Toilets and Self Service: two genius ideas that keep us coming back.

I have been travelling a bit recently, more than usual, so I hadn’t really spent the quality time with my kids that I would have liked. So, as I like to do – I take them out somewhere, usually one on one. You know – Dad and son bonding time.

So when I got back from my travels, I asked Josh (my eldest) if he wanted to come out to eat with me – he could pick the restaurant and eat whatever he liked.

I like doing this with him – we go to some unusual places. Last year, he wanted a Chicken Kebab and to eat it in the car overlooking the park. That was great. But more recently – he picks Pizza Hut.

This has now happened two times in a row – which surprises me a little because he is not really a big fan of pizza. Sure, he’ll eat it – but he likes other stuff better.

I am intrigued by this. I want to know why my 4 year old is now a devoted customer of Pizza Hut.

The reasons are simple I think:

1. They give him a “kids pack” when he comes in. This pack usually contains a few crayons, a small booklet with colouring in to do and a few puzzles.
2. The toilets. Now this sounds strange, but Pizza Hut is the only place that I have found that does this – they put a urinal on the wall that Josh can use, on his own and “be like Dad”. This is important to a four year old. He wants to be grown up and is always upset when he can use a urinal.
3. The sink. Like the unrinal – there is a sink for Dad and a sink, that is exactly the same (this is important) only a lower so Josh can use it himself. The same with the hand dryer.
4. The Ice Cream. Josh can add his own sweets to the ice cream. This simple act gives him a great feeling of being grown up and, of course, it is a special treat.

I don’t know how much Pizza Hut thought of these things. I imagine quite a lot. The food is not that great. It has no real nutritional value, but what they have done well is my children feel important, so now they want to come back time and time again.

You can imagine the meetings. All the sales guys are sitting around the table. The President and Vice President are there: “How do we increase sales?” is the question from the top man. One guys shouts, “Increase prime time TV advertising”, another “feature ads in all of the newspapers”. Still another – “All you can eat buffets” (these are great of course!.

One guy though, puts his hand up. The president looks at him, “Well, sonny, speak up!”. The room goes quite. They all look at this guy now. He starts to speak. “Well sir, I think you just lower one of the urinals by 6 inches.”

Genius!

Sometimes the answer to increasing our sales is not looking at the obvious, but thinking outside the box. Pizza Hut have done this well. They get me to buy Pizza because they made my Kids feel great. I go there not for the food, but because I know that we will have a great time whilst we are there.