Restaurant Masterminds

Last week I turned in my manager restaurant cap and volunteered to work the “Welcome” desk at my son’s hockey tournament. I was excited to meet families and teams from all over the country. When I arrived I was told to let players and parents know where their locker room was located, post the locker room assignments, answer any questions and hand out brochures. Ahhh….a nice day of volunteering and giving of my time. A fun meet and greet! Easy enough…..or so I thought.

It wasn’t but about 20 minutes into my shift as a VOLUNTEER that I was inundated with questions/comments regarding the tournament. “Hey, why aren’t the stats posted on the website yet?” “Excuse me, do you realize that the referees made over 5 horrible calls in that game?” ” Who is running this tournament….YOU? I have some problems!” “The vending machine isn’t giving me change, who is going to get that for me?”

I could feel the sweat beads forming on the brow line and, and quickly, I regrouped myself and turned on the best source I could tap….my customer service training. That’s right, realizing that I needed to make the best of every situation that was thrown my way, I used my customer service skills to peacefully resolve any issues that came across the table. Here are some great tips to use not only in your restaurant, but in ANY situation that you may encounter….PTA meetings/functions, Chaperoning a school event, or even volunteering at school, sports, or community events:

1. Remember there is no way that the quality of customer service can exceed the quality of the people who provide it.
2. Realize that your people will treat your customer the way they are treated.
3. Do you know who your customers are?
4. For good customer service, go the extra mile.
5. Are your customers greeted when they walk in the door?
6. Give customers the benefit of the doubt.
7. If a customer makes a request for something special, do everything you can to say yes.
8. Be helpful – even if there’s no immediate profit in it.
9. When a disagreement happens, always agree with the guest and ask what will make them happy.
10. Thank them for coming and wish them a safe drive home.

I used some of these skills to calm the fire or even brighten the day of some, making this event one of the best I have volunteered to date.

So, as you can see, much like the hockey rink itself, I thought I was going to have to drop my gloves….when in fact, all was needed was a little love. Final score: Complainers 4 Smiles 18.

Ben Martinez
Restaurant Masterminds

For most restaurants, last week will be one of the best weekends of the year, as far as sales go. Valentine’s Day could not have fallen on a better day, restaurants had an opportunity to market and book Friday, Saturday and all day Sunday, and watch their sales soar for all three days, after all, everyone has a loved one that they want to romance and there’s no better way then dining out.

I had a great opportunity to touch my guests last week with an email blast asking them to help me out with some creative ideas on how I can make this year’s Valentine the most special for my wife…Lo and behold, in less than 36 hours nearly 200 people responded with some awesome ideas, but more importantly, they took the time out of their busy schedules and responded to me (remember, these guests pay me for their dining experience at my restaurant, and now they’re helping me out with some very creative thinking). It’s what I call building a “lifetime relationship” with your guests. One guests email really stood out like no other.

Anna Marie Brafford touched me like no other email suggestion and TRULY sent me the meaning of Valentine’s Day. You see, Anna Marie is a widow. She wrote to me that just simply spending the day telling my wife how much I love her and how beautiful she is, is the most precious gift of all because you never know when you’ll ever be able to do that again. Quickly, Anna Marie’s Valentine was gone, but forever embedded in her heart is the Valentine that will be there forever. I DID take Anna Marie’s advice, I treasured my beautiful wife, told her how much I loved her and held her hand every chance I could. Now it was really easy for me to this to my wife because I truly love her with all my heart.

Do you LOVE what you do in your restaurant? Is it easy for you to get up every morning and go to work? Or do you struggle to get out of bed because “work” is awaiting you? For years I struggled to get out of bed and go to “work”, because it was exactly that, work! It wasn’t until I discovered how to market my restaurant and get guests coming through my doors in record numbers that I began to LOVE what I do. Today I LOVE getting out of bed and going to my restaurant, because it’s no longer work, my restaurant is something that I treasure and I can’t wait for the daily challenges that it presents. But it took a mind shift change and a LOVE for what I do to reach the point where I am at today.

Do you want to fall in LOVE with your restaurant again, do you really LOVE what you do? If you answered, “no” to any of these questions, then you’ll want to join us during our upcoming Success Seminar on March 8-9, 2010 in Scottsdale, AZ. and I will be sharing with you my secrets of How to fall in LOVE with your restaurant again and how you to can get more guests coming through your doors.

Ben Martinez

Would you like to

• Provide an exceptional dine-in experience
• Build customer loyalty
• Maximize sales
• Create a remarkable buzz about your restaurant

4 Remarkable Service works with Restaurants throughout the world helping them implement wait staff training that focuses on service AND sales.

Listen in as ReNae interviews Stuart Gray from Remarkable Service.