COMMUNITY
In business we owe a debt to the community in which we do business.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935) was a prominent American feminist, sociologist, novelist, writer of short stories, poetry and nonfiction, and lecturer for social reform. She shared many profound statements throughout her lifetime.
I believe I have helped change some people’s lives for the better, through abiding by her life-changing quote:
“The first duty of a human being is to assume the right functional relationship to society – more briefly,
to find your real job, and do it.”
CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS
1. Customers want to be appreciated.
2. They want to feel that they made the right decision of where to spend their money.
Customer appreciation starts with name recognition. Addressing your guests by name begins with our reservationist. While you want to be careful not to overuse a guest’s name, the two minimum requirements are to repeat their name when taking their reservation information, and then thanking them by name at the end of the call. When greeting your guests at the restaurant, you should always identify the host of the party. Once identified, the host is to be addressed by name throughout their experience, and lastly thanked using their name when they depart.
Developing a personal connection between your guests, your establishment and your staff is the key to exceeding customer expectations and improving customer retention. By addressing guests by name, you are laying the foundation for these personal connections.
PROMOTIONS
There are two primary goals for a restaurant promotion. First is to entice new potential guests into our restaurants with the hope of developing new, long-term relationships. It's a time to put our best foot forward and really impress these diners. Secondly, these promotions are tied to a charity, making it another opportunity for us to be an active and positive force in the community where we're doing business.
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While we understand that everyone might not be our ultimate guest, we must always be professional. Everyone can read your attitude, from the people you manage and work alongside, to all of our guests. A positive attitude is key to success. There are no problems that do not have solutions. If you don't enjoy what you're doing, you need to do something else. For me, hospitality is not a career choice, it's a lifestyle.
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Elements of a Special Event
1. The best time to plan an event is right after work. During the week, people do not want to come out again once they've gone home. Be very clear on the timeline when you are marketing an event, for example: Reception 6 pm - 7 pm; Dinner served at 7 pm, etc.
2. Always put a face on the event. This could be one of our chefs, a winemaker, or a guest of honor.
3. Whether you are planning a winemaker dinner or a social reception, plan on having one person from our company for every ten guests attending. The representative ratio can be combined with the guest of honor, visiting chef, etc.
4. These representatives are the hosts of the evening and should be greeting each guest and introducing them to other guests.
5. Incorporate a fun activity, as an icebreaker, that naturally makes people introduce themselves to each other.
6. Always keep in mind that we are a chef-driven company and the chef needs to have a presence at the event.
7. I've found that communal tables produce negative feedback. Small groups naturally form as guests converse and people like to interact with more than those to their immediate left, right or across from them. I've found that round tables set for eleven people is the best set up. Each table accommodates ten guests with a seat for a host. The host is able to move to a different table throughout the dinner, so that by the end of dinner, the host has spent time with each guest. If there are multiple hosts, they can switch tables with each course. We have done this set up at an event with myself and two additional hosts switching tables with each course and received very positive feedback.
8. Build educational elements into the event that explore different types of food and beverage pairings. It keeps things exciting to blend some new trends, as well as classical pairings, into the event theme. We have had great results with addressing each pairing to include an entertaining story with an educational element. With this approach guests are having a great time while learning something new.
9. Social media opportunities must be thought out and implemented. Instagram-worthy moments should be obvious and present throughout the event. Creating a fun activity or photogenic element (with logos and hashtags), as well as placing hashtag cards on the tables, encourages guests to create and share content with tags, mentions and comments.
10. Lastly, when theming promotions and events, always start with defining the demographic you are looking to attract. Keep that demographic’s likes, dislikes, and habits in mind throughout the planning process.
TRENDS
Concepts like vegan, sustainability, organic and healthy continue to dominate the food & beverage landscape.
Cooking and service techniques, marketing strategies and tactics continue to progress and evolve. As industry professionals, it is our responsibility to stay current and knowledgeable. We need to be industry leaders. We encourage everyone to regularly conduct research and educate yourselves on new ways to eat, drink and entertain.
CATERING AND SPECIAL EVENTS
Individuals that host personal and social events like milestone birthday celebrations, bar/bat mitzvahs, weddings, and so on, are entrusting us to create a flawless, memorable experience that can be cherished for a lifetime.
