On May 29, 2018 Tom Sutton, owner of the Cincinnati Eastgate Chick-Fil-A store spoke to our Batavia Rotary Club. His presentation was interesting in that he brought out lessons about relationships and management of people that bring about successful results.
His store serves about 2000 people per day. There is a special bonding between employees that carries over to the customers. They have gotten to know many of the customers to the point that they know well what they will be ordering. Tom stated that his business was a "people business."
The store has 80 employees and does five million dollars worth of business each year.
Some interesting points made in his presentation:
- Employees are appraised quarterly.
- When minors come to interview for a job, he asks that the parents also come in on the interview.
- They control behavior in the store with the kind of music that is played.
- Chic-Fil-A started closing on Sunday's at first not particularly because of religious reasons, but because the equipment needed a rest as well as owners who put a lot of their time and energy into being open all the time and needed a break.
- Still, being closed on Sunday's they outsell their competition to whom they give 52 days of lead time a year!
