How Four Ego-Driven Deeds Are Destroying Your Restaurant

Tech Talk: ‘The Waiting Game Has Changed’

A Guide to Managing Your Door Effectively, Part 3: If You Fail to Prepare, You Prepare to Fail

We understand that every shift of service is different and unexpected things pop up regularly. While you can’t predict which guests will be late and which employees will call in sick (among the other hundred things that are also unpredictable), you can put yourself in the best position to deal with those everyday surprises by preparing for what you can expect.

Below, in Part Three of a series of learnings on managing your door more effectively (Read Part 2 – The Power of Communication here), Reserve’s industry vets share easy ways for managers, hostesses, and reservationists to prepare for what’s to come at the door.

Prepare for everything you can prepare for.

“Role play with your staff during training. Go through the actions in real context. You have the opportunity to bring hospitality to another level when you’re not thinking about the tactical or task oriented elements of the job.” — Eli Feldman, former DOO at Barbara Lynch Gruppo in Boston and current Restaurant Success Manager at Reserve

“Be prepared for what you think is going to happen. Of course, once the door opens, you have no idea what’s going to happen and you have to be ready to deal with it no matter what comes. But the more prepared you are, the better equipped you’ll be to deal with those situations as they come up.” — Peter Esmond, former General Manager of Per Se in New York and current VP of Customer Success at Reserve

“Have specific policies and a system down pat for waits and special situations. Don’t just let your waitlist accumulate and not know what to do. Create specific policies in advance about managing your waitlist.” — Brad Zanoni, former Service Manager at Spiaggia in Chicago and current Restaurant Success Manager at Reserve

“If you know, anticipate, or expect people are going to wait, you need to design a place for people to do it. It doesn’t have to be huge — it can be two chairs sitting next to the front door or drink rails — but try to design for that. If you have crappy corners, two bev mats can turn a crappy corner into a place designed for guests to wait.” — Eli Feldman, former DOO at Barbara Lynch Gruppo in Boston and current Restaurant Success Manager at Reserve

Want to learn more about how Reserve’s technology can help you manage your door? Click here to chat with us.

A Guide to Managing Your Door Effectively, Part 3: If You Fail to Prepare, You Prepare to Fail posted first on happyhourspecialsyum.blogspot.com

A Guide to Managing Your Door Effectively, Part 2 : The Power of Communication

Ineffective communication is damaging to any type of relationship, and the ones you’re trying to build at your restaurant are no different. Frequent and honest communications, with both your guests and your team, are essential in order for things to run smoothly at your door.

Below, in Part Two of a series of learnings on managing your door more effectively (Read Part 1 – Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen here), Reserve’s industry vets provide tips for managers, hostesses, and reservationists on cultivating open communication in your restaurant.

Be proactive, not reactive, in your guest communication.

“Don’t wait for a table that you quoted 30 minutes to come to you at 40 minutes. Instead, at 25 minutes, update them with a glass of champagne. If a guest is initiating something, you’re behind. Always be ahead and proactive.” — Peter Esmond, former General Manager of Per Se in New York and current VP of Customer Success at Reserve

“Don’t ignore people who are waiting. It may be tough to keep going back and saying table isn’t ready, but it’s better than ignoring them and hoping the problem will fix itself.” — Katie Nielsen, former Operations Manager at Motze in San Francisco and current Implementation and Support Specialist – West Coast at Reserve

Honesty is the best policy.

“If the hosts communicate to the guests about what’s happening, and if you’re honest and not giving false quotes, guests will stay.” — Ben Fileccia, former DOO of Sbraga Dining in Philadelphia and current Restaurant Partnerships Manager – Mid-Atlantic at Reserve

“There’s a tendency to avoid confrontation which exacerbates the situation. Don’t be afraid to admit to an error and be up front and honest with a guest. And then you can resolve the issue for them in a way that’s memorable” — Chandre Geis, former General Manager of Uchi Restaurant and La Condesa in Austin and current Restaurant Success Manager at Reserve

Share what you know with others.

“Be sure to communicate what you’ve noticed about angry or irritated guests across your restaurant so the rest of your team can manage that guest properly throughout the night.” — Brad Zanoni, former Service Manager at Spiaggia in Chicago and current Restaurant Success Manager at Reserve

“Constantly communicate to your team what’s happening so that collectively you’re dealing with issues, instead of one person on an island handling things. You’ll never be successful that way.” — Peter Esmond, former General Manager of Per Se in New York and current VP of Customer Success at Reserve

Want to learn more about how Reserve’s technology can help you manage your door? Click here to chat with us.

A Guide to Managing Your Door Effectively, Part 2 : The Power of Communication posted first on happyhourspecialsyum.blogspot.com

How To Hire Resturant Staff In Three Easy Steps

Restaurant jobs can be stressful. As a result, turnover is a significant issue across the industry. Restaurants experience turnover at a rate of more than 70 percent each year and the average cost to replace a single employee can top $5,864.

A recent Cornell study estimates the annual cost of turnover at a mid-sized full-service restaurant to be $146,600. At these rates, turnover can decimate profit margins, making hiring and retaining staff a top priority for owners and managers.

