Customer Service

Delivering What Customers Expect

Customer service should include those things that all customers who walk through any foodservice operation’s doors expect.

These include:

Employees who are knowledgeable about the operation, its menu and general information about the area in which it is located.

Food that is flavorful, wholesome, and served at the correct temperature.

Efficient and Consistent service, including taking a customer’s order, serving it correctly, and totaling a bill accurately. A clean, safe, and pleasant atmosphere.

In today’s advanced foodservice industry, customer expectations are high. Mastering the basics is an enormous achievement, and must be done before you can go on to deliver truly exceptional service by going beyond what customers expect.

SERVICE?

Have you ever stopped to think about what “service” really means? What is it?

Can it be Defined? 

We define service simply as “ the manner in which the customer is treated.” It’s a thing more often felt then seen. It’s a magic act, an illusion, a perceived value that accompanies an exchange of goods for money.  It can be good, bad, or indifferent.  The customer’s service expectations are based on the type of product we’ve chosen to offer, the price of the product, the environment in which the product is being offered, and most important the manner in which the product is delivered.

Where does “service” comes from? What’s the motivation for any employee to provide service to a customer? Forget honor, pride and warm feelings for now, that stuff comes later.

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Employee Motivation

Priorities - “A Hundred Years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of the house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove….But the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child.”

Rule # 1 - If we don’t take care of the customer…somebody else will.

Momentum - A little push in the right direction can make a big difference.

Teamwork - It is a fact that in the right formation, the lifting power of many wings can achieve the distance of any bird flying alone.

Dare to Soar - “Your Attitude almost always determines your attitude in life”

Attitude - Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.

Leaders - Leaders are like eagles, they don’t floge, you find them one at the time.

Perseverance - Sometimes success is just a matter of hanging on. 

Change - In today’s world there are two kinds of companies….The quick, and the dead! 

Cooperation - Coming together is a beginning….Keeping together is progress…Working together is a success. 

Risk - You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.

Success - Success is a journey, not a destination.

Challenges - Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm.

Goals - No one can predict to what heights you can soar, even you will not know until you spread your wings.

Opportunity - Don’t wait for your ship to come in…Swim out to it.

Customer Care - It’s not so much what we do but how we do it that really matter.

Determination - The rage is not always to the swift…But to those who keep on running.

Competition - Whoever said, it’s not whether you win or lose that counts, probably lost.

Quality - The rage for quality has no finish line.

Effort - Some people dream of worthy accomplishments, while others stay awake and do them.

Focus - “Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you fail to focus on your goals”

Passion - There are many things in life that will catch your eye, but only a few will catch your heart…pursue them.

Believe & Succeed - The key to happiness is to having dreams…the key to succeed is to making dreams come true.

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Communication

Its all about eye contact.

Use eye contact to establish a rapport with the table.

Setting the Mood with the guest starts communication off on the right foot

Start by being warm and prompt in your approach

Be consistent in your approach-always

The minute your mood or temperament change for the worse, so will the guests

You need to be consistently warm and prompt at all times

Establish who the host is and ensure you

Give the proper “focus” to him/her

Engage the guest in a lively discourse about whatever discussion you are having

Use your wit, charm and intelligence and maintain eye contact

Do not leave questions hanging in the air i.e.

Would you like a drink before dinner or…?

Would you like to be seated or …?

Or do not avoid questions entirely i.e.

Welcome…?

Give the guest specific options

Above all, be sincere

Always show your engagement

 Avoid being a flight attendant

Vocal inflection almost pretending that you never heard this before

Really I am sooo happy you enjoyed our………!

Have a great weekend!

Wow thanks for coming!

Do not simply say enjoy

Warmth and intelligence go a long, long way

Avoid sarcastic humor it can be mis-interpreted

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Advising guests and managing what might seem to be “unfortunate requests”

The guest may not always be right

But they get the benefit of the doubt in every situation, every time; with nothing less than total hospitality

Suggest rather than teach

Do not be afraid to disagree with their opinions but ensure they know you are willing to take care of their every need

Anything less will be viewed as ambivalence on you part

It should not matter that they want their bottle of 1985 Haut Byron on ice—it is up to us to provide a feeling of total acceptance for their wishes & total desire to make them happy

Be absolutely clear and absolutely direct. Say what you mean and mean what you say.

Sincerity means a great deal more to the guest than “play acting”

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The 3 Dumbest Things a Server can say to our guests & why it can hurt our business

It starts with "Hi, my name is Jordan and I'll be your server tonight."

When asked, "What's good here?", server replies, "Everything."

Then after the food arrives, server asks "How's everything?"

All of above are mindless, boring clichés that prevent any meaningful, relationship-building dialog from taking place between the server and their guests. And that's bad for YOUR business.

When servers initiate personalized, intelligent conversation many powerful things start to happen. Brains become engaged, meaningful dialog starts to happen, servers connect with their guests and guests have a better time and feel appreciated and cared for.

And what do guests usually do when they have a good time and feel appreciated? They usually tip better AND they're inclined to come back to your restaurant more often.

At your pre-shift meetings with our managers discuss ways you can improve your interactions with our guests. 

Instead of "Hi, my name is . . ." why not something like "Hi, welcome to KELLARI, I'm so glad you decided to join us tonight." This puts the focus on the guest rather than on the server.

You should practice table greetings with a bright smile AND direct eye contact and you'll be miles ahead of most of your competition.

What's good here? Describe 2 or 3 popular items that we do really well or better yet, recommend what you like. Anything but "everything".

When the food's delivered, you as a server practice coming up with specific, intelligent questions that pertain to what your guests have ordered. "Is your tuna cooked the way you like it?", "

Does anyone need more sauce?", "Have you tasted the lobster bisque yet?" 

When there is meaningful dialog, human connections take place and relationships are made and guests feel valued and appreciated.

Want to stake out a competitive advantage? Start by creating the most welcoming and sociable service around.

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