By Hayley Roy DIPMAN
Managing Director of
Harp Commercial Interiors Limited
"The Third Place" is something I talk about a lot to people who own businesses in the leisure industry. If you want to create a successful business and a space that people want to go back to again and again read on..........
The Third place or Third Space is a term used in the concept of building communities. The first place is the home, the second place is the office and the third place is the place that people go to spend their free time, it can be anything from a Hairdressers to a Pub a Hotel, Restaurant or Bar. Some people have a few different third places, one restaurant for breakfast one for a drink after work on a Friday, one for a quick bite before you go to the cinema.
The Third Place must be easily accessible and is somewhere free to go to an relatively inexpensive to eat and/or drink where people can build friendships and bonds with others. It helps build communities and form lifelong bonds between people.
In his influential book The Great Good Place, Ray Oldenburg (1989, 1991) states that third places are important for civil society, democracy, civic engagement, and establishing feelings of a sense of place. The theory is now used throughout the world when planning new suburban areas.
In the UK Traditional Pubs have been very popular third places, it has been very sad over the last few years to see so many Pubs close and stop being that third place, it takes a lot of hard work to create that third place and we need to work hard to keep third places open if we want to keep them. Research shows that communities become very concerned when pubs close because they feel a connection to this place local to them, much more than local shops or post offices, it is a place where friends are made.
The world is changing, the internet has changed the way we live, creating on-line forums like facebook that have become people's new age "Third Place" the future of our local communities depends on developing third places for people to meet and socialise.
The Third Place is something that Starbucks talk about in their book The Starbucks Experience. Starbucks have had their ups and downs as a business but the one thing that they have right is how they get that comfortable space that people want to go back to. The space you want to create in your business is somewhere that people will feel at home but that is a home away from home.
Have a look at this picture, the people look really at home, the man on the right is on his phone, the man on the left is sleeping comfortably! These people aren't giving the staff hassle to clear their food because they are comfortable in this environment, they are happy and they are in their third place. This is the feeling that you need to create and work to achieve.
How many times have you been in a leisure environment where it just doesn't feel right or the staff are unhelpful, they make you feel that you are in their space and you are not welcome. The Pubs or restaurants on the corner of the street to the customer that are closing, are doing so because people are not using it as their third space. Make sure this is not your business and read on...........
Your mission if you have one of these local businesses and want to make it a success is to make your business the third space, you can do this by working on your "Moments of Truth".
Moments of Truth
How many times have you walked into a pub or restaurant and just known that this business has new owners, you can't quite put your finger on it but you just know that something is different. This is a subconcious reaction to the little things that have changed in that business. These subconcious thoughts are called "Moments of Truth"
Moments of Truth
To create your moments of truth you need to work on the following five things:- Consistent Brand
- Atmosphere
- Food and Drink
- Service
- Décor
Consistent Brand
This is the umbrella point for all of the other items on the list, when working on the atmosphere, food and drink, service and décor all need you to be thinking about the brand at all times.
From your sign on the outside of your business to your menus to the signs on your toilets, the way your staff are dressed, to the décor to the service style, your brand is communicated unconsciously to your customer in 1000's of different ways.
A friend of mine Giuseppe D'Anna who owns a Brand Management and PR company as well as a beautiful Art Gallery, works on the brand of his clients in the hospitality industry, he works on creating a high end brand that communicates quality to his clients customers. Giuseppe loves the theory of the Third Place and feels that the customer will have a much better experience if the brand is right. Having the correct logo and brochures, menus, signs, hotel welcome packs, in room information packs, etc etc communicates the quality of the business.
From your sign on the outside of your business to your menus to the signs on your toilets, the way your staff are dressed, to the décor to the service style, your brand is communicated unconsciously to your customer in 1000's of different ways.
A friend of mine Giuseppe D'Anna who owns a Brand Management and PR company as well as a beautiful Art Gallery, works on the brand of his clients in the hospitality industry, he works on creating a high end brand that communicates quality to his clients customers. Giuseppe loves the theory of the Third Place and feels that the customer will have a much better experience if the brand is right. Having the correct logo and brochures, menus, signs, hotel welcome packs, in room information packs, etc etc communicates the quality of the business.
You have to follow this all the way through your business and live it, every day, ask yourself are you giving your customers the right messages all day every day?
