The Restaurant Growth Group & Get Me Guests

It was a recent Friday night at a fairly new, white-tablecloth Northern Italian Restaurant just outside of New York City. My wife Mary Ann and I were joined by our old friends, Allen and Amy. This was our first visit and we were looking forward to a nice evening, with old friends a good bottle of wine and a new culinary experience.

Once seated with our menus in hand, a very bubbly server came over to take a drink order. “Hi Guys! I’m Heather and I’ll be taking care of you tonight. (First of all, we weren’t all “guys” and I wanted to be fed, not “taken care of.” So, moving on, I asked, “What looks good tonight Heather? “ Everything!” she replied, and for a second, I could have sworn that I was at a midscale chain rather than at a fine dining establishment. I then asked about the preparation of the Veal Sorrentino and I got a blank stare, and the response, “I don’t know, I never had it.”

If you’re like me, you probably hope that your server is somewhat familiar with the menu. I come to a restaurant, they seat me, they present me with a menu, they make me feel welcome, I am enjoying the total guest experience thing, and the last thing I want is to be playing is “Russian Roulette” at a new place with an unfamiliar menu. Most guests want and need to be guided – it’s only human nature. If I walk into a restaurant and the host says to me, “Oh, just sit anywhere,” does that say to me that they really don’t care where I sit? It doesn’t matter where I sit? Or that they just don’t want to bother with me? If it’s a QSR or QC unit, I don’t expect to be seated, but virtually anywhere else, I do. It’s common courtesy and shows that the guest is being cared for from the time they walk through the front door. Remember we are in the guest service industry!

Back to your menu, ultimately it’s all about the food! So help guide your guests through your kitchen and the hard work on the menu items that the back of the house has been prepping all day for. Help your guest decide what to eat. If not for the guest, do it for yourself. Don’t you want to push your signature items that your guests will rave about to all their friends? Don’t you want to push your higher margin items that you’ll make more money on? Think of good will, free advertising and increased bottom line.
Educate your servers. Empower them to guide your guests through your menu. Explain each item to them. Remember to do it for new employees. It’s just good business. Make sure that everyone on the floor has sampled your entire menu and specials so they know what they are talking about. Remind them to recommend what you want them to recommend. Be smart. Be suggestive. Empower and keep a watchful eye. After all, they are your front line ambassadors!

Recently, while traveling in the New England area visiting colleges for my two older daughters, we decided to stay at a limited service suite hotel just north of Boston. With extra beds, a pool, and a couple of TV’s (not to mention the free breakfast,) it would make the five of us somewhat comfortable at a reasonable price (sort of like choosing a theme casual restaurant where you know that everyone in the party can find something on the menu that they’ll be happy with.)

Given my platinum frequent traveler status with this particular chain, upon check-in I requested a complementary upgrade to a larger room (something that normally happens regularly if a larger room is available.) I was told that whereas maybe other hotels within this chain provided upgrades, the owner-operator (franchisee) of this particular unit did not do upgrades and if I wanted a larger room, I would have to pay for it (similar to asking for a substitution at a restaurant of tomatoes for French fries and being told that menu changes are not allowed and that it would cost me more money if I wanted it.)

I was then given a yellow card to place on my dashboard to indicate that I was a hotel guest and was told that I had better remove any GPS devices from my front seat since the hotel parking lot was prone to car break-ins and one just occurred the previous night. My feeling of security was waning similar to hanging up my coat in a restaurant coatroom and seeing the sign stating that they are “Not responsible for lost or stolen merchandise” – a very comfortable feeling knowing that I have to go and check on my coat every 10 minutes while I am in the middle of my meal.)

That night we noticed that our hotel room was filling with cigarette smoke. I noticed that we were just over the back entrance and that’s where guests and employees went to smoke. I called the front desk and was told that “people have a right to smoke. Just close the window and put on the air conditioning.” Now I was being told what to do. This reminded me of a waiter coming to my table not long ago to ask if everything was OK with my medium rare steak and I told him it was well done. His response was that brown throughout the middle is how the chef cooks medium rare and there was nothing he can do about it. Enjoy!
Is your staff guilty of similar incidents? Our guests do not come to us to buy a tank of gas, a new couch or a set of tires. They visit us to spend their hard earned money for some good food, peace, relaxation and entertainment. We are vying for “share of stomach” and if we can’t provide the “ultimate guest experience” and make things right, they know that someone else can and we’ve lost that guest to our competitors the next time they decide to go out (whether for a sandwich by themselves, or a special occasion full meal with friends and family.) Hospitality. “Cordial and generous reception of or disposition toward guests” or “generously providing care and kindness to whoever is in need.”

Hospitality. Have we forgotten what it means? Management must set the example every day and be on top of the front line of guest service – the front of house. If management doesn’t preach “hospitality” and the “total guest experience,” than how can we expect our employees to do so?

What’s your definition of hospitality and guest service? Comments?

