The Whole Enchilada

While in Guam, it’s always nice to try different restaurants, so when I was invited to meet some friends at a new Mexican restaurant called “The Whole Enchilada” I jumped at the chance. Visions of a large hot plate of Mexican food swelled my senses and I started salivating when the chips and homemade salsa were delivered to the table. However, after two hours, a better name for the place would have been: “Half-A Tamale.” A comedy of errors provides a good backdrop to paint you a picture of the importance of giving value to your customers.

At the restaurant we waited for a seat, but the place was busy (a good sign) and only one person was waiting tables (not so good). So, we found an empty table, and seated ourselves. The small bowl of chips went fast, and when we asked for some more we were informed it would cost an extra $1.50. We waited for the chips, listened to what could be described as Mexican rap music, and talked about another restaurant that will keep bringing more chips for free.

After 25 minutes and asking twice, our orders were finally taken. Being adventurous, I order the “enchilada especial”—with a name like “The Whole Enchilada” I expected it to be something special. Another 30 minutes slipped away waiting for the food and chips, so we had plenty of time to observe a table of four who left because of the slow service, and we noticed they left a fresh supply of chips. Our hunger pains drove us to desperate measures, causing us to drop to Maslow’s survival state; so we nabbed the chips from the empty table.

More time passed so we started playing a game called, rate the restaurant. On a scale from zero to ten, we generously started off giving it a “5.” The score kept dropping as more people left, an order of soft tacos was delivered when hard-shell tacos were wanted, and we saw other people served before a table that had ordered 20 minutes earlier. I counted a total of 14 people who left because of poor service. When the rating dropped to “1.5,” our party of four decided it was time to go, and we had started walking out the door when the food finally arrived.

My mucho-grande-Mexican-platter-vision was dashed by a small serving on a big plate. However, the food was okay, so we kicked the score up to a “3,” even though the one-person waiter/cashier did not know what we ordered, and had to ask us so he could tell us how much we owed. With no apology, “come back soon,” or “hasta luego,” we silently slipped out the door.

Let’s look at what happened. My expectations were set pretty high by the name of the restaurant. (Being an aficionado of south-of-the-border dishes I have devoured my fair share of tacos, burritos, and enchiladas.) Your customers have certain expectations when they consider making a purchase. These expectations could be considered their total value package. They will engage in mental gymnastics, weighing the value of the product, service, or experience against the money required to acquire it. The combined tangible and intangible features and benefits of the product must outweigh the value they place on the money in their pocket in order for a purchase to take place. The bottom line to all obstacles and objections can be summed up by saying: “They do not feel the total value they will get is worth the money it will take to purchase it.”

A simple definition of value is the ratio of quality relative to price. Author John Guaspari calls this the GOT/COST ratio, and he further defines GOT as not just the product or service itself, but a lot of other intangibles that are important to the customer. Some of the GOT characteristics that customers value include: accessories, after-sales service, availability, compatibility, confidentiality, craftsmanship, education, entertainment, delivery, durability, efficiency, fashion, flexibility, friendliness, guarantee, package design, payment terms, performance, personal attention, physical attractiveness, portability, quality, quantity, reliability, resale value, safety, speed, and user-friendliness. These could all be summed up as “the whole enchilada” you get when you buy something.

On the COST side of the equation, you can include not only the price, but also such things as: your time, complication, difficulty, distance, emotional effort, hassle, and other intangible risk factors.

In Guam, we were looking for plenty of good Mexican food served in a friendly, quick manner, in an entertaining, Latino atmosphere. We were hoping to get “the whole enchilada,” but we GOT something different, and it COST us much more than the money we had to pay. The value equation had the scales tipped to the side that told us, and at least 14 other people, to try another place the next time our taste buds hankered for some real Mexican food. Even Taco Bell would have been a better choice on that day. We would not have gotten “the whole enchilada,” but we would have GOT a better value for the COST.

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