Your staff uniforms are very important to how your business is perceived, they need to be clean and ironed, some hotels take this upon themselves to do laundry for their staff so that they can control this. If you enter a 5* Hotel you will expect the concierge to be wearing a very smart outfit that is in keeping with the brand of the hotel, the receptionist needs to be wearing a suit or part thereof and the waiting staff need to be wearing at least a smart shirt/blouse and smart trousers/skirt. If you were entering a bed and breakfast establishment you would not feel comfortable if the staff were dressed formally, you would expect casual clothes like jeans to be worn. Everything you choose needs to ooze your brand, if your opening a new business, decide where you want to be in the market and choose everything you do to fit.
Brand Exercise for diagnosis or creation of a brand:
If you are starting a hospitality business or you want to review your business, try this to make sure your brand speaks consistently to your customers
Write down all the things you want that business to do or what it does, what kind of food is served, what kind of service do you have, what the brand looks like what the menu looks like, everything that is in your vision or is in place you need to write down. Now look at each item individually and question what kind of messages each item on your list gives your customer, if you want casual service but have an A La Carte menu is something that doesn't fit? Everything in your brand needs to be sending the same kind of messages to your customers. Ask as many people you know as possible to help you with this and value the feedback especially the negative.
Atmosphere
Google Definition of Atmosphere
"atmosphere
noun
the pervading tone or mood of a place, situation, or creative work.
"the hotel has won commendations for its friendly, welcoming atmosphere"
synonyms:
ambience, aura, climate, air, mood, feel, feeling, character, tone, overtone, undertone, tenor, spirit, quality, aspect, element, undercurrent, flavour, colour, colouring, look, impression, suggestion, emanation; "
The atmosphere is created by a number of factors including brand, service, cleanliness and décor. As you can see from the definition above the atmosphere is a combination of many things, just a feeling that you get, a good atmosphere starts at the top, from an owner or manager who cares about their customers experience and trains their staff to care and spot the little things that need doing all the time. The piece of tissue on the floor that needs picking up or the smile as you walk in the door.
The smell of your venue is one of the key first impressions, in a restaurant warming bread before serving creates a yummy feel and doesn't take a moment.
Ensure your kitchen has good ventilation and that you turn it on, my sister Kim runs a restaurant called Mario's Place with her husband Mario. Mario's got a bad review on Trip Advisor where they complained about the"smell of frying food" even though the reviewer gave them 4 Stars. If they had happened to get anything else wrong that day the reviewer would not have been so nice.
Make sure you have a clean environment that smells great and people will feel comfortable. There is nothing worse than going into a venue with sticky tables, or dirty toilets, this reflects the cleanliness of the kitchen and if always dirty will tell the customer unconsciously that at some point they will get sick eating your food.
Being in the hospitality industry you will know that quality food and drink is essential for a successful business, the type of food you serve is part of your brand, if you offer a steak that is expensive for the area, make sure you have sourced the best meat you can, don't underestimate the power of people's experience, some of the people who eat in restaurants also run other restaurants, you will never know who your customer is and who will be the next person to give you a rubbish review.
Always ask for feedback about what you are serving because this will make sure you know exactly when the problems come up and you can fix these issues quickly. I once forgot to ask if everything was OK with a meal I served, only to find out that after the customer had consumed everything on their plate, he then said that he was waiting for me to ask him if his food was OK so he could tell me it wasn't. Make sure you ask so you give yourself the opportunity to correct anything that is a problem before the end of a meal. Nando's do this well, they have a wooden chicken on a stick placed on the table when they ask you if you have enjoyed your meal they take the wooden chicken away. Be careful though, this is a fast paced eating place, if you did this in a high class restaurant and made it as obvious you would be giving the wrong messages.
Choose your brand and build your food style in line with the brand or vise versa.
Making sure you communicate your brand through service is all about training your staff to care. You need to create a good atmosphere within your staff group before any customers step through your door. Look after your staff, you need to make sure that this atmosphere starts with your staff not with your customers, the customers will pick up on this vibe the moment they step through your door and feel more at home.
Having naturally smiley caring staff in your venue is key to the success of your business. Don't accept anything less than this attitude from your staff, even if you have to go through 10 waitresses to get the right one!
In the UK the service industry is unusual, people don' have a naturally subservient way like for example people in Thailand or the Philippines. I used to find this very frustrating when travelling a lot, People in the UK sometimes do not enjoy serving people which is why staff training is so important, and employing people with the right attitude is imperative. Brands like Starbucks and McDonalds have great training schemes, the training that the staff have in these kind of businesses are helping to improve the UK's service industry. Before you trust your staff directly serving any customer, make sure they have at least a few hours training from a more experienced good staff member.
