Sharing who we are is as simple as sharing this internal email Quest employees received this beautiful Fall 2020 (yes it is still 2020) morning! A corporate update was delivered to our inboxes - which is pure, honest and worthy enough to share on our Blog page. We are inspired daily by each other and led with strength and confidence by our President, Nick Saccaro. Thanks Nick!
Hello Everyone:
In 2019, and probably even in March 2020, when our schools and corporate dining customers shut down, no one could have predicted a scene that would unfold where so many of our students, customers, and clients still would not be open as of the end of September. And yet, here we are, with so much uncertainty still ahead of us…and here we are, still surviving, forging new relationships with new clients, building greater trust with existing partners, and planning for the future.
We have been working diligently since March to try to ensure we have the right menus, products, marketing collateral, safety precautions, and agreements with our clients to survive – and thrive! We have had over 35 people in the company supporting us on these planning efforts for the past six months, and it’s truly paid dividends. While the start of the school year has been unpredictable, challenging and ever changing, the planning we’ve done and relationships we’ve built have inspired the confidence of our clients and customers and has truly strengthened the partnerships we have in place. We have also sold seven new accounts for the 20-21 academic year!
Currently, we are operating at about 25% - 30% of “normal” revenue, which is certainly presenting its source of challenges for our organization. However, we are doing what we need to do, making the decisions each day as needed, to make sure we can manage through this. We are also hearing more and more of our schools planning to bring students back in October and beyond, which is of course a positive trend. We remain hopeful and cautiously optimistic.
What can you do to help? What can you do to make sure we survive and thrive through this?
- Remember why we are here. We are here to build the most enduring relationships – in a word, we are here to build trust. Challenge yourself each day, with each decision you’re making, to question if you’re building trust with your clients, customers, team members and vendors. Are we being as safe as possible? Are we ensuring the guest experience is as positive as possible? Are we ensuring our customers, clients, and team members know what’s happening and are well communicated with?
- Remember the need, now more than ever, to operate with the highest level of stewardship possible. What does stewardship mean? It means to take care of something – to care for it like it was your own. Are you taking care of the resources – ours and our clients – as though they were your own? Are we managing waste, labor, production, supplies as efficiently as we can? We don’t have much margin for error, our clients are depending on us more than ever to manage resources. Treat it like it’s your own, like this is your business, and we’ll be great!
- Remember that the uncertainty and ambiguity of today is something we are all feeling, and something we will all get through together. Life will continue to be stressful and uncertain for days, weeks and months to come with COVID-19…and when that’s gone, something else will present challenges for us. BREATHE. Reach out to your supervisor for support. Share what’s on your mind. Take a deep breath. The sun will keep coming up, our kids will get back to school, we will find some sense of normalcy at some point.
I’m very grateful for the contributions, patience, and support each of you have provided and ask that you continue to be patient with yourself, with one another, with our organization, and with your clients. We will survive, we will thrive again, and we will do it together.
Your Best is Our Quest
Nicholas Saccaro | President
Living the Quest Values