[Asia Exclusive] Im Geum-ok "Starting the Day at 5 AM, Seeing 'Sinbaram Square' as a Communication Channel with Franchise Owners"

"Cannot Survive by Ignoring Customers"
Challenging Zero Complaints Under Principles
Aiming for Hygiene Grade Certification at All Stores This Year

Im Geum-ok, CEO of bhc. / Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-seon] Lim Geum-ok, CEO of bhc, checks the ‘Sinbaram Square’ bulletin board as soon as she wakes up at 5 a.m. Sinbaram Square is a real-time online channel operated by bhc Chicken as part of communication with franchise owners. Suggestions and complaints from franchise owners nationwide are posted daily. For inquiries, executives directly review the content and related departments resolve issues within 24 hours.

CEO Lim emphasized, "The top priority principle among bhc’s management philosophies is ‘customer-centric management,’" adding, "Only by listening to the vivid voices from the field can proper improvement plans be made."

To resolve customer inconveniences and enhance satisfaction, CEO Lim established the call center as a department directly under her authority rather than outsourcing it, to collect two-way feedback from both customers and franchise owners. This is to ensure that the voices of not only customers but also the primary customers, the franchise owners, are not missed. There was a controversy when the cooking process of a franchise’s ‘Ppurinkle’ was posted online. CEO Lim personally called the customer, admitted the mistake, repeatedly apologized, and promised to prevent recurrence.

CEO Lim stated, "You cannot survive if you ignore customers," and added, "Even small customer voices should not be taken lightly; you must treat customers with sincerity to earn their trust."

CEO Lim strengthened the related department by increasing its personnel. This department provides comprehensive hygiene management services concerning individuals and stores, including ingredient management, store cleanliness, and adherence to manuals, as well as periodic mentoring to comply with the Food Sanitation Act, including country-of-origin labeling. Since the first half of last year, under the slogan ‘Customer First,’ communication with franchise stores has been intensified with the goal of zero customer complaints. In particular, the franchise’s action plans emphasize ‘More deliciously, more cleanly, more kindly, more quickly,’ focusing on hygiene and quality management.

To provide safe and clean chicken to customers, CEO Lim is promoting the acquisition of the restaurant hygiene grade, supervised by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, for each store. The restaurant hygiene grading system designates grades only to establishments with excellent hygiene standards. So far, more than 700 stores have obtained hygiene grades. CEO Lim explained, "We expect all stores to receive hygiene grades by the end of this year," adding, "Since customer standards for hygiene and cleanliness have risen after COVID-19, hygiene grades can provide greater trust to customers."

Thanks to the efforts of CEO Lim, bhc executives, and franchise owners, the number of customer complaints has been decreasing annually. CEO Lim said, "In 2018, there were over 1,000 customer complaints per day, but now it has decreased to 30 to 40 per month," and added, "We will continue to strive toward the goal of ‘zero customer complaints.’"