Restaurant Talking Points

It’s that time of the year! No I’m not talking about Santa, although that is an important topic of conversation in my household. I’m talking about planning sessions for the New Year.

This is the time when most companies sit down and put a plan of action together for the coming year. It’s called strategic planning.

I firmly believe these strategic planning meetings are very important, especially for restaurants. I see it way to often where owners and operators in this industry get stuck working IN their business instead of ON their business. These sessions help many to bridge the gap from IN to ON.

You might be thinking to yourself ”these planning session sound great! What should we work on?” Great question!

Typically the focus of these planning meetings is on the entire operation. Things that can be discussed include menu, food quality and consistency, marketing, facilities and of course my personal favorite, and then one I’m going to help you with today, service.

So lets put a plan together for an Extreme Service Makeover for next year and raise the service levels in your establishment to a remarkable level!

It’s a 4 step process

==>1. Create your service expectations

You must lay out what your service expectations are so you can communicate these expectations to your staff. Your training program should be designed to fulfill these expectations.

If you don’t know what your expectations should or could be then you need to work with someone to help you in this area. Our training programs have them built into the training and are customizable per store.

==> 2. Educate your people

Change doesn’t happen by chance; it occurs as you communicate your service message and LEAD by example. That’s wonderful that you completed step #1 but unless you follow through with step #2 you might as well have used that time to take your management team to see a movie.

Nobody should be allowed onto your team until they understand that you are creating a culture of service. This culture is what drives your business!

==> 3. Add staff that fit into your mission of providing Remarkable Service

It’s time to take a hard look at your hiring practices. Make sure new hires fit or can be molded into your new culture. Conversely it may be time to move some FOH staff members to the BOH or grab some job applications from your competitors and slip those under their windshield wipers. You wouldn’t really do that would you?

==> 4. Evaluate and Measure

There is a saying that goes “You can’t improve what you don’t measure”. Whether you use secret shopper scores or create your own service audit form, measuring your process is the only way to improve your culture.

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An Extreme Service Makover is not as sexy as say building a fully furnished new house in a week or having doctors completely change the way you look. But it will make your establishment more money. Check out our ROI calculator and see what an Extreme Service Makeover can do for you.