Your establishment, whether it is a restaurant, bar or a hotel, is made of bricks and mortar and this gives the customer an initial impression of what your establishment is like. But it happens too often that staff are rude, pretentious or simply not up to the task at hand. Needless to say; you won’t return!

The biggest reason for customers not returning to an establishment is due to a staff member’s attitude or indifference.

There are several guidelines to be adhered to when working in the hospitality industry. It requires talented individuals who need to be:

· Efficient
· Patient
· Thoughtful
· Responsible
· Reliable
· Customer focused

Here a few pointers which you can share with your staff so they know what is expected from them, whether they are working in a cafe, a bar, a Michelin starred restaurant or the local greasy spoon.

1. Always give a warm greeting with a smile

2. Listen to the customer request. If you do not hear them correctly then don’t be afraid to ask them to repeat their order so as you get it correct.

3. Anticipate the guests needs by offering before being asked, “would you like another drink”, “would you like some extra sauce”, “would you like water with your meal”

4. If a customer says “Thank you”, respond and say “you’re welcome”

5. Any staff member who receives a complaint “owns” that complaint. They are then responsible for ensuring customer satisfaction. Gone are the days of saying “this is not my section” or “yeah, I’ll be with you in a minute”.

6. Communicate guest’s problems with your fellow employees and management.

7. Always remember the importance of teamwork.

8. Take responsibility for your own behaviour.

9. When things go wrong, look on the positive side. Do not be afraid to make a mistake as long as your efforts are sincerely intended to do your job a better way.

10. A pleasant farewell and saying “Thank you, see you soon” is just as important as the initial welcome.

Repeat, Repeat, Repeat!

Readers to this blog will know how much I value and seek good service in our ever-expanding hospitality industry, but it seems to be getting harder and harder to find…then just when you think you have found it, just when you think this is great service, he’s done everything right, I have the correct (and hot) meal in front of me, he’s ensured my drink is topped up and then….just when I’m about to plan how to report such exemplary service and even name the establishment in this Blog, the waiter decides that his level of service has not gone far enough and as he’s about to turn and leave, he looks straight at me, bids me Bon Apetite and then slaps me on the back!!! Yes, you read correctly, this was not a tap, a touch, or a brush, this was a thumping great slap as if to beat me into assuring him that I would indeed enjoy my meal!

Now, I value the personal attentiveness of good staff, but is this taking service a little too far? I am sure that back slapping is acceptable as a goodwill gesture in certain cultures…Not mine though!

I’m very conscious of my personal space and who gets into it, so the next time you are about to thump your customers into having a good meal, maybe think twice!!! You lost an honorary mention for good service in this blog because of your over-zealousness!

Sometimes over-delivering for your customers can cost you money without any upside for your business. How do you know when to over-deliver and when not to? My quick little video will let you know!

Can’t see this video? Click here

An open letter to the bartender who “served” me last night.

Dear Bartender, ( I use this term loosely),

I would like to draw your attention to the incident last night when polite company and manners prevented me from dressing you down publicly as would have befitted the occasion.

When I ordered a Mojito from you, I had a basic level of expectation as to what I was going to get. After all a Mojito is not a vague guideline, but a specific recipe.

I was not expecting a tall hurricane glass with three large ice cubes floating around the top, a withered piece of mint drowning in a solution of 90% cane rum, topped up with a splash of still water…

However, everyone can make a mistake and it’s not about the mistake, but how you handle it that will cement my impression of you. Alas, this opportunity was wasted on you when I asked for a replacement.

Telling me that you have done this for years and know how to make a Mojito did nothing to improve the flavor of the poor excuse for a cocktail I was trying to return to you and will certainly not endear yourself to me. Asking two other customers at the bar if their Mojitos were the yummiest they had ever tasted in a clear attempt at embarrassing me in front of my friends and your customers for returning your “masterpiece” makes you look foolish and even more incompetent.

While wisdom normally comes with age, clearly the years that have contributed to your greying hair were years spent avoiding education and skill. Here’s hoping the years between grey hair and white hair will be more educational.

Unfortunately I won’t be back to sample your skills whatever your hair color, because you had your chance and blew it. Big time.

Sincerely,

4 customers who are going elsewhere tomorrow

Ireland used to be known as the land of 1000 welcomes. Something happened to change that though. MONEY! Back in the late 1970s and early 1980s when Ireland was on it’s financial knees, the government flew top level executives from US companies to Ireland, brought them out to a green field and told them that this was going to be the headquarters of their European Operations.

Many laughed, but the smart companies took notice and moved to Ireland in their droves to take advantage of an educated workforce, subsidised tax rates and a gateway to Europe. As the 80s turned to the 90s and then past the millennium, emigration was something our parents spoke about but we never had to experience. We were the children of the Celtic Tiger – an economic bubble (always destined to burst) where we had credit cards, jobs and for once were not at the bottom of the heap.

