Rosie’s Pizzeria is a privately-held chain of neighborhood pizzerias with over 50 locations in the Midwest that offers full-service dine-in, carryout, and home delivery. Rosie’s competes against such national chains as Pizza Hut, Papa John’s, and other local restaurants, yet holds a 45 to 50 percent share in its market area. As part of a new strategic planning process, Rosie’s identified growth as a key strategic goal. Because the local market was essentially saturated, however, the executive management team worked on strategies for growing the company for three years and produced no tangible results. One of the reasons for the impasse was the lack of sound, factual data. The executive management team had developed three growth strategies, but could not agree on which one to follow because of a lack of a fact-based foundation for the decision. A project team was formed to tackle this issue, and was given complete latitude to make any recommendation for an Italian/pizzeria concept based on customer needs and expectations. The team consisted of the marketing director (team leader), two executive vice presidents, the director of operations, two franchise owners, an external strategic business partner, and the CEO, who was the team sponsor. The team felt it was necessary to fully understand the voice of the customer. To do this, they ventured out into the community to ask consumers to express their needs and expectations through their experiences. The team completed numerous in-depth, one-on-one interviews with consumers both inside and outside of their current market area to provide examples of dining incidents these individuals had experienced, seeking “the good, the bad, and the ugly.” Here are some responses from customers of current competitors and potential competitors in other markets. 1. “So there I was, like herded cattle, standing on the hard concrete floor, cold wind blasting my ankles every time the door opened, waiting and waiting for our name to be called.” 2. “And then I saw a dirty rag being slopped around a dirty table!” 3. “The manager said, ‘That’s not a gnat, that’s black pepper,’ so I said I know the difference between black pepper and a gnat, black pepper doesn’t have little wings on it!” 4. “When they’re that age, going to the bathroom is a full-contact sport—they’re reaching and grabbing at everything, and you’re trying to keep them from touching anything because the bathroom is so dirty.”

Questions for Discussion

1. What were the customers actually saying in the four responses given in this case? Translate them into customer requirements using actionable business language.

2. In addition to your responses to question 1, the voice of the customer process identified the following customer requirements: food and drinks at their proper temperature, fresh food, meeting the unique needs of adult guests as well as families, exceeding service expectations, an easy to read and understand menu, and caring staff. Suggest how these customer requirements can be translated into production and service delivery processes and activities.