How Guzman y Gomez Singapore defines guest experience

GYG Singapore’s Josh Bell said this definition evolves as consumer habits change.

For Josh Bell, General Manager of Guzman y Gomez Singapore, the guest experience is a combination of different touch points from the point when the customer decides to dine with them until the moment they leave.

“[There’s] the point of sale experience, understanding our menu, our menu boards, and more importantly, the food. Have we got the portion control? Is the presentation immaculate? Has the team followed the recipes to a tee? All of these things contribute to the guest experience,” Josh explained.

The definition also changes. 

“What we're seeing in Singapore, which we haven't seen in the past 10 years, we're noticing that customers have increased their level of interest in the ingredients. So in the past, people would come and they'd say, Oh, chicken burrito, I love chicken burritos, let's go. Whereas now people are coming and saying, what's the calorie content? What's the nutrient? Can I see the nutritional content? We’re also starting to see people saying, what are the allergens? Is there gluten in this food? So we're seeing a big movement towards a deeper understanding of the nutrition of the food which is very exciting for us,” Josh said.

To keep up with this trend, menu boards have as much information as possible. GYG Singapore also ensures that all staff members are up-to-date with all the nutritional information and that they have all the resources needed for the onboarding journey.

Another important factor is ensuring that all forms of payment are accepted at their restaurants. Josh finds the idea of forcing customers to pay a certain way instead of how they want to pay is detrimental to the guest experience. It is up to the restaurant to find ways to accommodate any payment method as much as possible.

“These things contribute to the customer experience. But it all comes back to the food. Our founder, Steve Marks, I've never met a more passionate person about food.  His mantra ripples through the whole business, in his passion, this obsession with the food. And that's the customer experience. Everything else is secondary to the food,” Josh said.