How does your business welcome customers?

Do they scream at people?

Does your approach stand out?

How do you welcome customers to your business?

Moe’s Southwest Grill is an assembly line type Southwest Fare restaurant.

When you walk in to Moe’s you’ll get a big shout out by the staff:

Welcome to Moe’s!!

Or not.

On my last two visits there I tried to figure out the rhyme or reason as to when the staff offers this fun greeting.

• Is it when they’re busy; hoping people won’t see the line and walk out the door as fast as they walked in the door? Screaming “Welcome” just might be the new guilt
• Is it when they’re not busy assembling a Homewrecker Burrito and have a few moments to have fun?
• Is it when someone behind the assembly line notices patrons have walked through the door?
• Does it depend on the staff members who are working that shift (let’s face it, not all staff are fun; even at a fun place to work)
• Do they only do it to people with purple hair, children, people who look stressed, miserable people or big Harley-like dudes?

Today I asked.

Turns out it is all of the above. There is no directive. There is no rhyme or reason. It’s just something they do whenever they feel like doing it.

I like it. It’s spontaneous. It’s fun. It’s when people are in the mood. It’s not rehearsed. It’s not done with rolling eyes; fearing that if you don’t scream you will be forced to eat a bowl of hot chili peppers by the Wicked Evil Manager. It clearly shows how a great employee experience can turn into a memorable customer experience. And even if I don’t get a shout it still beats the typical greeter approach I wrote about recently.

Now it also kinda makes you jump when you’re working your way down the assembly line having your burrito prepared and all of a sudden a group of people scream from 2 feet away. But we all need to exercise more anyway. Especially if you’re going to eat The Homewrecker. Let’s just hope some frivolous jerk doesn’t claim being frightened to death and sue.

But it got me thinking about how other businesses welcome me. Nothing stood out. Keep up the great work Moe’s! I love the energy you folks give off. You stand out from the rest. And if you scream more often maybe all this jumping can help people burn off the calories from that Homewrecker.