Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Chinese people are very familiar with hot pot, and today we introduce you the story
of one of China's most successful brands. Hai Di Lao, was established in 1994 by Zhang
Yong, a native of Jianyang in southwest China's Sichuan Province. It was developed from a
rickety roadside stand offering Malatang, or hot spicy dips.
In recent years, the restaurant has changed its style, and, under the basic management
concept of providing diners with good service in a local way, the restaurant has grown into
a famous hot pot business nationwide. Almost every new restaurant in the chain becomes
popular as soon as it opens.
In 2008, Zhang Yong owned a chain of 32 restaurants across the country. Today, the number has
risen to 50.
In addition to the original business in Beijing, Shanghai, Zhang Yong also opened new restaurants
in many second tier cities. All these hot pot restaurants have been erected in downtown
areas, occupying spacious areas of up to three thousand square meters. The new restaurants
are just as successful as the old ones in pleasing diners' tastebuds. In 2008, the business
generated a total of 700 million yuan. Zhang Yong estimates the revenue for this year could
double that figure.
It's not easy to distinguish any particular hot pot restaurants these days. Hot pot is
a specialty of China, and is famous nationwide for its long history and rich variety. There
are dozens of kinds across the country. The last decade saw China's catering industry
experience double-digit growth, to which the hot pot business contributed a lot. The number
of hot pot restaurants nationwide hit 200-thousand with yearly revenue exceeding 140 billion
yuan. In recent years, the revenue of hot pot businesses accounted for around 30 percent
of the total earnings of China's top 100 catering enterprises.
Hai Di Lao achieved remarkable success amid fierce market competition. Diners are impressed
the moment they set foot in Hai Di Lao hot pot restaurants. Dinnertime in particular,
the number of people waiting to eat is no less than those actually sitting down to eat.
Some are even willing to wait two to three hours to taste Hai Di Lao hot pot. What's
the secret behind Zhang Yong's success?
It's easy to
understand the two factors that lead to Hai Di Lao's business success. Namely the satisfaction
of diners as well as employees. These two factors make up the major part of the performance
evaluation of Hai Di Lao's management, as opposed to the amount of revenue and profit
generated, which is the usual measure other catering companies judge themselves. But how
did Zhang Yong come up with this concept?
In 1994, 24-year old Zhang Yong was a worker in a factory located in Jianyang in Sichuan.
He soon realized he could hardly afford an apartment of his own if he relied merely on
his small income. It was then he decided to begin a business. He would open a roadside
stand offering Malatang. Soon after his first attempt, he tried to run a hot pot restaurant.
It was a difficult time for Zhang Yong, who knew little about hot pot. One day, a group
of diners arrived at his restaurant. Zhang Yong focused on exceptional customer service
which was appreciated by diners. But when Zhang Yong tasted the hot pot he made after
the diners all left, he was shocked by the soup's bitterness.
Zhang's restaurant has exceptionally good service to boot. Customers can really get
spoiled here by the additional services, and they get a pleasant surprise from the small
gifts given by the restaurant. All this attracted an increasing number of diners to the eatery.
Some warm-hearted diners are happy to offer their advice on how to improve the chafing
dish. From then on, Zhang Yong's hot pot business prospered and its flavor won even higher recognition
from diners.
Long queues are now a reality. While waiting for a seat, the restaurant provides free services
such as manicures, drinks, fruit and cake as well as shoe-polishing. Customers have
even more options to kill time such as surfing the Internet and playing cards and chess.
This greatly lessened the anxiety of diners waiting for a table.
After customers are led to their tables, they are happy to find they can order half dishes
and are treated with free drinks and fruit. In addition to this, they are often given
small gifts on special occasions. Service staff's enthusiam
Zhang's eatery not only provides comprehensive services, but also impresses diners with the
warmth of its service staff.
Diners found it interesting that all restaurant employees are highly enthusiastic. They always
arrive quickly if they hear a diner is not happy. Many waiters run to assist diners and
waste little time in fixing the problem. There's also even a special noodle show with an energetic
waiter to pull noodles at your table.
Are employees stimulated to work hard through better income than their peers in other restaurants?
The answer is no.
Zhang Yong used his good business sense to motivate his employees. He claims he is meeting
his employees' demands. It's a widely recognized theory in the catering industry that the better
the service, the more loyal the customer. But in Zhang Yong's view, service is merely
a superficial approach, and management should be addressed as a core issue in the operation
of a restaurant.
Meeting
employees'
demands and creating a fair working environment is a prerequisite that considerate service
managers are expected to offer. In fact, more than 90 percent of Hai Di Lao hot pot restaurant
employees are from poor village families and most haven't been to college.