0:02 customer service in the restaurant
0:04 industry is considered to be the
0:06 granddaddy of all standards okay despite
0:09 there being many important standards
0:11 okay simply because the phrase customer
0:14 service has been drilled into anyone and
0:16 everyone's skull who is ever worked in
0:18 the hospitality industry okay so let's
0:21 see what we can do to express its
0:23 importance and the impact it has on your
0:25 business because despite its cliche
0:29 flavor it is by far the make or break
0:31 factor for for people speaking well of
0:33 your establishment and returning
0:35 themselves on a regular basis okay
0:38 customer service is so powerful that if
0:41 you and your staff provided this out
0:44 ofworld Unforgettable and warm personal
0:47 service you could do zero Marketing in
0:50 any other area and still flourish okay
0:52 I'm not saying you should do that okay
0:54 don't be a num schull you should not
0:57 ignore your marketing but this is a true
1:00 statement amazing customer service
1:02 could stand on its own as a foundation
1:05 for Success okay it just takes effort
1:07 which not everyone is willing to do
1:11 which baffles me to the point of anger
1:13 and bitterness okay oh yeah how you
1:15 doing it's Dave Al the real Barm man
1:18 here from bar patrol. net for inventory
1:20 management and restaurant patrol. net
1:22 for marketing great to be chilling with
1:25 you today uh here's the thing what you
1:28 need to remember is that people go out
1:31 to eat at a sitdown restaurant for
1:36 anyone anyone buer berer that's right the
1:37 the
1:39 experience yes the food and drinks are
1:42 important also called the product that
1:45 you selling but they are secondary okay
1:47 it's not like shopping for products at
1:50 Target or a boutique okay when people
1:51 choose a place to eat they have a
1:54 certain expectation as to what their
1:57 experience should be and we all do okay
1:59 your expectations of your experience at
2:00 Taco Bell are going to be different than
2:03 your expectations of your experience at
2:06 Ruth's Chris Steakhouse yes and when
2:08 your experience rates below your
2:10 expectations you get pissed and you
2:12 complain to people about how wrong the
2:14 world has been to you and then you vow
2:15 to boycott that place as if they are
2:19 killing kittens and we know that people
2:20 love bitching and whining about their
2:22 experiences more than they like sharing
2:25 their good experiences okay how much
2:29 more you ask right for every one person
2:31 who speaks well of a service or
2:34 experience 11 will complain or speak
2:37 badly about it okay that's a scary stat
2:39 okay a bunch of [ __ ] being little
2:42 [ __ ] okay when it comes down to it
2:45 there's nothing here in this video or
2:47 this podcast if you're listening that
2:49 will be new or revolutionary for you
2:51 okay you aren't suddenly going to stand
2:53 up while watching this and like your
2:54 eyes bulging from your face and both
2:56 hands on top of your head and be like
2:59 holy cow I've never even considered
3:01 smiling at the guests and being
3:04 friendly okay I get that you're not an
3:08 idiot probably okay however customer
3:13 service is definitely a lost art a lost
3:15 because it can be forgotten or grayed
3:17 out in your mind and the minds of your
3:20 staff and these are simple reminders and
3:22 what I consider to be the most important
3:24 factors in ways of thinking when it
3:26 comes to wowing your guests okay maybe
3:28 you forgot about them or maybe you just
3:30 don't enforce them anymore which is the
3:34 real area to focus on okay enforcement
3:36 okay you know what good customer service
3:38 is but you don't always follow up with
3:40 your staff and enforce the standards of
3:43 service that have been set okay assuming
3:44 you even have standards of service
3:47 written down somewhere which you
3:50 should okay so in a minute I'm going to
3:53 give you my five standards of service
3:54 that I created from my bar and
3:57 restaurant okay and some of this I
4:00 learned during my time at pfchangs where
4:02 I used to bartend many decades ago
4:04 before pfchangs became a corporation
4:06 they was they were still private at that
4:09 time and I don't think they still teach
4:11 this concept there but I wish they would
4:13 because it was a very powerful metaphor
4:17 metaphor and visualization for learning
4:19 customer service okay whenever we train
4:21 new employees at the Chang we describe
4:25 the guest experience as a limo ride okay
4:27 the contrasting experience being a taxi
4:30 ride okay and as you can imagine a limo
4:33 ride is a luxurious experience okay the
4:36 driver arrives at your doorstep gets out
4:39 walks around greets you and your friends
4:42 warmly or at least with great courtesy
4:43 we don't want our limur driver to be a
4:46 creep uh and he opens the door for you
4:48 and once you are all safely inside he
4:50 closes the door and then you are safely
4:53 on your way okay and then inside the
4:56 limo you have plush Le leather seats
