As a part of the Cheyenne Frontier Days, there are three mornings when a free pancake breakfast is served by the Kiwanis Club and other volunteers. Completely free. Donations are not requested.
In 2011, 27,267 people were served. That's an average of 4,545 people per hour and more than 75 per minute. Pancakes (how many do you want?) put on the plate by a server, syrup poured by another server, ham put on the plate by another server, napkins passed out by another server, coffee, milk or water poured by other servers. Refills if you want. The line is long yet moves rapidly. There are bands, speakers, performers, church people giving out Bibles and bottles of water to those in line and other folks with some ad handouts. Great camaraderie and order. No one butts in line.
All of this tells us something.
Not many businesses are serving 75 people per minute. Usually not even 1 a minute. Why are there slow-moving lines everywhere to get served food or whatever? Why is there a wait even when there are no other customers? I see so many events where there is only a certain amount of customer face time. Sales are lost because the event is over before the people can be served. At how many restaurants can a diner have the opportunity to buy a second drink. Not just an unhappy patron but the loss of an 85% margin? More than $5 on a cocktail and a $1 or more tip.
There is tremendous demand for most goods and services. Being able to solve the time problem is key to success. There are a variety of time issues in every business. Buy a membership and look how long it takes to get a membership card. It takes less than 30 seconds to key in a name and address, print a card and mail it. Why does it take two months? There are lead times. Turnaround times. All kinds of times.
The Cowboy Safety approach allows you to deal with times and solves the related problems.
David Sneed
In 2011, 27,267 people were served. That's an average of 4,545 people per hour and more than 75 per minute. Pancakes (how many do you want?) put on the plate by a server, syrup poured by another server, ham put on the plate by another server, napkins passed out by another server, coffee, milk or water poured by other servers. Refills if you want. The line is long yet moves rapidly. There are bands, speakers, performers, church people giving out Bibles and bottles of water to those in line and other folks with some ad handouts. Great camaraderie and order. No one butts in line.
All of this tells us something.
Not many businesses are serving 75 people per minute. Usually not even 1 a minute. Why are there slow-moving lines everywhere to get served food or whatever? Why is there a wait even when there are no other customers? I see so many events where there is only a certain amount of customer face time. Sales are lost because the event is over before the people can be served. At how many restaurants can a diner have the opportunity to buy a second drink. Not just an unhappy patron but the loss of an 85% margin? More than $5 on a cocktail and a $1 or more tip.
There is tremendous demand for most goods and services. Being able to solve the time problem is key to success. There are a variety of time issues in every business. Buy a membership and look how long it takes to get a membership card. It takes less than 30 seconds to key in a name and address, print a card and mail it. Why does it take two months? There are lead times. Turnaround times. All kinds of times.
The Cowboy Safety approach allows you to deal with times and solves the related problems.
David Sneed
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