The 5 Secrets Of Haidilao’s $14 Billion Customer Experience Success
Haidilao’s 114B Dollar Customer Experience Success
Did you know the root of the word “restaurant” is the French verb “restaurer,” meaning “to restore.” Today going out to eat doesn’t always feel like that, but hot pot chain Haidilao set out to be different by leading with customer experience and now they are one of the top five most valuable food brands in the world, only surpassed by Starbucks, McDonalds, and KFC.
Founded in 1994 by Zhang Yong in Sichuan Province, China, Haidilao has grown into a behemoth with 118,000 employees, renowned not just for its food, but for the unforgettable dining experiences it offers. By May 2024, Haidilao's market capitalization is estimated to be approximately $14.19 billion.
Here are the five secrets to Haidilao’s customer experience success:
1. The Experience Is A Feast - For customers, the customer experience itself is a feast - totally unique from most fast food restaurants.
The waiting room includes a hand massage, shoe shine, noodle dance, and opera singer performance. If you’re alone Haidilao employees will sit a giant stuffed animal across from you to keep you company.
Once you are seated the surprises continue, with synchronized waiters bursting into choreographed dances if the customer knows the secret code and says “kemusan”.
2. A Laser Focus On Employee Experience - Store managers have an incentive to train and groom their top-performing employees to become store managers of new locations. By becoming a mentor both the new store manager and their “parent”–the name given to their mentor– take part in a profit sharing program. New store managers can then go on to groom other store managers, creating a “family” which can span multiple generations. Recently Haidilao reported over 90 families. Being the “head of a household” means you have mentorship responsibilities, and you are also responsible for the success of your location and all of the people working under the roof of your restaurant. The company boasts less than 10% attrition among frontline staff and 0% among managers. Remember, these numbers are in the restaurant industry!
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Blake's Customer Connection to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.