Customer-Centric and Cost-Conscious: How It’s Being Done in the QSR Business
Panda Express is setting an example in the Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) industry by shifting from a sole emphasis on cost consciousness to a dual emphasis on customer-centricism and cost. It's a critical step I’ve seen taken by Medallia’s clients across many different industries in my years of working here.
Based on our experience, which is supported by academic research*, companies typically adopt one approach or the other but not both simultaneously. because the ideas behind cost-consciousness and customer-centricism are different, if not downright contradictory.
The cost emphasis, which focuses on improving operational efficiency to reduce costs, results in increased efficiency and lower cost products. The customer-centric approach, which focuses on improving product quality and service to enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty, results in more revenue per customer but usually not lower costs.
But as Jim Collins and Jerry Porras wrote in their highly influential business bestseller, Built to Last, companies must reject the “Tyranny of the OR,” defined as “the rational view that…cannot live with two seemingly contradictory forces or ideas at the same time.” Instead, companies must “liberate themselves with the “genius of the AND” the ability to embrace both extremes…at the same time.”
In other words, visionary companies should strive for cost-consciousness AND customer-centricism. That’s exactly what Panda Express is doing—rejecting the “tyranny of the OR” and adopting the “genius of the AND” by striving to be both cost-effective and customer-centric. And that’s exactly why Panda Express chose Medallia over competitive offerings: Medallia’s best-in-class Customer Experience Management solution is built to optimize both of these seemingly contradictory focuses:
- Cost consciousness: Medallia’s system provides effective end-to-end customer feedback management covering every touchpoint at a significantly lower cost than our counterparts. For Panda Express, we reduced the average cost of surveys to less than $.15 cents per completed survey on transactions of over $8, decreasing the cost of running a successful feedback management program tremendously.
- Customer-centricity: Medallia helps drive better customer experiences. Our clients receive average satisfaction scores of 8.5 out of 10, and NPS scores of 50, which are three to five times higher than average.
We’re thrilled to see Panda Express embrace a dual emphasis, and we know Panda’s customers will be, too.
Academic approaches to dual emphasis figure in the works of Rolan Rust, Christine Moorman, Peter Dickson, Vikas Mittal, Eugene Anderson, Akin Sayrak, Pandu Tadikamalla, and many other researchers.
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