4:58 lots of room to move around maybe some
5:01 party lights some chilled champagne the
5:03 driver asks you where you're going if
5:05 you and the people you're Li with would
5:08 like some music or a drink and then he
5:09 tells you to sit back and relax because
5:11 he's going to take care of everything
5:14 and get you to your destination safely
5:15 while you enjoy the fact that you don't
5:17 have to make any decisions along the way
5:19 okay he's going to take care of
5:21 everything and take care of you in a
5:23 first class way throughout the entire
5:27 Journey from from beginning to end and
5:29 that's the experience that pfchangs want
5:32 every employee to strive for and the
5:35 taxi ride on the other hand is quite a
5:37 different experience it's much more it's
5:40 a much more crude version of getting
5:42 from one place to the next okay in this
5:44 version you climb into the back of a cab
5:46 that smells like a wet dog with grimy
5:50 seats uh gum stuck to the bottom of the
5:52 or the possibly the top of the seat and
5:54 then the driver Grunts and ask uh where
5:56 to all right in the old days he would
5:59 probably be smoking unconcerned about
6:01 your health and comfort and really he's
6:03 unconcerned about your happiness
6:04 whatsoever okay he just wants to get
6:07 through his shift so he can go home and
6:09 heat up a TV dinner and watch The
6:11 Bachelorette okay but for now he resets
6:14 the meter which starts out out at like
6:17 $435 before you've even moved an inch
6:19 before he tears off at break neck speed
6:21 weaving in and out of traffic While you
6:23 hang onto the door handle like a cat
6:25 gripping the edge of a roof it just
6:28 slipped off of okay again no concern for
6:30 your safety or Comfort level
6:32 okay you get the point okay I'm sure
6:33 you've had both experience of
6:36 restaurants you visited the question is
6:38 which type of ride is your staff
6:40 offering all right now that I've
6:42 patronized you with a customer service
6:45 metaphor let's move on to my list of
6:47 five standards of service that I deem
6:50 most important for a bar and restaurant
6:52 staff to have and hope hopefully this
6:53 will help you execute your customer
6:56 service better with your staff okay you
6:58 can even use the limoride metaphor with
7:00 your staff if you want it's not like
7:03 copywritten or anything all right
7:06 standard number one be guest focused not
7:09 task focused okay and from my experience
7:10 I find that servers and bartenders are
7:14 so focused on what they need to get done
7:16 that they forget that the who sitting in
7:17 their section is why they have a job in
7:20 the first place okay your staff's entire
7:22 frame of mind needs to be focused on
7:24 making the guest experience first class
7:27 okay if that means leaving a task to
7:29 make sure the guests get what they need
7:32 that's what needs to happen Okay so many
7:33 times I'll see a bartender doing
7:35 something like putting away glasswar
7:37 from the dishwasher and a guest at a
7:39 table will raise their hand and instead
7:41 of running over there immediately to see
7:44 what they need they give like a Curt nod
7:45 and then they finish unloading the
7:48 dishwasher before lazily strolling over
7:50 to the guest 2 minutes later if that
7:52 bartender thinks unloading the
7:54 dishwasher is so important you know make
7:55 him a dishwasher in the back okay they
7:58 can take their time washing all the
8:00 dishes they want okay make it loud and
8:03 clear the customer comes first okay immediately
8:04 immediately
8:07 first standard number two teamwork
8:10 equals awesome guest
8:13 experiences okay in this same example I
8:15 just used above I will see a bartender
8:18 empty emptying the aformentioned
8:20 dishwasher and then they'll notice the
8:21 guest raising their hand because they
8:23 need something and the bartender will
8:25 tell the barback hey go find Cindy
8:27 because her table needs something and
8:29 then he'll go back to unload unloading
8:31 the dish washer because you know that's
8:33 not his guest why should he help okay
8:36 and then if the barback can't find Cindy
8:38 quickly for what whatever reason the
8:40 guest now feels completely ignored
8:42 because they can see the bartender still
8:44 working even though that's the person
8:48 they Flagg down okay one person's task
8:50 is everyone's task okay I believe in
8:53 teamwork all the way around and that
8:55 includes running any and all food to the
8:58 tables as it comes out garnishing and
8:59 running drinks as they come out
9:01 collecting plates wiping down tables
9:04 refilling drinks getting guests their
9:07 checks who aren't even in their section
9:08 and even running the credit card if they
9:10 have access to their co-workers login
9:14 and ID number okay maybe help the Barb
9:16 get ice and cut more fruit and stock etc
9:19 etc if he he or she is too bogg down and
9:22 overwhelmed with other tasks okayy greet
9:24 guests or take orders if the assigned
9:27 server is too busy okay the list goes
