Restaurant CUSTOMER SUPPORT - Ways to get Repeat Customers
What may be the customer's eye?
It is what the customer observes, whether it is a pleasant sight that will cause that customer to say WOW, or a distressing sight that will develop a negative attitude. While your visitors are waiting for service they are seated or standing and also have time to observe your operations. Your guest sees everything, whether it's clean or dirty. Your guest can also hear everything such as for example: cooks arguing in your kitchen or the manager yelling at a worker. Do you really want to expose your dirty laundry to your visitors?
In the restaurant industry it is advisable to crush your competitors. In the current economy it really is tough for restaurants to turn a profit and survive. It isn't rocket science to figure out how to survive and even to succeed. It is crucial for you to have some experience in the restaurant industry in order to understand what has to be implemented in your restaurant. If you don't have that experience, then hire individuals who have experience and will invest in your success.
Your customer's feedback about your restaurant is crucial to your success. In the end, how are you going to know if your staff is doing the proper things for the right reasons unless someone is observing them? Your visitors see and hear everything while they are in your restaurant. What your visitors see and hear can make a huge effect on repeat business.
The following neglected areas will negatively impact repeat business:
Parking lot: Cigarettes and trash all around the parking lot. Trash cans smelly and full.
Hostess Area: Fingerprints are all over the front doors. There is no one at the door to greet the customer. Employees are walking past the guest and they are not acknowledging them.
Restrooms: Toilets and urinals are filthy. You can find no paper towels or soap and the trash cans are overflowing. Baby changing station doesn't have sanitation wipes and is dirty.�
Dining Room: Dirty Tables and condiments dirty and empty. Informative post is filthy and there are visible stains on the carpets. Service is slow or the servers are chatting with each other rather than paying attention to customers. Servers have no idea the menu and can't answer questions.
Kitchen:Long check times. Cold food. Undercooked or overcooked food. Cooks talking too loud and the guests can hear the cooks using profanity. Food isn't prepared and all of the menu items aren't designed for customers to order.
I'm not saying these things occur in your establishment, but what I am stating is that there are a few restaurants which could have one or more of these issues. This is developing a negative outcome resulting in dwindling repeat business.
Put yourself in the customer's shoes and see what they see and hear what they hear, the customer's eye.Train your managers to be proactive and head off the problems before they happen or escape hand. Eliminate all eyesores before the guest sees them.; Make believe you're the guest: start your inspection from the parking lot. Then do a complete walk-through of the entire restaurant and correct issues as you proceed. Develop a list of items that require attention and delegate them to your employees. Remember to do follow-up to guarantee the task that you delegated was completed properly.
Managers should be on the floor during all peak times. They must be giving direction to the employees and conducting table visits to ensure the guest is fully satisfied. The managers ought to be on the floor 90% of the time and in the office 10% of that time period.
This is actually the cool part. Do you wish to improve your customer support? In case you have answered yes, then the next part is not too difficult providing your managers are on the same page when you are and that they unfailingly correct any eyesores prior to any peak period.
There are various great resources to greatly help enhance your restaurant operation such as: Restaurant forms and checklists.
Restaurant front of the home checklists: Use an opening checklist to ensure your restaurant is ready prior to the restaurant opening for the day. Use a closing checklist to greatly help close the restaurant properly also to create the opening shift. One way to keep your restrooms clean is by using a restaurant restroom checklist which ensures the restrooms are cleaned and stocked throughout the shifts. There are numerous restaurant forms that may be put on keep a clean, stocked and organized shift.
Restaurant server forms: I would suggest is the server steps of service form. This form will help increase overall customer support because it focuses on WOW service from the minute the client enters your restaurant completely up until the customer departs your restaurant. You may also utilize the server test or steps of service quiz to keep your servers knowledgeable.
Restaurant kitchen checklists: A Restaurant Kitchen Checklist is an excellent tool to be used to prepare your kitchen ahead of any meal period. The manager will conduct a walk-through in your kitchen searching for expired products, date dot use, and proper rotation of products. The manager also will ensure that the kitchen is fully stocked and that foods are at the correct serving or storage temperature.
If for reasons uknown you are having difficulty or are frustrated in attempting to turn your restaurant around, you might want to look for a specialist restaurant consultant to greatly help facilitate your policies and procedures. The restaurant consultant may also guide you in implementing quality training that you assist you to turn a profit.