Restaurant Talking Points

Another year, another New Years resolution list. First on my list this year is I’ve decided not to smoke. I should mention I’ve never smoked a cigarette in my life so this one should be a slam dunk. Next on my list is my weight. It’s not that I need to lose any of it; I’d just like to move and firm up what I have. This one will take a little more work.

Last on this years resolution list, have more fun. My girls, aged 4 and 1 inspired me to add this. Outside of having to eat their vegetables they always seem to be having fun and enjoying life. I’ve also noticed they learn at a much faster pace and retain more when the learning is surrounded in a fun activity. I think there is a lesson here for restaurants training their staff. Keep the learning fun!

For your service staff it’s great to have a structured training process in place, in fact it’s imperative for success. (Please contact us if you need help with this). But that training is not going to “Stick” and retention will be low if the training isn’t interactive and at least a little fun.

And while the impact training that you do for new hires should be mandatory, it’s the follow-up, or reinforcement training, that will sustain Remarkable Service and maximized tickets.

For example, in our training we teach how to sell desserts and after-dinner-drinks. But if you want your staff to focus on this during their shifts you can’t just keep harping on them to sell, sell, sell because after awhile it will fall on deaf ears.

So make a game of it and have some fun. Create Bingo cards with your different desserts and drinks on the squares and have them cover each one they sell. Hand out prizes for each bingo, covering the four corners and black-out. This is just one example but their are many ways to keep the learning and teaching fun.

For our clients we’ve developed an online “millionaire” style game that allows them to reinforce their service, sales and operational procedures via an online game. It’s a FUN and easy way to connect with today’s workers. Plus it allows you to keep track of who is doing the learning.

To see an example of the millionaire game click here. Don’t forget to use your lifelines!

Training your staff and reinforcing that learning shouldn’t always be about eating your vegetables, it should also be about having fun. And trust me, a staff that is having fun will firm up your bottom line!