Beijing Haidilao eat hot pot people, usually have to wait two hours, but waiting for people's faces but can not see the expression of annoyance. Waiting people are not idle, surfing the Internet, playing cards, shoeshine, manicure ...... these seemingly far from the hot pot leisure projects, in other eating establishments are not.
Many people go to Haidilao, first of all for its service, followed by hot pot flavor. Waiters with a standard smile for customers to wipe oil droplets, under the dish fishing dishes, handing hair bands, renewing drinks; pulling the noodles master live show, a wide wide noodles in the air waved into a variety of beautiful arcs, suddenly up and down, left and right; the first floor has an amusement park, and arrange special personnel to watch over the children.
In 2006, Yum Group, which owns Pizza Hut and KFC in China, organized more than 200 regional managers to visit Haidilao.
Zhang Yong, the helmsman behind Haidilao, is a western Sichuan man with a strong Sichuan accent; he likes to travel alone with his backpack, and he never makes any arrangements beforehand. Speaking of Haidilao's service, he frankly told us: "Haidilao's many services, I did not intentionally, and now I realize that this is innovation."
Service focuses on details
In 1994, because of the Sichuan Tractor Factory did not get a share of the housing quota, Zhang Yong decided to go to sea to do business. Considering the low cost of hot pot, Sichuan people and love to eat, Zhang Yong opened a hot pot restaurant, named Haidilao. Four tables, four guys, this is the first hot pot restaurant opened by Zhang Yong in Jianyang, Sichuan. Here, Zhang Yong plays multiple roles: charges, dishes, do the base. When the restaurant first opened, business was slow and there were no customers for several days.
Finally, the hot pot restaurant welcomed its first guests: the neighbors across the street. They had mixed feelings about the taste of the hot pot. However, they unanimously recognized Zhang Yong's service. After that, they became regular customers of the hot pot store. Gradually, the hot pot restaurant began to operate normally.
One day, a local cadre came back from a trip to the countryside and went to Zhang Yong's store to eat hot pot. Zhang Yong realized that his shoes were dirty, so he arranged for one of his fellows to give him a rub, a small gesture that touched the guest. From then on, the bottom of the sea will have a shoe shine service, Zhang Yong directly in the store to arrange a full-time staff for waiting guests to shine shoes.
The dance performance at the scene of Haidilao made a lot of people talk about it. Zhang Yong told us that this is due to a technical competition in Haidilao. At the competition, a contestant performed ramen. But he is not standing in place to the table mechanical work, but live dance, has a strong ornamental, the results won the first prize. After the competition, Zhang Yong thought it was good, so he specially found someone to train the ramen master. This then became another feature of Haidilao today.
For many other innovations, hair bands, manicure, eyeglasses cloth, free phone booths ...... Zhang Yong has been unable to find the "originator". Zhang Yong said: "Sometimes employees put forward new proposals, we discuss the feasibility of going to implement." Service is not big or small, the details are often the most impressive. Innovation also need not rack your brain, but to be good at finding.
Haidilao's approach in the catering industry has triggered a small shock, many restaurants began to follow suit, and even the emergence of the "fake Haidilao". Zhang Yong has a sense of crisis?
Zhang Yong admitted that the catering industry threshold is low, the technical content is not high, easy to imitate. But he firmly believes that it is easy to do similarity, but similarity is very difficult, Haidilao many years to form the standard management can not be easily imitated.
The unexpected harvest of SARS
One day in 1999, Zhang Yong's hot pot restaurant came to a guest in Xi'an, and it was because of him that Zhang Yong opened Haidilao to Xi'an. After eating the hot pot, the guest thought the flavor was very good, so he said to Zhang Yong, "Open one in Xi'an, Xi'an loves a lot of people eating hot pot." To Zhang Yong's surprise, the next day, the guest bought two air tickets and dragged Zhang Yong to Xi'an to investigate. Zhang Yong recalled that at that time did not think of other cities to open stores, Xi'an is an accident. It is this accident, let Zhang Yong and his Haidilao farther and farther.