9:29 beyond and Beyond this okay but when the
9:32 entire staff is helping each other out
9:33 everyone gets great service and the
9:36 staff is less stressed out because
9:38 they're part of a team and they get tip
9:41 better because the service is so awesome
9:43 and I'm telling you right now team
9:46 sports like basketball are so much more
9:48 rewarding than individual sports like
9:52 golf okay the Feelgood expands
9:54 exponentially the more the team works
9:56 together and helps each other
9:58 out all right standard number three
10:01 learn learn the names of your
10:04 regulars okay do you know the sweetest
10:06 sound in the world to every single
10:10 person yep you guessed it because you're
10:12 an amazing Super Genius and I just gave
10:14 it away in the title of the standard he
10:17 it's their name okay people love when
10:19 you know their name it makes them feel
10:20 more special than winning a blue ribbon
10:23 for the largest hog at the fair okay
10:25 especially if you call them by name when
10:27 they walk in with someone who hasn't
10:29 been there before right think about that
10:31 who look out they've just shown their
10:34 buddy that they have status okay we're
10:37 talking VIP status here you can
10:39 literally see their chest puff out as if
10:41 they're like a drug lord of the
10:42 neighborhood and all the eyes are
10:45 watching and the mouths are Whispering
10:47 about them okay perhaps that's a bit
10:50 dramatic but the power of knowing
10:53 people's names when they walk in put you
10:55 way ahead in the service department
10:58 right from the start okay it has a deep
10:59 and Lasting Impression
11:01 on your guess and it's going to get them
11:04 to come back in repeatedly so they can
11:07 have that feeling again okay remember
11:10 how you make them feel is why they come
11:13 back or don't come back okay depending
11:15 on if you made them feel good or you
11:17 ignored them because you were unloading
11:19 the dishwasher all right standard number
11:23 four anticipate anticipate
11:25 anticipate all right do you know what
11:28 really impresses me when I go out to eat
11:32 it's when the server gets me what I want
11:34 before I even know I want it okay
11:35 they're like one of the X-Men who can
11:37 read my mind I'm like I didn't even know
11:40 I wanted A1 Sauce of my eggs thank you
11:42 server whose name I don't know because
11:45 you're imaginary in this scenario okay
11:48 the most common things to anticipate are
11:51 condiments silverware napkins
11:54 refills it's so annoying to get your
11:57 food and have no Fork to eat with or no
11:59 ketchup for your fries or cream and and
12:01 sugar for your coffee and and how the
12:03 hell am I supposed to wash down this
12:06 burger with a glass full of coke
12:10 flavored ice okay refill please these
12:11 are basic things that should be taken
12:15 care of every time okay and then beyond
12:16 that your goal should be to look for
12:18 things to anticipate and wow the guest
12:20 to the point of astonishment okay take
12:24 their coats uh get crayons for the kids
12:25 okay if they don't want another glass of
12:27 wine and they're still eating you know
12:29 bring them water okay get them Ranch for
12:31 Christ sake because God forbid they
12:33 don't have ranch dressing okay give them
12:36 the limo ride and they will never forget
12:39 you okay and then standard number five
12:43 take them on a tour okay this means that
12:47 you the server are the tour guide so
12:49 it's up to you to guide them by making
12:51 suggestions and steering them towards
12:53 the best parts about your restaurant
12:55 okay people have been making decisions
12:58 all day and it's a pleasure and a relief
13:00 for them to be LED down a path where
13:03 they don't have to think okay again to
13:05 beat that dead horse into the ground
13:09 this is the limo ride okay have them
13:11 figuratively take their shoes off lean
13:13 back lock their fingers behind their
13:16 head and allow you to guide them along a
13:18 luxurious smooth ride that is so
13:20 memorable that they can't wait to tell
13:23 everyone about it and come back again
13:25 themselves all right when it comes down
13:28 to it you know customer service is about
13:30 taking Pride in your job and not
13:31 thinking that you're somehow a servant
13:34 who is below anyone I talk to people
13:35 about this all the time just because
13:38 you're called a server doesn't mean that
13:41 you're a servant okay experts at
13:43 customer service are admired they're
13:46 respected they're spoken well of and can
13:48 actually inspire people hey think of
13:51 yourself as a samurai warrior because
13:55 Samurai literally means to serve okay so
13:57 you can be a samurai or be a ninja
13:59 whatever whatever makes you provide
14:02 excellent service okay so with those
14:04 five standards if your staff will just
14:07 focus on those five standards your
14:09 guests are going to be blown away okay
14:11 but here's something else I want to
14:13 share with them I want you to share with
