With the help of seven cardboard cards, Mogens explained his process: 100% focus on must-win battles, executable plans and follow-up.
In this case we describe the four-month collaboration between GML and Flammen. We go through three steps: the ambition, the solution and the result. We do this to give you a look behind GML’s processes.
What does our work mean for the individual client?
The Company
Restaurant Flammen is a grill buffet founded by the Sunddal family from Southern Jutland, who wanted to create a cosy restaurant with something for everyone, where guests leave well-fed without it costing a fortune.
Flammen today has 15 restaurants in Denmark and one in Germany.
The Case – World-Class Service
Flammen is nationally known for its wide range of delicious and exotic meats, and now they want to be Flammen in Your Life, which is the name of their new strategy. Flammen aims to be the special dining place in their guests’ lives that they love to return to. In the same way, Flammen wants to be part of their employees’ lives, making working at Flammen more than just a job – instead, a place of social connection, purpose and the opportunity to deliver world-class quality and hospitality to all guests.
GML, represented by Partner Mogens Fog, was hired to develop and execute the best strategy to bring this ambitious goal to life. Over four months, Mogens and Flammen worked intensively on six must-win battles, identified through careful data analysis, turned into strategy and finally into a clear and structured plan.
The Consultant
Mogens Fog is GML’s consultant on the project. Mogens has more than 15 years of experience in leadership and business development with some of the country’s largest companies.
Mogens on the collaboration: “This is a dream assignment for any consultant. Here I am part of the entire process – I get to develop the strategy, the solution, the follow-up and the implementation. Combine that with a great client collaboration, and you have the dream project.”
THE AMBITION: World-class hospitality, proud employees and a healthy business
Guests should want to come back because their last experience at Flammen was fantastic. When the experience is fantastic, there is no reason to try another restaurant – and that is the stated ambition.
This requires motivated and skilled employees who live and breathe for the guest experience. Therefore, the culture in the restaurants must be strengthened through a clear plan and strong leadership.
When guests are happy and employees are proud, Flammen has a healthy business.
The motivation behind it
The motivation for growth quickly became clear: Flammen wants to give its guests exactly the hospitality they deserve – world-class service.
Flammen did not start at the “bottom” in terms of service. Before Mogens came on board, the NPS (Net Promoter Score) was already high compared with direct competitors. But when the goal is to be at the very top across all industries, hard work is required.
THE SOLUTION: Focus on core audience and larger parties – pleaser staff, brunch and takeaway
From 189 pages of data to executable strategy
The entire first day was dedicated to reviewing 189 pages of data on Flammen and its closest competitors. All of the data was eventually condensed into a strategy focusing solely on value-creating activities:
Does what we are doing contribute to fulfilling the overall objective?
To answer this, Mogens began the strategy work by asking three essential questions:
Why does Flammen exist? Why should guests come to Flammen? Why should anyone work at Flammen?
To answer these, all employees were included. For example, waiters were asked: What would you change if you were CEO for a day?
Must-win battles and simple rules
Based on employee feedback, Flammen’s purpose was defined: We run a grill buffet that delivers only great guest experiences. From this definition came the first must-win battle:
We must deliver world-class hospitality.
Winning such a battle is easier said than done. Therefore, Mogens applied an overarching simple rule for the rest of the strategy process:
If it doesn’t make the guest happier, we shouldn’t do it.
The foundation for perfect service is attracting the right employees. That means finding people with an exceptional need to please.
A waiter at Flammen is not just a waiter: he is a host. He introduces himself by full name and presents the evening’s grill buffet. He looks after parties who benefit from having the same host throughout the evening.
Focus on large parties
The business also adopted a new, sharp focus. It zoomed in on the market for large groups, giving them the best possible conditions for a great evening. Among other things, conditions for vegetarians were improved by offering the salad bar as a main course.
Flammen also decided to expand its dining experiences. The takeaway market was identified as an obvious opportunity, leading to new initiatives such as adding burgers to the menu. In addition, a brunch buffet was introduced in the restaurants.
All unnecessary and complex initiatives were eliminated, making it as easy as possible to run the restaurants with focus on hospitality and top quality.
ROLL-OUT
Flammen produced videos for its internal employee channels, where the CEO spoke directly to the staff. Using a “menu” of strategic points, Piet Klein explained the new vision for Flammen.
This was followed by intensive training and onboarding, equipping employees with the right tools and competencies to execute the strategy – with particular emphasis on the method for follow-up.
THE RESULT: Objective achieved
The result of the process was: 1 vision, 2 promises, 6 must-win battles, and 18 key projects.
Key highlights at the conclusion of the case:
- Brunch and takeaway added to the menu.
- New restaurants planned – first expected to open before the end of 2020.
- Refocus on the company’s core: providing large groups with an unforgettable evening at Flammen.
