A “hook” is anything unique, different, eye-catching or appealing about the way you do business.. If you have really cool hooks and promote them well, there’s no stopping the power of your restaurant brand. Best of all, very few restaurants (your competitors) are doing this, so its a Competitive Advantage for you.
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.
I spent 20 years starting and operating restaurants. When I first began, I had virtually no experience, so I needed to give myself every advantage. The biggest advantage (I called it my “Secret Weapon“) was systems. I knew instinctively that creating systems would make all the difference between succeeding or becoming another statistic.
From the get-go, I decided to work on my business now so I could decide how I would work in my business later. This took some serious work up-front in creating the systems, but this ultimately led to freedom. Now, I could manage from afar (so many operators are so close to their restaurants, they’re missing a fresh perspective) and look at the big picture from 30,000 feet. These systems exploded sales, built my “Dream Team” staff, and created a dominant powerful brand that crushed my competition. They also allowed me to pay great people to run my business as “their own business,” taking “ownership” of the results. You have a system when you can leave your business for a week, a month, or a year, and it will be just as successful—or more so—when you return. I can show you how…
There is nothing more powerful than a consistent and effective pre-shift meeting. Follow the lead of professional sports teams. They have pregame meetings, concluding with a big huddle and cheer! This is the ideal time to 1) ensure your entire staff is on their A game 2) that everyone knows the game plan and 3) that the entire staff head onto the floor with excitement!
The foundation of great restaurant service begins with great restaurant staff. Surprisingly, this concept is lost on many owners and managers, yet the solution really is simple.
As the restaurant business is transient by nature, high turnover is a fact of life. I’ve worked with lots of restaurants over the years that struggle to find and keep good help and this negatively impacts the guest experience. When I started my first restaurant the challenge was much the same—that is, until I discovered the magic of building my “dream team.”
Affinity means having a feeling of belonging. In a restaurant setting, it means an intense loyalty because of this feeling of belonging.
Wouldn’t it be amazing to capture lightning in a bottle with all your customers?
Take a listen to this episode of RESTAURANT NINJAS:
“Roger fell into the restaurant business”
“SalesStars is a turnkey online program to train your front-of-the-house team!”
“Roger Beaudoin hires for his restaurants based on personality, approach and attitude.”
“Roger Beaudoin and I talk about the “Flash of Lightning” on today’s Restaurant Ninjas podcast!”
“Learn how to turn $100 into $1000 on today’s Restaurant Ninjas!”
To continually improve SALES STARS and ensure that it is results driven, cost-effective and easy to implement, I’d like your FEEDBACK.
Roger explains how you can use your staff as your #1 marketing tool to maximize your profits. Servers who are trained to sell will double if not triple their sales and keep your customers coming back for more!
Roger riffs about an amazing dining experience at a steak house in Columbus Ohio – Food, Service & Ambience. Listen in as he explains just how they nailed it! Listen & Subscribe on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/restaurant-rockstars-podcast/id1035152031?mt=2