The one thing that I remember most about being in My Grandmother’s Kitchen is the whole family thing. Now that I am older with children of my own, I realize that there was something really magical about being with your family in your grandparent’s house. Sitting at the kitchen table eating the noon or evening meal was an event that happened weekly at Bubby’s. You could always rely on the fact that at any given time there would be a relative that would show up at the door with another wonderful blue-twine tied white box of some item that would be a fabulous ending to a meal. I would be surrounded by relatives of all ages, and if the room got packed with adults, us kids would eat first and then be sent to the living room where we had to entertain ourselves or sit quietly and watch a show of our parents choosing (usually Ed Sullivan, Bonanza, or Lawrence Welk – Ugh!)
We had some relatives that were loud but were filled with wonderful stories of life in Europe or what happened the other day in Brooklyn that would mesmerize us all, and we would laugh and laugh until it hurt. What was it that connected us together other than being related? The food that always seemed to be plentiful, even at times when you could overhear the conversation about how difficult living on a meager income really was.
Maybe that’s why after college and a career in advertising that I decided that I needed a change, that I needed to do something that I had always wanted to do and loved, and that was to cook! So I was excited when I was admitted to The Culinary Institute of America, and began my career in the field of food. The experience was incredible. When I did my externship and interned, I realized that my respect for chefs, sous chefs, line cooks, waitstaff, dishwashers, and anyone and everyone who works in this industry was incredible. The business is difficult but unlike advertising where it could take months before you could get a response, positive or negative, the gratification in the restaurant business of knowing that you put out a wonderful meal and the accompanying accolades are instantaneous. It was an adrenaline rush and I loved it!
But then reality set in and I realized that I had a young family. I didn’t want to kill myself 24/7, and I needed to make money. So today, I combine my love for food, my love for the food industry and my experience and expertise as a marketing pro into a wonderful job. I am the Restaurant Growth Group and Get Me Guests!, and each day, I help small to midsize restaurants fill their dining rooms with guests. I did it for the big boys for years, but in this economy, my allegiance has changed. Being a small business person, and in this uncertain economy, it is a challenge for small operators to compete with the big guys with their huge marketing budgets. I love small to mid size operations because each time I walk through their doors, I realize that they will work harder to get my business, and to keep my business. The good operators will bend over backwards to insure that I have the toatal guest experience. It’s not their job…..it’s their life! And, they don’t necessarily have the financial support behind them to keep them going if they have a bad day, if it rains and the guests don’t come, if the dishwasher doesn’t show up to work, if their guests taste s change, if a new operation opens down the street and is giving away the food. I realize that those mom and pop operations are like our family because they have their issues also but will always welcome you into their homes and provide memories that can last a lifetime.

Recently, while out to dinner with my wife at one of our favorite nouveau eclectic local establishments (I don’t know quite else how to refer to it – in any case avg pp check approx $65,) we were speaking to the manager. I asked him how business was and he looked me square in the eye and without missing a beat, told me that “… it’s never been better!” I looked around. It was about 9:45PM. I observed that we were probably part of a crowd of 20 guests in a room that could hold 150. In the past at 9:45, there normally would have been a line out the door with a minimum of a 30 minute wait. The bar would have been 3 deep. What happened? The food was as awesome as usual, same great staff, fantastic ambiance. Nothing unusual about the weather. No health code violations in the paper that I may have missed. Just no guests on what should have been one of the busiest nights of the week. Also, it was business as usual, no promotion, no specials, no emails, no nothing.
It just so happens that The New York Times had an article on the front page on July 17, 2010 stating that folks that have money and have been spending are beginning to lose confidence in the economy and are beginning to tighten their belts. According to a Thompson Reuters/University of Michigan study released on July 16, consumer confidence has slumped to its lowest point since August 2009. Be it concerns about global instability, volatility of the stock market, high unemployment leading to extended unemployment benefits meaning more deficits, high end consumers are becoming more jittery and cautious and that is leading to decreased restaurant visits and lower check averages. Of course it’s not just a problem at the high end, it’s a problem across the board…..and let’s face it, it isn’t going away any time to quick. The one interesting point that was reaffirmed in the article was that “…consumers will stop spending because of their concerns about a slowdown, and that economic growth will slow because consumers have stopped spending.”
So what to do? Number 1: It’s not going to get better by itself – it’s up to you. DO NOT STOP MARKETING! Your guests are still there, they have not dropped dead, they have just changed their spending habits a bit. Now is the time to get creative. Now is the time for you to create the “Ultimate Guest Experience.” Everything in our operation has to be perfect. If you have fallen down on one item on your perfection checklist, you may have lost your guest for next time, and time and time after that. As I have said before, it’s not business as usual. For heaven sake, don’t be negative. It’s an old cliché, but turn this bit of news into an opportunity to re-look at your concept and insure that you are all you can be! It’s amazing how creative you can be if you take your head out of the sand and see that the glass is half full.

“If you always do what you always did, You’ll always get what you’ve always got.” Isn’t it the truth. In this uncertain economy, what you did yesterday isn’t going to cut it tomorrow. There is no such thing as “business as usual.” In order to get ahead of your competition and let your guests know that you’re still around with the best food, service and total guest experience, you’ve got to keep your marketing and promotions fresh, learn to get guests where they are at a particular moment and not necessarily use the discount mailers for % off deals. The world is mobile and electronic, and thats the way your marketing tactics need to be. Outwit and outsmart your competition. Be the first one there. Just because you’re in business doesn’t mean that it’s newsworthy. Create news. Create hype. Let your target audience know you’re still around. Be crafty. Be non-traditional. Be exciting. Be out there!

Welcome to The Restaurant Growth Group’s new blog!  With daily changes in the economy, it is essential that we all stay up to date on what is happening in our industry and how we can become more proactive in Getting More Guests through our doors.  The Restaurant Growth Group has launched a new offering  www.getmeguests.com which  customizes marketing and promotional programs to your specific needs.   Keep tuned to this space where we’ll share our insights on changing restaurant business models and how to keep current on getting new guests through your doors!