14:14 them this is one of my favorite things
14:17 to share with restaurants I work with uh
14:19 a few years ago a study was done at
14:21 Cornell University about customer
14:24 service and restaurants okay they had I
14:26 think like a thousand people overall not
14:28 all at once all right they came in and
14:30 eat at a restaurant and then they take a
14:32 survey to report and rate their customer
14:34 service all right and it was discovered
14:37 that guests who had been delayed being
14:39 greeted at their table or delayed in
14:40 getting refills or delayed in getting
14:42 their check at the end of their meal
14:47 rated their overall experience 40% lower
14:49 than if they had been greeted quickly
14:51 received refills and received their bill
14:54 quickly that's like 2 to 3 minutes of
14:56 their whole 90-minute dining experience
14:59 okay almost half of their satisfaction
15:01 came for two to came from like 2 to 3
15:04 minutes of of service okay and the
15:07 conclusion of the study is that people
15:09 [ __ ] hate to wait okay especially in
15:11 this day and age okay but because the
15:15 truth is they'll come back if the food
15:17 is mediocre or if the prices are too
15:19 high or even if there was like a hair in
15:21 their food or someone dropped a plate of
15:22 noodles on their head but when they
15:24 aren't greeted by a host within 60
15:27 seconds or greeted by a server within a
15:29 couple minutes or their drinks aren't
15:30 refilled or they have to wait longer
15:32 than a minute for their bill when
15:34 they're ready to leave people will go on
15:37 a livid Rampage about what a horrible
15:39 place the restaurant is and now everyone
15:40 is reading the
15:43 review again don't get me wrong the food
15:47 and drinks they're important but they're
15:50 secondary people come for the experience
15:51 they want to be taken care of and they
15:54 want to be made to feel special and when
15:56 your eyes just glaze over them when they
15:57 need a refill or you're talking to your
16:00 cooworker about a Tik Tok video you saw
16:01 while they're waiting for their check
16:03 they don't feel special at all and
16:06 they're not coming back okay with that
16:09 said if you know me at all you know I
16:11 love systems and I believe that customer
16:13 service is no different it should have a
16:16 system too and I just happen to have a
16:18 10-step customer service system that
16:21 relies on timeliness and and I'm not
16:23 going to go into detail about what each
16:24 one in the list I already did a list of
16:26 that uh I'm just going to list them out
16:28 for you really quick if you want them in
16:30 more detail I have the video on my
16:32 10-step customer service system that you
16:35 can go watch okay I think I talk about
16:37 the same Cornell study in that video so
16:38 you're going to have to hear it again
16:40 all right but putting the following list
16:43 into practice will make it easy for
16:45 employees to execute great service every
16:48 time because it's so definable and
16:51 Quantified okay it's not you know
16:52 subjective and very fuzzy about what
16:54 they should be doing all right so here
16:55 it is uh
16:58 quickly step one greet the guests within
17:00 10 seconds of of walking through the
17:01 door just give a hey that's all they
17:04 need okay step two greet the table
17:07 within 90 seconds of sitting down step
17:10 three get a drink order within 2 minutes
17:13 after the Greet step four take the food
17:15 order within 3 minutes after dropping
17:18 the drinks assuming that they're ready
17:20 all right step five check back after the
17:23 food hits the table within 2 minutes to
17:25 see if they need anything all right step
17:28 six refills okay never let the liquid in
17:29 their glass disappear
17:30 before you ask them if they'd like a
17:32 refill or just bring them on all right
17:35 step seven clear unnecessary dishes and
17:37 glasswar the moment that they don't need
17:40 it anymore all right step eight offer
17:41 dessert and coffee within 2 minutes of
17:44 clearing their plates step nine drop
17:47 their check within 60 seconds of the ask
17:50 uh step 10 see them off meaning like say
17:53 goodbye and thank you and you'll come
17:56 again okay remember we want their
17:58 experience to be amazing from the moment
18:00 moment they step through the door to the
18:03 moment they step outside okay treat them
18:06 like family give them a hug right tell
18:09 them how much they mean to you uh ask to
18:11 borrow money all right scratch that last
18:12 part but if you do treat them like
18:14 family who is just in your living room
18:16 they will tell everyone about the
18:18 unforgettable warm experience they had
18:21 and now you're growing okay in people
18:22 and in
18:24 sales all right that's going to do it
18:27 for the day okay I hope this helps you
18:30 be Mega successful and make millions and
18:32 millions of dollars thank you for
18:34 hanging out with me today I do
18:35 appreciate it I'm going to see you next