You have to change your method of service to suit your brand, for example my history in part is working on super yachts, one which was called M/Y Lionheart. I spent 3 years delivering 6 Star service, being trained to have everything immaculate, making sure that everything was no more than perfect. I even took great pride in cleaning things with cotton buds, that was when I realised it was time to leave and get back to the real world. When you have had this kind of experiences you have to tone this down when you change the environment. When I help out in my sisters restaurant Marios Place where the staff wear jeans and the service is friendly I have to change my method. When I worked on Lionheart I was trained not to ask personal questions and to be seen and not heared, in Marios Place I am expected to ask how people are, my sister prides herself of being part of the local community, someone with an opinion that people are drawn to.
Choose your brand and build your service style in line with the brand.
Keep it clean and keep it maintained, split seats and chairs with three legs are not a good look. A lick of paint costs very little in materials and just using care and attention will keep you on track. Beware, when you are in a premises every day it is very easy to step over the cracks when it comes to maintenance, ask you friends and customers to keep you informed if you need maintanance to make sure you don't miss anything if you work in your business everyday. Reupholstery and replacing furniture will hurt your cash flow less if you do little and often.
You have to choose the décor and furniture very carefully to fit within the people you are inviting into your business, the interior is something that I have a lot of experience in, being MD at ChairsGB and now Owner / MD at Harp Commercial Interiors. I have spent years studying the success and failure of businesses, the choice you make in this area can make or break a business. If you choose posh expensive furniture and put it into a pub on an estate where most people are on the breadline it will not work. If you choose old fashioned or cheap furniture and try and serve posh food, again, people will get mixed messages. You have to work on sending one message to the customer throughout their experience.
If you wanted a quick meal, what does the restaurant look like that you are looking for. Chairs with hard seats and easy to clean table tops right?. You wouldn't go into a posh restaurant with nice leather chairs and table cloths and expect a quick meal, the the décor communicates the type of restaurant from the outside.
Your lighting needs to match your decor, funky lights and traditional wallpaper is a big no no! Choose your brand, go with that brand and try not to buy things because you like them but becuase they fit with it. Getting this brand right throughout your business will help to create more Moments of Truth and draw people into your business.
Brand
Brand is all about sending one message to the customer throughout their experience in your business.
Nando's do this very well. I have often had conversations with people about how expensive Nando's food is considering you get limited table service. BUT I still go back twice a month because I love the food, I know what to expect with the service and it suits me because I can have a quick meal and then go to the cinema.
The Brand at Nando's is fantastic, their menu's, staff uniform, blackboards. signage and furniture all match the brand and style. The furniture is not that comfortable overall, but it tells the customer that the food is served quickly and doesn't encourage them to sit all night. Although their staff are not taking your order they are all very well trained and they have a system where they leave a little chicken on a stick on your table that is taken away when you have been asked if you have enjoyed your meal, I like this little trick, so simple but very effective.
Pizza Express go with the same theory of hard seats, as long as the food is served reletavely fast your customer will be happy with not so comfortable furniture and they will leave quickly enabling you to increase the number of your customers.
I agree with the theory of "Location Location Location" If you have a hospitality business in a good location you have to do an exceptionally bad job for that business not to work, you can get away with average food and service whereas if you have average food and service in a not so good location you will almost certainly not survive in business. If you are one of these out of the way business you will know that you will have to work twice as hard to get the business as someone in a good location. You have to give people a really good reason to visit you. Franco is one example, he is one of my customers and had been for many years. Franco has always had businesses in Colchester, he is one of the best Chef's I know and every business he has worked in has been veery successful. He recently moved to Clacton on Sea, where he started up a new restaurant inside a hotel called Francos. His following is so good that many of his Colchester customer are prepared to drive 30 minutes or more to visit his quite expensive restaurant. His food and service are so good and he has been in business for so many years that he commands a following, they will pay a premium and travel to get the quality and service he offers.
I have a few third places, I believe that people have third places for different parts of their lives. My first "Third Place" is my local pub, they do average pub food, they have good décor, the ambience is good, the service is friendly but sometimes a bit slow when it's busy, but in that pub I can meet local people, I can take my lovely dog Bailey and sit with my Husband, drink wine and enjoy the view of the river. When the service is slow, I understand because I know the staff and they look more stressed than usual, this pub also gets away with more than most in the sense of bad service and average food because it is situated right next to the river, they have Location on their side which I will talk about later.