Through the field trip, Zhang Yong found that the hot pot business in Xi'an was indeed very hot. The day after he arrived in Xi'an, he took over a store in Yanta District that was eager to sublet, and the contract was signed for three years. Haidilao officially expanded its market beyond Sichuan.
In 2003, because of the "SARS" incident, the catering industry fell into a trough. Naturally, Haidilao was not spared, turnover fell 95%. The former guests full of hot pot restaurant became cold and quiet, Zhang Yong began to look for countermeasures. He thought: guests do not want to eat in the store, I can give guests to the door. Immediately after, Zhang Yong in the "Xi'an Evening News" published a hot pot on the bottom of the sea takeaway news. Delivering hot pot to the door, which is very new, Haidilao's ordering phone rings non-stop. For the convenience of delivery, Haidilao replaced the traditional gas canister with a lightweight induction cooker. The food is delivered one day and the equipment is picked up the next.
The accidental "SARS" has made Haidilao have an unexpected harvest, brand awareness greatly enhanced. CCTV's "Focus Interview" came to Xi'an to make a special report on Haidilao.
Zhang Yong told a small story during the "SARS" period, this story, Zhang Yong never get tired of telling.
One day, Haijilao received a takeout order and sent an employee to deliver it. Under normal circumstances, it would have been delivered within two hours. But the customer waited for three hours and still did not wait, so he called to ask. Because of the inability to contact the delivery personnel, so the store sent another employee delivery. Nearly 12 o'clock at night, the previous delivery employee knocked on the customer's door, and at this time, the customer has long finished eating hot pot. Originally, because of the road is not familiar with the road, the delivery staff went the wrong way. The customer was very touched and asked the delivery staff, "Can't you find a place to return to the store?" The delivery employee replied, "The company gave me the task must be completed, this is my duty."
In July 2004, Hai Di Lao officially entered the capital, opened the first hot pot restaurant in Beijing Dahui Temple. in December 2006, Hai Di Lao opened the Shanghai market. Haidilao all stores are directly managed in a unified way. Zhang Yong's bottom line is even more powerful, "I want to open Haidilao to every corner of the country, to be the first brand of hot pot in China."
Haidilao's "****productivism"
Some people jokingly say, Haidilao has entered the "****productivism". In Haidilao, waiters and managers live in the same apartment suite; in Jianyang, Zhang Yong built a private school, Haidilao employees' children can go to school for free ......
Zhang Yong said: "The sense of equality will inspire the staff to work more enthusiastically, and treat Haidilao as their own business to do. " "People are equal to each other," a phrase Zhang Yong often tells his employees. Sometimes, Zhang Yong will also personally wash the dishes, he hopes to infect every employee by setting an example.
Haidilao's managers are all from the bottom, "only from the bottom of the leadership, can really and ordinary employees to mingle." Zhang Yong said. Yuan Huaqiang is the general manager of Haidilao's Beijing region, managing 10 outlets and 1,600 employees in Beijing. Who would have thought that he was once in charge of opening doors?
"I want my staff to be happy, so anything I can think or do for them, I try to do." Many restaurant employees live in the basement, Haidilao is not. Zhang Yong said, "Basement, dark and humid, employees are easy to get sick." All Haidilao employees live in a comfortable apartment suite, air conditioning, bath, TV, computers, and also arranged a special cleaning cleaning room, the staff's overalls, covers and so on all outsourced to the dry cleaners.
"The boss thinks of us in every way, can we not work well?" An employee of Haidilao told us.
Behind Zhang Yong's seeming spontaneity is the wisdom of "take" and "put".
In the general restaurant, the waiting area is very small, but Haidilao reserved a lot of waiting space, these places can be opened up for dining area. Zhang Yong does not hurt: on the one hand, through a variety of entertainment programs to reduce the customer waiting for the irritable mood; on the other hand, the spectacular waiting for the army for free to create momentum for Haidilao. This is a strategy to win the market, but for customers, can not help but say that it is a waste of time.
In Haidilao, the so-called "****productivism" is only a form, but gave the staff a minimum of respect. It is worth thinking about: Zhang Yong just based on this form, won the trust of the staff, inspire their enthusiasm for work, the achievement of their own management.