the evidence would determine if the concessionaire was at fault or the purchaser deliberately made the food the subject of the consumer complaint.

Get names. Many consumer complaints consist of invectives and raised voices. In order to get to the heart of the matter, you need to ask for the facts and get the names of the complaining customers. By sticking to the facts, you are able to determine where the fault originated and review how it occurred. This removes the emotions behind the issues and keeps everything under control.

Review Processes. This is essential to avoid the repetition of the complaint. In this review, you can find out how the problem occurred and institute the proper measures to prevent problems from arising. These may be as simple as hand washing procedures to as complicated as the proper settings for refrigeration. This closes the whole consumer complaint process and resolves the issues straightaway.

So when a customer comes up to you with a complaint either of the food you have served or the service provided, then you need to preserve the evidence, get names and later on review processes in order to determine fault and prevent its repetition. If you fail to address the complaint, then this can be the straw that may break your financial back in the long run.

At the start of the blog, one of the main themes stressed was the fact that being a hotdog concessionaire is not a solitary business. It is a business that employs people and uses materials in order to succeed. These materials come from suppliers that are considered as your business partners. Now, after a few months, you need to review these standing partnerships in order to see if they are helpful to the business or prove to be one of the causes of losses for your going concern. Found below are some helpful tips for you to consider when renewing your agreements with your business partners in your hotdog concession business.

Cost. This is one of the primary concerns that a business should always be acutely aware of and be considerate about in the day-to-day operations. The bread delivered to you by your baker suddenly increases in cost, even by cents, can have an exponential effect on your overall revenue. Even the timing of payment has an attendant cost which needs to be computed so that your overall cash flow is not affected. In simpler terms, you need to always be aware of the cost of your inputs and any changes would necessarily affect your final product costing. Since you can’t just increase your prices without losing customers, your profits would eventually suffer. Always be on the lookout for other cheaper suppliers, not only in per item cost, but also be mindful of payment terms (the longer the better), which can certainly help your bottom line.

Quality. This is very important especially if you want to maintain a regular clientele. You need to check the delivered supplies to see if there are short cuts made or any changes in the quality and make-up from the time you originally engaged the business partner. If the quality has changed, then this has an attendant effect on your final product. Quality checks are important to maintain the quality of your hotdog sandwiches offered to the public. Change your supplier at the first sign of deteriorating quality, lest you receive any complaints from your buying public and thus lose business.

Reliability. Another aspect important to your business is the reliability of the product delivered. This includes prompt deliveries and accurate best before tags for the items used in your hotdog stand. Prompt deliveries ensures that your supplies do not run out thus making your food orders complete and of the same quality and quantity. As for the spoilage tags, this needs to be clear and precise because your inventory needs to stay fresh and edible for human consumption over a number of days. Besides, you will lose a lot of revenue if you eventually have to throw these food ingredients to the trash without turning a profit with them.

As you can see, business partnerships, especially in the hot dog concession business need not be permanent. If the cost increases, then you need to find alternative suppliers for your ingredients. Should the quality deteriorate then you need to find better suppliers for your customers. Finally, if the deliveries or the spoilage directions become unreliable, then you would have to bear the brunt of the losses due to these unusable ingredients. Rest assured, there is always some business partner out there ready, willing and able to provide you a product best suited to your hot dog concession needs.