Our recent travel experiences differed greatly at a variety of businesses. Whether they were resort hotels, a hip modern motel, high end restaurants, Chinese take-out, the local bagel shop and a bowling alley; the lessons learned are the same. Regardless of the price of your menu or service provided, hospitality is either present or noticeable absent.
Whether you’re new to this business or a seasoned operator please read on. When you start a business of any significance, you pour your heart, your passion, your dreams and your hard-fought sweat into your venture everyday because your present, your future, your kids futures, literally everything is on the line. So this is why I am surprised with the all too common belief that “If you build it…”.
Arguably, restaurants are one of the most challenging of all businesses and require a “hands-on” approach. No-one can deny the high failure rate, and marginal operations quickly become new statistics.
When I receive exemplary service in a restaurant, it’s not only unexpected, but absolutely astounding… Recent service went above and beyond any expectation I had for dinner this particular evening.
Given that the restaurant business is a performance, your guest experience is ultimately determined by how you as owner or manager set the stage. Discuss these 8 great things with your staff today…
When I ran restaurants, I approached service from the customers point of view. That is at least twice a week, I was a customer in my own restaurant. Doing so gives you a really good understanding of what I call the “3 Most Important Attributes of any Successful Restaurant… Food, Service & Ambiance”.
I’ve always believed that dining out in any restaurant should be an “event” and this is certainly what I look for when I dine out in anyplace USA or really anywhere in the world. A restaurant should provide endless reasons to dazzle the customer, invite them back and create “affinity” with each customer.
As restaurateurs, you dine out frequently and when you do I assume you have a critical eye on other’s operations. If you’re anything like me, you analyze the curb appeal, overall ambiance and above all else, that restaurant’s service and food and beverage quality.
These are some of my biggest pet peeves…
I visit restaurants across the USA and around the globe, 9 times out of 10, the servers I get are making serious mistakes…mistakes that cost restaurants money and customers!
I have always believed that great service is about taking the guests on a magical journey of everything the restaurant is about. Because let’s face it, guests are often first time visitors to restaurants and they don’t know what they’re going to enjoy or what’s exiting about the restaurant.
It’s really up to the entire service team – not just the wait staff, but also the host, the busser and the bartender. Every part of the service experience should be delivered by a choreographed team.