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