Independantly run Pubs have a brand all of their own and each pub can be completely different, they often have little quirky things that have something to do with the personality of the owner, the local area or the people who go into the pub. My Grandfather was in the Guinness Book of Records, he had the longest moustache in the world, his old pub landlord still has a picture up of him up in the bar and many of the locals still remember him, I still make a point of going in that pub when I'm passing.
The local area theme is something many pubs do, designers these days though are taking this a step further with the invention of things like printed wallpaper. This enables a pub to have large image or map of their local area plastered on the wall! Fab!
ambience, aura, climate, air, mood, feel, feeling, character, tone, overtone, undertone, tenor, spirit, quality, aspect, element, undercurrent, flavour, colour, colouring, look, impression, suggestion, emanation; "
The atmosphere is created by a number of factors including brand, service, cleanliness and décor. As you can see from the definition above the atmosphere is a combination of many things, just a feeling that you get, a good atmosphere starts at the top, from an owner or manager who cares about their customers experience and trains their staff to care and spot the little things that need doing all the time. The piece of tissue on the floor that needs picking up or the smile as you walk in the door.
The smell of your venue is one of the key first impressions, in a restaurant warming bread before serving creates a yummy feel and doesn't take a moment.
Ensure your kitchen has good ventilation and that you turn it on, my sister Kim runs a restaurant called Mario's Place with her husband Mario. Mario's got a bad review on Trip Advisor where they complained about the"smell of frying food" even though the reviewer gave them 4 Stars. If they had happened to get anything else wrong that day the reviewer would not have been so nice.
Make sure you have a clean environment that smells great and people will feel comfortable. There is nothing worse than going into a venue with sticky tables, or dirty toilets, this reflects the cleanliness of the kitchen and if always dirty will tell the customer unconsciously that at some point they will get sick eating your food.
Food and Drink
Food is the reason that people come to you, it's lunchtime, they are hungry and something has made them come to your establishment.Being in the hospitality industry you will know that quality food and drink is essential for a successful business, the type of food you serve is part of your brand, if you offer a steak that is expensive for the area, make sure you have sourced the best meat you can, don't underestimate the power of people's experience, some of the people who eat in restaurants also run other restaurants, you will never know who your customer is and who will be the next person to give you a rubbish review.
Always ask for feedback about what you are serving because this will make sure you know exactly when the problems come up and you can fix these issues quickly. I once forgot to ask if everything was OK with a meal I served, only to find out that after the customer had consumed everything on their plate, he then said that he was waiting for me to ask him if his food was OK so he could tell me it wasn't. Make sure you ask so you give yourself the opportunity to correct anything that is a problem before the end of a meal. Nando's do this well, they have a wooden chicken on a stick placed on the table when they ask you if you have enjoyed your meal they take the wooden chicken away. Be careful though, this is a fast paced eating place, if you did this in a high class restaurant and made it as obvious you would be giving the wrong messages.
Choose your brand and build your food style in line with the brand or vise versa.
Service
Making sure you communicate your brand through service is all about training your staff to care. You need to create a good atmosphere within your staff group before any customers step through your door. Look after your staff, you need to make sure that this atmosphere starts with your staff not with your customers, the customers will pick up on this vibe the moment they step through your door and feel more at home.
Having naturally smiley caring staff in your venue is key to the success of your business. Don't accept anything less than this attitude from your staff, even if you have to go through 10 waitresses to get the right one!
In the UK the service industry is unusual, people don' have a naturally subservient way like for example people in Thailand or the Philippines. I used to find this very frustrating when travelling a lot, People in the UK sometimes do not enjoy serving people which is why staff training is so important, and employing people with the right attitude is imperative. Brands like Starbucks and McDonalds have great training schemes, the training that the staff have in these kind of businesses are helping to improve the UK's service industry. Before you trust your staff directly serving any customer, make sure they have at least a few hours training from a more experienced good staff member.
You have to change your method of service to suit your brand, for example my history in part is working on super yachts, one which was called M/Y Lionheart. I spent 3 years delivering 6 Star service, being trained to have everything immaculate, making sure that everything was no more than perfect. I even took great pride in cleaning things with cotton buds, that was when I realised it was time to leave and get back to the real world. When you have had this kind of experiences you have to tone this down when you change the environment. When I help out in my sisters restaurant Marios Place where the staff wear jeans and the service is friendly I have to change my method. When I worked on Lionheart I was trained not to ask personal questions and to be seen and not heared, in Marios Place I am expected to ask how people are, my sister prides herself of being part of the local community, someone with an opinion that people are drawn to.