So where am I going with this, and what has it got to do with a Stupid Question? Ok, lets cut to the chase. As the economy burgeoned, something changed in the Irish psyche and the change was that people realised they didn’t have to work as hard for the business as they did before. Easy credit meant people had more money to spend and businesses exploded with new found wealth.

Waiters became ruder, shop assistants didn’t make eye contact for the entire length of the transaction and basic greetings were replaced with a grunt, if you were lucky.

How many of you have gone into a bar or restaurant in Ireland of late and been asked “Are you ok?”…

Am I ok? Seriously, is this the best you can do? Is this the most welcoming question you can muster up the effort to grunt at me?

Its the same in every bar and every restaurant. No sooner have you walked through the door and you’re being asked if you’re ok! You would think every establishment had hired a doctor to keep checking on us to make sure we hadn’t dropped dead or acquired the swine flu between bars. THIS is a stupid question.

Where’s the rapport we used to be so famous for? Where’s the idle chit chat about the weather or the government? Where’s the smile? Just because the economy is slowing down, it doesn’t mean that you can slow down.

(Stepping onto my soap box) Businesses, listen up! Let’s fight for the business, let’s work for our profits, let’s take care of the profit generators-our customers. Let the first impression not be akin to a hospital checkup, but closer to a welcoming greeting you would give to someone in your own home.

Take care of the customers because there’s nothing worse than an empty house.

Before I put down roots and stopped living out of a suitcase, I spent four years working on four different cruise ships around the world. It was an amazing time and allowed me to see more than 80 different countries while being paid to wake up in a new city every morning.

For the first two years I worked as a waiter in an 800 seater restaurant that provided 5 Star service to every guest. This included tableside fish filleting, flambe desserts and meat carving. It was service done the classic way and I learned methods of service that were completely alien to a young know-it-all from Cork.

One thing that was drilled into us again and again until we got it right was that the art of service is all about the guest not knowing it’s even taking place.

In other words, a guest never asks for their water glass to be refilled, never has to request a condiment with their meal, never has to ask for assistance and never is left under any impression other than that they are being taken care of royally.

And how does this happen? It happens when the waiter observes and doesn’t question, approaches when he is needed and always anticipates what the guest might need next.

It is astoundingly simple, yet is adopted by few waiters I have come across since leaving the high seas.

Take a 7pm dinner seating as an example. A guest orders roast beef which is placed in front of her. You can immediately tell from the guest’s expression if this is to their liking and tweak your service accordingly. Have you ensured their water glass is full, they have sufficient bread, horesradish as a condiment available, the correct cutlery, a napkin. A simple glance will answer this for you so that the guest doesn’t have to ask.

Read the guest’s body language, observe their eating and drinking speed and you won’t need to interrupt them mid conversation because you didn’t observe sufficiently to get the answer. A good waiter is in the background watching every movement of the guest, anticipating the next thing that he will be needed for and be in a position to provide before the guest opens their mouth.

With up to 28 guests arriving to my section of the restaurant at the same time all expecting this standard of service, I learned very quickly how clever observation saved me from running around liek a headless chicken.

Yet so often, service like this is not taught, even in the finest establishments. A recent visit to a high end bar with table service was the very opposite of what I describe here with interruptions every five minutes checking if everything was ok, bringing the check, asking if it was ready to be picked up, the list goes on. All for 2 Mojitos!

So here’s my message to all of you waiting staff out there. Because I’ve been there and know what it takes and how easy or difficult you can make life for yourself and for me, BACK OFF and LEAVE ME ALONE when it’s clear I am deep in conversation.

Observe, approach ONLY when necessary and give me excellent, invisible service. I dare you.

Whether your staff know it or not, there is a difference between Service & Civilty and the difference is significant.

The more I eat out and the more I try out new bars, the more I realise that staff need to be trained in the differences.

Civility is defined as a polite act or expression. It’s when staff say hello, or smile and bid you farewell on your way out the door. I expect this civility and I always make sure that I reciprocate out of “civility”. This is an expected part of life. It’s not unique to the service industry and should be something we all do every day. This is not service and I don’t pay for it.

Service is what I pay for. Service is the additional tasks unique to the establishment and industry. It’s the taking of my order and delivering what I asked for and doing it pleasantly and without bitterness or resentment.

Service is what I experienced last night when I asked a server in a Restaurant who was on her to the kitchen to point me in the direction of the restrooms. A civil response would have been to point them out and continue on her way. Instead, she put down the plates she was carrying, asked me to follow her while she led me to the restroom door. She then asked if I would be able to find my way back okay or if I would like her to wait for me. That, ladies and genetlemen, is service.

So before you pat yourself on the back because you think your business gives great service, ask yourself whether your staff are providing Service or maybe just Civility.

There is a difference and it shows.