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Business clients rely on us to impress their superiors, colleagues and potential clients as a means to bolster or grow their brands.
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These are tremendous responsibilities entrusted to our teams and we need to ensure everyone understands their role.
SOCIAL MEDIA
How team members can participate in social media efforts:
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Build your personal brand as a thought leader.
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Spread the word!
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Boost brand awareness for the company.
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Drive revenue generation that benefits us all.
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Happy Team Members = A Sucessful Team
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Have pride in your work and share it.
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Recruit friends/former colleagues to build a stronger team.
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Get Involved:
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Follow our social media channels: Facebook & Instagram
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Share posts to your own network.
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Engage with posts by liking, commenting, sharing etc.
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Tag friends and family in posts.
RECRUITMENT
If you ask people how they got their job, you'll find that most knew someone presently working for us, or had worked for us in the past, who led them to join our team.
I spent a good amount of time since then researching this pattern. The human resource term for people finding employment in this fashion is called THE HIDDEN JOB MARKET. From 80-85% of all jobs filled and created are not advertised. Networking and word of mouth is how most jobs are filled. Almost half the people filling these jobs were not seeking employment when they learned about the position, but rather, they heard about the job through a friend or industry contact, and decided to investigate the opportunity.
How can we tap into the hidden job market? If you are like me, many of your friends and acquaintances work in the hospitality industry. If we put the word out through our social media contacts and everyday conversations, we would instantly create a network of thousands in THE HIDDEN JOB MARKET.
ONLINE FEEDBACK
Attentiveness
Anticipation is the key to excellent customer service. We must intelligently divide our time between our guests. We need to continually read their facial expressions and body language to ensure they are enjoying themselves. We must also be aware of the details on the table that will give us insight into what they will need next. Getting what you want, when you want it, without asking for it, is fantastic service.
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Attitude
We must always bring our A game. We all deal with many issues that life throws at us daily. All team members, front and back of the house, need to leave their issues behind them when we come into service. A smile, a desire to serve, a desire to make people feel wonderful is the job we have agreed to in the hospitality industry. Even when we have tough customers, we must keep an upbeat and positive attitude.
Meal Pace
Slow food s a very common complaint. Most people will blame the kitchen for this problem. I can tell you firsthand, this is an issue that involves both the front and back of the house. Servers and captains must make sure they input the table’s order as soon as they have finished taking it. Chefs and expeditors must constantly be aware of the timing between courses on each table. This issue occurs in some locations only when they are very busy. In the front of the house, all managers should be able to take orders at a table and input it into the POS system. When a station is in the weeds, a manager needs to be able to jump in and assist the service staff.
Customer service expectations are rising!
Is your business keeping up?
The quality of your customer service can make or break your business.
Consumers value great service and 54% make purchasing decisions based on customer service. For 19% it’s the single most important factor when deciding which companies to patronize. Almost 98% would rather talk to a live person than deal with a recording when they call customer service and 68% would pay more for products or services from a company with good customer service. Millennials place an even higher premium on good service than Generation X and baby boomers. They’re almost four times more likely than boomers to pay 20% more for good service.
You only have a few chances to get it right.
Almost 73% of customers are willing to give a company more than one chance to deliver good customer service. For 26%, just one bad customer experience is enough to persuade them to switch companies and 92% would switch to another company after three bad experiences.
Online reviews matter more than ever.
When making a purchase, consumers are 50% more likely to rely on online reviews than recommendations from friends and family. Only 8% of consumers rely on company advertising when making a purchase, so you may want to reduce your advertising spending and put that money into customer service instead.
Consumers share the good and bad.
Customers are more likely to praise companies than to criticize them. After a good customer experience, 80% of consumers will recommend a company to friends and family and 40% will post about it on social media.
After a bad experience, 67% of consumers would actively dissuade friends and family from buying from the company and 42% would post about it on social media.
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Your customers want consistency.
Customer service expectations include communicating with businesses in lots of different ways. Most consumers use an average of at least three different channels for customer service, with phone, email, and live chat being the most popular. Customers also want a consistent experience across all the channels they use and only 29% say they usually get one. Make sure your employees are on the same page about your company policies and how to handle customer service. Create internal documentation that customer service people can refer to when they have questions.
