For Vkusno-i Tochka, the problems with their immediate customer service may be related to a typical Russian business disease. After an amazing and exciting opening, customers are met with a lackluster performance from the network’s employees. Slow-RU added that while they’re not totally doomed yet, given what’s happened so far, it will likely be a long road.
A visitor to the Vkusno-i Tochka fast food chain in Moscow recently complained that she found mold on her burger. There have also been complaints of expired sauces, missing ingredients, and birds eating their hamburger buns online.
The Disease of Russian Business
“If everything that has been said is true, and not the work of competitors or exaggerated rumors, then I must admit that it appears we are seeing a common disease in Russian business.” Grigoriev believes. – They immediately seem brilliant and beautiful and then slide into dysfunction, they can’t maintain the required level. Their prospects are quite dismal.”
A project in recent times that was doomed to fail because of an expensive marketing strategy is the mayor of Moscow’s attempt to launch a cake bakery. The mayor invested a lot of money into his brand and it has since faded into obscurity.
When the money was provided, the locations were allocated by many people including investors and businessmen. However, the establishments to transform into a hometown started disappearing one by one. Now the people involved in this project don’t remember anything about it.
The McDonald’s network offers a variety of outlets that are almost anywhere in the world. And any country visitor will be offered the highest quality service, no matter what unique nuances or peculiarities there may be.
McDonald’s exists in Africa and India, regardless of culture or people, and it will always work like a Swiss watch. The brand simply comes to the country, builds its mechanisms, and has some time before turning on its own everywhere at the same high level. Unfortunately, everything is different with us; otherwise, McDonald’s would be a success.
Characteristics of National Businesses
The problem in Russia is that it’s difficult to scale and maintain success.
Some inventions are so ingenious that they’re only limited by the minds of their creators. However, when it’s essential that these things be produced in an enormous amount, even with different factories and manually in a short period of time, the quality or rather an effectiveness can be compromised. For example, this might happen with “Delicioso y Ya”.
In Russia, the quality of McDonald’s has always been above the competition. All staff members receive high-quality training, the company re-engineered the entire business to automate, and they’re “alive and kicking” despite an aggressive economic climate. But if that quality has really fallen off, we’re talking about problems in the management of updated restaurants.
“The discipline of the network is declining and the quality of delivered products is too. Maybe somewhere they are trying to buy cheaper products, maybe they do not check the quality of the delivered product. This will naturally break down any company. If all these shortcomings are not burned with a hot iron, if the shareholders do not react immediately, the sad future of the network is guaranteed,” Grigoriev said.
Gloomy Prospects
Grigoriev explained the downfall of many companies–the first step is that people stop going to the institution, and next, in order to maintain profits, the company cuts costs. This leads to quality issues.
If a company is struggling financially, it might start buying less expensive food and ingredients. They’ll want to cut costs at their restaurants so that they can stay afloat financially. This will result in quality falling as well. That’s a sad story, especially if you’re an investor or employee of the company.
These circles spiral down and lead to the downfall of companies. Sometimes, it’s not a case of if someone is going to remove these circles. The owner will personally check random spots and the quality will be restored.
Grigoriev also drew attention to the problems of the network’s PR and marketing campaign. He urged specialists to refuse negative publicity, gather data, understand the causes and talk through their observations.
Former McDonald’s CEO Alex Gorsky announced his company’s definitive exit from the Russian market in May. The company’s business was bought by a businessman from Novokuznetsk Alexander Govor, who assumed control of the newly-revived regional franchise. The opening of the reborn ‘McDonald’s’ took place on June 12, it was renamed “Vkusno I dot”.