Choosing the best applicants for the job isn’t always intuitive. The following three steps will help you get the right people in place and keep them around for the long run.

Step 1: Reflect on Your Brand

You put time and money into creating and marketing your brand, which is critical to getting customers through the door. However, how much effort have you put into your talent brand?
Also referred to as your employer brand, this is your reputation among former, current and potential employees:

• Determine what makes working for your business great, and focus on enhancing those features.
• Give the same attention to publicizing your talent brand as you do to marketing your restaurant, and you can look forward to improvements in the quantity and quality of applicants when you post jobs.

Step 2: Hire for Attitude

There are benefits to hiring for experience and skills, but making employment decisions solely on these factors is a mistake. Choose enthusiastic and optimistic candidates who are open to a collaborative, team-based work environment.

Such individuals are easy to train, and their skills will come in few weeks. On the other hand, highly skilled but extremely negative staff members are unlikely to demonstrate a change in attitude, which creates a gloomy and tense work environment for everyone

Step 3: Prioritize Onboarding and Training

No one appreciates being set up for failure and you will see significant new hire turnover if you fail to onboard and train effectively. Don’t fall for the theory that a sink-or-swim approach will get rid of poor employees early. Your best workers will leave too, because they will quickly become discouraged if they have too many mishaps.

After the obligatory tax forms and new hire paperwork, assign a mentor to walk new employees through the basics, from where to find the restroom to unwritten rules about sampling menu items. Spend time formally training on critical job skills, and give new hires the feedback they need to improve in problem areas. Be patient and allow them enough time to get it right.

This attention and encouragement at the beginning of their employment journey tends to earn you long-term loyalty and lower turnover.

 

How To Hire Resturant Staff In Three Easy Steps posted first on happyhourspecialsyum.blogspot.com

MRM News: Restaurant Tech’s Equipment Effect

In this MRM News clip, Nik Ellickson, Sales Development Manager – Hobart, ITW Food Equipment Group, discusses how technological advances in restaurant equipment can have time- and cost-saving effects for managers and owners. Additionally, new design elements provide benefits in food safety. 

MRM News: Restaurant Tech’s Equipment Effect posted first on happyhourspecialsyum.blogspot.com

A Guide to Managing Your Door Effectively, Part 1: Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen

A guest starts forming an impression of your restaurant the minute they step inside, so it’s important to create a great experience for them even at the door. But when the doors are opening and it’s all happening, how do you keep everything in check? How do you handle guests that are waiting? How can you use technology to make things more efficient?

Below, in Part One of a series of learnings on managing your door more effectively, Reserve’s industry vets share ways that managers can be helpful at the door while avoiding having “too many cooks in the kitchen.” Because (surprise!) 10 different people manning the books isn’t the best approach.

Know your role and stick to it.

“As the GM, I actively tried not to take an order on a table. I’d pour water, I’d bus tables, I’d run food but anything relationship oriented like taking an order cuts off your server at the knees. Or if you’re greeting the guests, it’s the same thing. The host should say hello and goodnight. The GM should just support all those responsibilities and elevate where possible.” — Peter Esmond, former General Manager of Per Se in New York and current VP of Customer Success at Reserve

“If you’re in a high volume restaurant, it’s critical you have one stationary point person at the door. Don’t have too many cooks in the kitchen.” — Chandre Geis, former General Manager of of Aster in San Francisco and Uchi Restaurant and La Condesa in Austin and current Restaurant Success Manager at Reserve

“Allow the host to do their job and not overstep. The host usually does have a plan and everything is mapped out in a particular way. Look in from the outside and step in as needed.” — Katie Nielsen, former Operations Manager at Motze in San Francisco and current Implementation and Support Specialist – West Coast at Reserve

Show your face — your best one.

“It’s difficult for an anchor to go and hunt down a manager when things are chaotic. So a GM should come up regularly and be in touch with the host stand. Then they can be the in between person — to let the kitchen know how many menus are about to drop and to talk to guests that are waiting too long.” — Katarina Havana, former Maître d’ of Spice Market in New York and current Implementation and Support Specialist – East Coast at Reserve

“A manager should model the behavior and optimistic default they want their team at the front door to mimic.” — Eli Feldman, former DOO at Barbara Lynch Gruppo in Boston and current Restaurant Success Manager at Reserve

Put out the fires.

“The GM should always get involved at the 15 minute mark when a guest is waiting. The host would come tap me and tell me who was waiting 15+ minutes and I would introduce myself and talk to the guest. We’d become friends, and it’s typically great after that.” — Ben Fileccia, former DOO of Sbraga Dining in Philadelphia and current Restaurant Partnerships Manager – Mid-Atlantic at Reserve

“The GM is the diffuser when you get angry customers from time to time. Sometimes guests just need to know they’ve talked to someone else besides the host.” — Pete Schaaf, former GM of Roberta’s in New York and current Restaurant Success Manager at Reserve

Want to learn more about how Reserve’s technology can help you manage your door? Click here to chat with us.

A Guide to Managing Your Door Effectively, Part 1: Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen posted first on happyhourspecialsyum.blogspot.com