Restaurant Talking Points

I celebrated my wedding anniversary last week. As I look back, two things amaze me. Number one, I convinced a beautiful, smart woman to be my wife and number two, how important timing has been during our relationship.

Timing played an important role when I asked her out on our first date, leaned in for the first kiss, called for the second date, asked for her hand in marriage, and timing was critical when I broke the news that during our last garage sale I accidentally sold a few things that her mother had given us. Yes, timing was and is very important in our relationship.

In the restaurant world timing is everything. From the guest’s point of view, timing can be the difference between an average experience and a remarkable one.

Timing is important when delivering drinks to the table, delivering an entree after a salad, checking back to make sure their food is OK and on and on. But there are 3 critical timing periods during a guest experience that I want to make sure you focus on when training your service staff.

==> 1.  Initial greeting

Technically this isn’t a timing issue because there shouldn’t be a lapse in time. :) A top priority should be an immediate greeting for guests who enter your establishment. Guests want and need to feel welcome and important. A big first step towards meeting those needs is a prompt and gracious greeting.

A common mistake I see owners and managers make is letting the staff believe that the greeting is only the job of the host or hostess. A huge pet peeve of mine is when I walk into a restaurant and the host is seating someone but there are servers near the front that don’t offer a greeting. Train your service staff to always be looking for ways to create hospitality.

We work with one client that has their entire team greet the guests when they enter and depart the restaurant.

==> 2.  Service greeting

This is the point where the server greets the table. I’ve talked about this before so I’ll keep this point brief. Once the guests are seated, keep the wait time under two minutes. And if you want to be better then average, keep the service greeting time under 30 seconds and the drink delivery time under two minutes.

==> 3.  Check Please

If you keep a guest waiting for their check after they have finished their meal you will see the tip percentage fall. We’re not a patient society and when a guest is ready to leave they want the check and they want the check turned around now! Managing time during this stage of the service cycle is critical. There are a couple of steps we teach in our training:

    1. Calculate the check beforehand so that you can present it to the guest without delay.
    2. Inquire first if there is anything else you can bring for the guest. Don’t rush the guest. Say, “This is just for your convenience. I’ll take care of it when you’re ready.”
    3. Monitor the table to be aware of when the guest has finished with the check so that you can process and return in under 2 minutes.

Make sure your staff doesn’t dampen an otherwise outstanding service experience by neglecting a guest that mentally has already left your establishment.

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Timing is everything during the dining experience. Make sure you talk with your staff about how to use timing to create a positive experience for your guests. And if the timing is right, those guests will remain regulars for at least 11 years!