Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Week 3 EOC:Psychographic Stadium Food

When doing a psychographic analyses, it can be tough to tell what your customers can want. "One useful definition states that lifestyle is the patterns in which people live and spend time and money. This definition is helpful because it sees guests in terms of how and what they buy. (65)" Doing a little research, I've seen that a crazy food item in ballparks are fried bull testicles. Not that it sounds appetizing, but it does sound something worth trying at least once, especially when being with friends who get a few drinks in and double dog dare you to try it.

A famous ballpark food is hotdogs. Which ball park doesn't sell hotdogs/corndogs? Something that's convenient, and nothing too daring. "Managers should determine whether customers eat at their establishment because it is convenient for them or because dining at their establishment is the reason they go out. (67)" convenience is key in today's society of getting from point A to point B in minutes because there just isn't enough hours in the day. In this situation, you're at a ball park game so there's no need to rush, just get to your seat with your snacks and you'll be fine, but being comfortable with what you get keeps people happy.

"Are customers returning? If not, managers must ask why, and then take actions to correct this problem." On the topic of bull testicles, some people may not want that. It may go down the toilet, might bite back because no one would dare try something so disgusting and unappetizing. Sometimes it may be wise to only sell those kinds of dishes when you anticipate a huge turnout during finals so that you know you may sell a few dozen of bull testicles and hope someone might be crazy enough to try it.

Week 2 EOC: Themed Restaurant

"One way to better understand the power of pricing is to examine the concept of consumer rationality. Consumer rationality is the tendency of buyers to make their buying decisions based on their belief that the purchase will be of direct benefit to them."  When making a concept that is completely new, innovative, or unique, having potential customers to come in can be very difficult. To some people, it may seem like something that they might be interested it. "The process of selecting a target market can be thought of as a series of decisions that focus on markets with the most potential.For example, eating sushi off naked women. I love sushi, and I love naked women, so I'd want to eat there without hesitation. Eating from a toilet may not sound appetizing, but people go there because of its interesting concept. Toilet seats, toilet dish bowls you eat from, all that may sound fun, something to talk about, an experience you may not forget. When it comes to something different, it's difficult to think of that. One idea is to not dine on the ground, but to dine in the sky because it's completely different. You're not used to dining outside 50 feet above ground strapped to your seat while you eat a full course meal, or launching a flaming chicken in the air while a waiter catches the flaming chicken with a spiked helmet... while riding a unicycle. "In the French establishment example, a manager probably could not have targeted people who like French food and a formal dining service in a very small, isolated town because the number of potential customers in this market segment is too small to be profitable."All crazy ideas that make us think what is truly innovative and new to our perception of dining. Eating with the dead, not literally, but wherever this is, they dine in a graveyard. Whoever thought that up must've been a psycho, but it's something some people might like to try. 

Week 1 EOC: My Voice

Cooking came easy to me as soon as I read my first recipe: Chili. Seeing all the other cohorts struggle, I looked at them and questioned “how and why is this so difficult.” Seeing as how cooking came natural to me and how I breezed through the recipe, I knew at that moment that this is going to be my passion and something that I can make my profession. Over the years I have been cooking, I’ve truly escalated through the skills after starting from little to none. What I see coming into the culinary world is a lot of stress, screaming, anger, and many barriers to go over. This is something I can do and I look forward to it. As a culinarian of the future, and technology advances, there might be even more challenges, or make the job even easier to perform, but when it comes down to what will actually be used in the kitchen might be a different story. Sometimes technology can’t perform what humans can, or machines will take our duties, making finding a job that much more difficult. All of that, to me, just means I have to work that much harder to combat the unknown. We have to push ourselves beyond the limit, break down, and try harder next time. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Week 1 EOC: My Voice

Cooking came easy to me as soon as I read my first recipe: Chili. Seeing all the other cohorts struggle, I looked at them and questioned “how and why is this so difficult.” Seeing as how cooking came natural to me and how I breezed through the recipe, I knew at that moment that this is going to be my passion and something that I can make my profession. Over the years I have been cooking, I’ve truly escalated through the skills after starting from little to none. What I see coming into the culinary world is a lot of stress, screaming, anger, and many barriers to go over. This is something I can do and I look forward to it. As a culinarian of the future, and technology advances, there might be even more challenges, or make the job even easier to perform, but when it comes down to what will actually be used in the kitchen might be a different story. Sometimes technology can’t perform what humans can, or machines will take our duties, making finding a job that much more difficult. All of that, to me, just means I have to work that much harder to combat the unknown. We have to push ourselves beyond the limit, break down, and try harder next time. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Week 1 EOC: My Voice

Cooking came easy to me as soon as I read my first recipe: Chili. Seeing all the other cohorts struggle, I looked at them and questioned “how and why is this so difficult.” Seeing as how cooking came natural to me and how I breezed through the recipe, I knew at that moment that this is going to be my passion and something that I can make my profession. Over the years I have been cooking, I’ve truly escalated through the skills after starting from little to none. What I see coming into the culinary world is a lot of stress, screaming, anger, and many barriers to go over. This is something I can do and I look forward to it. As a culinarian of the future, and technology advances, there might be even more challenges, or make the job even easier to perform, but when it comes down to what will actually be used in the kitchen might be a different story. Sometimes technology can’t perform what humans can, or machines will take our duties, making finding a job that much more difficult. All of that, to me, just means I have to work that much harder to combat the unknown. We have to push ourselves beyond the limit, break down, and try harder next time. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Week 1 EOC: Great Customer Service

Most great customer services might come from a restaurant or a clothing retail store from the employees from either establishment. My customer service experience comes from the Henderson Auto Mall. I drove my sister there to get her oil changed and I sat in the parking lot while waiting for her to finish up. I got bored, walked around, looked at the Scion car selections and the Director of Sales came up to me and asked if I was looking for anything in particular. I told him "Oh, I'm just waiting for my sister for her oil change, I'm just looking around to pass the time," and he replied "Well if you wanted to pass the time, why don't we test drive something?" he went in through the doors, came out with keys in his hand, stood next to the Scion XD's passenger door, and he handed me the keys. First of all, who would trust a 20 year old with a performance car, second, it's a standard transmission. He said not to worry, just get in the car and I'll teach you. I learned how to drive a manual transmission, and bought a car that very same day. I was just waiting for my sister to get her oil changed and I bought a car. Maybe I was sucked into buying a car with his marketing strategy, but whatever strategy he used, it worked. "Ineffective salespeople may jump too quickly into a sales pitch, but the best performers are patient and wait until they understand the customer’s needs before presenting their operation’s features and benefits." (Human Resources, Quality Service & Training, Hospitality & Restaurant Marketing p.141) Patience was this guy's game. Three hours of test driving and I was sucked into buying a car and the service was just amazing. I got a free oil change, topped off on the fuel I used, windshield wiping fluid, coolant, and any problems I have, I can always ask the director of sales and he will cover any small expense. It wasn't just a service I received, I received a bond.