A few days ago, I was talking to customers at one of our operations. A gentleman asked me about what it’s like to manage a full service restaurant. My response was the same as it has been for the last ten years. Managing the front of the house of a restaurant is like throwing a big party at your home for 150 of your best friends and relatives. The biggest difference is the party is perpetual, every night.

At your home, you want to make sure every guest is entertained, happy, served well and there is no negative body language that would say otherwise. Running a restaurant is much the same.

Your eyes catch everything.  A server who passes by a dirty table, a customer with an empty glass, body language that seems negative, the piece of paper on the floor, the customer waiting for a check, the busboy that needs a haircut, a guest that drops a fork – it all happens almost simultaneously.

When you have a party, don’t you do the same thing? You work hard to make sure everyone has a good time, is happy with your food and leaves with a smile on their face. You eyes scan the room for any glitch that will improve the guest’s experience at your home. Why would you do any less at your restaurant?

At your home you may pay special attention to your mother-in-law who is very picky. Don’t we have the same at restaurants – guests that are picky? We care about how clean the bathrooms are at home – we care at the restaurant also. You would never let loud, inappropriate music blast your guests at your house, nor at your restaurant. The crying baby in the living room at your house is often offered something special ostensibly to satisfy the baby, but really to stop annoying the rest of your friends and family – the same at your restaurant.

While you can find a few differences, the reality is that there are far more similarities between a big party at home and the nightly experiences at your restaurant.

One of the key differences is staff. At home you may hire a person or two to help with the party, but at your restaurant, you may have dozens. If you can train them to think like it is their party every night, you have created an atmosphere that will bring people back time after time. Including the free-loading in-laws!

Larry Edger, Author

The Restaurant Ebook

Restaurants spend thousands of dollars on advertising and marketing programs that bring new guests in the door. To sustain growth, insure repeat visits and maximize your investment in new marketing programs, the savvy restaurant owner knows that adjustments must be made to the last step of the marketing process - delivering what the customer expects.

As your staff becomes busier there will be blips in customer service that have to be addressed to bring those new faces back in the door. Here are a few suggestions;

• Keep your staff informed. Let them know why they are busier and how to maintain a high level of customer interaction. Remind them that a smile and quick frequent table visits will solve half the problems.
• Waiting is by far the worst experience a customer can experience. It is clearly documented in every customer survey that the guest doesn’t want to wait for their table, wait for a server to show up, wait for drinks, wait for their order, wait for a server to check on them, wait for a check and wait to pay. Where is your breakdown in the waiting game? Evaluate time frames and eliminate a few seconds from each step and you will have happier guests.
• When service does break down, repair the damage if possible. Servers know when a customer isn’t pleased. Managers should be able to just look at a table and tell from body language and faces if they are pleased. A visit from a Manager is imperative to completing the experience. Do whatever is necessary to insure a return visit - even if it means offering complimentary food or drinks to repair the damage.
• Anticipate your success. If you are confident that your marketing will work, why wait until you are over burdened with new business to hire and train new staff?

One of the early mistakes I made when opening restaurants was too much business to the point of wasting all of the marketing dollars on our poor job of meeting the customer’s expectations. That experience and many other correctable problems are recounted in The Restaurant Ebook. Don’t fall prey to your own success!

Larry Edger, Author

The Restaurant Ebook