Choose your brand and build your service style in line with the brand.
Décor and Furniture
Keep it clean and keep it maintained, split seats and chairs with three legs are not a good look. A lick of paint costs very little in materials and just using care and attention will keep you on track. Beware, when you are in a premises every day it is very easy to step over the cracks when it comes to maintenance, ask you friends and customers to keep you informed if you need maintanance to make sure you don't miss anything if you work in your business everyday. Reupholstery and replacing furniture will hurt your cash flow less if you do little and often.
You have to choose the décor and furniture very carefully to fit within the people you are inviting into your business, the interior is something that I have a lot of experience in, being MD at ChairsGB and now Owner / MD at Harp Commercial Interiors. I have spent years studying the success and failure of businesses, the choice you make in this area can make or break a business. If you choose posh expensive furniture and put it into a pub on an estate where most people are on the breadline it will not work. If you choose old fashioned or cheap furniture and try and serve posh food, again, people will get mixed messages. You have to work on sending one message to the customer throughout their experience.
If you wanted a quick meal, what does the restaurant look like that you are looking for. Chairs with hard seats and easy to clean table tops right?. You wouldn't go into a posh restaurant with nice leather chairs and table cloths and expect a quick meal, the the décor communicates the type of restaurant from the outside.
Your lighting needs to match your decor, funky lights and traditional wallpaper is a big no no! Choose your brand, go with that brand and try not to buy things because you like them but becuase they fit with it. Getting this brand right throughout your business will help to create more Moments of Truth and draw people into your business.
Brand
Brand is all about sending one message to the customer throughout their experience in your business.
Nando's do this very well. I have often had conversations with people about how expensive Nando's food is considering you get limited table service. BUT I still go back twice a month because I love the food, I know what to expect with the service and it suits me because I can have a quick meal and then go to the cinema.
The Brand at Nando's is fantastic, their menu's, staff uniform, blackboards. signage and furniture all match the brand and style. The furniture is not that comfortable overall, but it tells the customer that the food is served quickly and doesn't encourage them to sit all night. Although their staff are not taking your order they are all very well trained and they have a system where they leave a little chicken on a stick on your table that is taken away when you have been asked if you have enjoyed your meal, I like this little trick, so simple but very effective.
Pizza Express go with the same theory of hard seats, as long as the food is served reletavely fast your customer will be happy with not so comfortable furniture and they will leave quickly enabling you to increase the number of your customers.
"Location Location Location"
I agree with the theory of "Location Location Location" If you have a hospitality business in a good location you have to do an exceptionally bad job for that business not to work, you can get away with average food and service whereas if you have average food and service in a not so good location you will almost certainly not survive in business. If you are one of these out of the way business you will know that you will have to work twice as hard to get the business as someone in a good location. You have to give people a really good reason to visit you. Franco is one example, he is one of my customers and had been for many years. Franco has always had businesses in Colchester, he is one of the best Chef's I know and every business he has worked in has been veery successful. He recently moved to Clacton on Sea, where he started up a new restaurant inside a hotel called Francos. His following is so good that many of his Colchester customer are prepared to drive 30 minutes or more to visit his quite expensive restaurant. His food and service are so good and he has been in business for so many years that he commands a following, they will pay a premium and travel to get the quality and service he offers.
My Third Places
I have a few third places, I believe that people have third places for different parts of their lives. My first "Third Place" is my local pub, they do average pub food, they have good décor, the ambience is good, the service is friendly but sometimes a bit slow when it's busy, but in that pub I can meet local people, I can take my lovely dog Bailey and sit with my Husband, drink wine and enjoy the view of the river. When the service is slow, I understand because I know the staff and they look more stressed than usual, this pub also gets away with more than most in the sense of bad service and average food because it is situated right next to the river, they have Location on their side which I will talk about later.
Independantly run Pubs have a brand all of their own and each pub can be completely different, they often have little quirky things that have something to do with the personality of the owner, the local area or the people who go into the pub. My Grandfather was in the Guinness Book of Records, he had the longest moustache in the world, his old pub landlord still has a picture up of him up in the bar and many of the locals still remember him, I still make a point of going in that pub when I'm passing.
The local area theme is something many pubs do, designers these days though are taking this a step further with the invention of things like printed wallpaper. This enables a pub to have large image or map of their local area plastered on the wall! Fab!
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