Posted by Christopher Stevenson
My family and I spent last weekend in Chicago. We attended a friend's wedding on Saturday and then bummed around downtown on Sunday. We started our day at Navy Pier and then walked down to Water Tower Place. (Note to self: children, ages 10, 8, and 4, consider a 12-block walk to be the equivalent of a death march; take the free trolley next time.) We had lunch at the Water Tower Place "food court," called foodlife, which was quite an experience. Instead of McDonald's, Taco Bell, Orange Julius, and the like, foodlife offers retailers of better quality food for all kinds of tastes--decent Chinese, barbecue, soups, Mexican, and "comfort food," among others. foodlife is trying to position itself as an alternative to the traditional food court.
When we entered foodlife, a hostess seated us at a table set with flatware and explained the procedures for buying food. Every person in our party, including our four-year old, was given a plastic purchasing card to use. Instead of paying with cash, every time we made a purchase, we handed the vendor one of our purchasing cards, he/she swiped it and gave us our
food (but not a receipt). The cards were a great convenience; I didn't have to worry about giving my kids cash or telling them to bring back change.They could order what they wanted (with some supervision by my wife or me) and pay for their own stuff. The convenience came with a cost though. Lunch at foodlife for two adults and three kids came to $55.00, hardly food court prices and, as a point of reference, only two dollars cheaper than the rather nice hotel room I booked through Hotwire.com.
The prices aren't really the issue for me. I'm not typically opposed to spending $50.00 on a lunch when we're on vacation, but what gets me is the set-up. There is no perusing the food selections before committing yourself to the dining hall. You have to walk through a manned entrance to get to the vendors. The hostess presents you with the purchase cards before you have a chance to check prices. In order to leave, you have to surrender the purchase cards to the cashier and allow him/her to swipe them. It's the "live-the-adventure" version of the process I learned in sales training years ago--"Get the client to start saying yes early on. Get him to commit to small steps before trying to close the sale." Each step of the process took us one step closer to committing to lunch in foodlife (especially since I had just taken our kids on a 12-block walk at lunchtime) and I've kind of grown bitter over the deal. Did I get suckered?
Here's what I'm thinking: foodlife provides a great food court experience (sorry foodlife, you're still just a food court) and because of it, they believe they can take a little advantage of the consumer. But the means to that final sale result in a disillusioned customer. There's a delicate balance between providing a differentiated experience, one that leads to happy customers (or members) and ongoing sales, and putting on a show that allows a service provider to hawk their wares. Sincerity and relationship, not just experience, breed sales.
Just my two cents. I'm off to find an Orange Julius.
