It’s Friday night and you've finally decided to try that new steakhouse all your friends have been raving about. The holidays are over, your refund check is on the way, and today is payday, it’s time to treat yourself a bit. After several minutes of browsing the menu you've decided what you would like; you place your order.
A pleasant surprise, your food comes out earlier than you expected. Your server places your platter in front of you, a 24oz. porterhouse bathed in compound butter with sautéed mushrooms and onions, fully loaded mashed potatoes smothered in cheese served in a cooked bacon weave basket, and two fist sized yeast rolls glistening with melted honey butter. As you mentally prepare yourself for the upcoming food coma of gluttonous proportions, your server asks “is there anything else I can get for you guys?”….
This seems like an innocent and polite question but according to a recent survey by the Detroit Free Press, being addressed as “you guys” by restaurant staff is by far the number one complaint of restaurant patrons. While restaurant owners and managers are typically concerned with the big picture issues like ticket times, food quality, cleanliness, etc. the front line employees develop routines and word tracks that become second nature to them, but which of these routines are causing your customer’s overall satisfaction to drop?
No. 1: As we have already mentioned “you guys” is a greeting that should be avoided completely. A simple “how are you?” would suffice as a replacement word track.
No. 2: “Do you need change?” Customers feel that this question is invasive and presumptuous. Certainly the server is only trying to limit the trips back and forth to the table, however, a better method of accomplishing this is to simply say, “I’ll be right back with your change.” This gives the customer the opportunity to interject, “we’re all set, thanks.”
No. 3: Bringing the check too soon. A good server will never miss the opportunity for an up-sell, whether that is dessert or another round of drinks. A good practice for this is to have the check with you near the end of the customer’s meal and ask if they would like a dessert or a drink, typically if they aren't interested they will ask for the check and wouldn't you know it, you already have it ready for them. This doesn't make the customer feel like you are pushing them out the door. Also, be cautious about presenting the check too late, a great experience overall can be ruined at the end by a long wait for the check.
No. 4: Using the same towel to wipe down tables, seats, and booths. It doesn't matter how much cleaner or sanitizer you use on the tabletop or seats if you follow directly behind that with a towel that has wiped 14 other dirty tables 20 minutes ago. Customers see this and as a result are turned off of the entire dining experience.
No. 5: Loud or invasive music. Dining room separation and table spacing is key to giving your customers a nice space for private dining and conversation but this is irrelevant if the music is too loud for them to carry on a conversation. Keep the background music as just that, in the background.
Other dining faux pas include parents who allow unruly or messy children to run rampant, Overly familiar servers who sit or kneel beside the table and use pet names such as “sweetheart,” clearing dishes while people are still eating, being seated in undesirable locations when better seating options are obviously available to the customer, and courses that arrive too early.
But what about the usual, commonplace customer complaints that we are all used to, such as sub-zero dining rooms, wait staff on their cell phones, rude hostesses, and dirty restrooms? These complaints didn't even make the top 20.
So keep these things in mind the next time someone comes in for your specialty bacon wrapped prime rib and half gallon of creamed horseradish sauce and perhaps they will leave a tip equal to the size of their appetite.
Source: Sylvia Rector, Free Press Staff Writer
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