One of the most important principles of the food service industry is to treat every guest as if he's the most important one, be it it in an exclusive restaurant or a normal bar. This principle may seem self-evident, yet not every restaurant is following it which leads to frustrated guests.
The customer is king – but who really follows through on that? How is it possible for a restaurant to keep that principle up during hectic situations? If the restaurant is well booked and new guests enter it, service staff has to do everything to satisfy the new guests without neglecting those guests who are already seated. This is just one of many examples of service difficulties that can arise. Good service staff is the most important part of a long-term successful restaurant besides good food quality. The guest should always be made to feel as if he was the only one in the restaurant and therefore the “king”.
Forgetting reservations and other mistakes
A big problem concerning the guest's treatment is forgetting reservations. If the situation arises, service staff needs to keep calm and find a fast solution for the problem at hand. Of course it is easier to not let it come to that at all by having the reservation process be structured orderly. Forgetting the reservation is not a problem if you're able to offer the guest a table anyway. If you are not able to, however, you have to get creative in order not to lose the important guest. At least offer him a welcome drink at the bar, so he feels that you're sorry for that mistake.
The customer is always right
Do not insist on your right. It is another important principle that the customer is always right. Always try to solve the situation without disagreeing with the guest. Of course this does not mean that service staff has to out up with everything. Although sometimes satisfying a guest means to handle them and therefore make things possible that were not planned beforehand.
Good preparation and training leads to success
To avoids those problems and possible mistakes you should be perfectly prepared and the service staff trained in various aspects. Situations have to be recognized immediately, so that a solution can be found.
Has every reservation been registered? Are you prepared for the number of guests and do you know the characteristics of every one of them?
In the food service industry using software makes a lot of things easier and helps with better structuring.
reservation systems like CentralPlanner are a great help, especially when it comes to treating your guests right. CentralPlanner helps with the perfect preparation of an evening.
The next article about the rules of the food service industry will describe how to prepare a perfect evening.
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