George's Rumblings!

Today I feel the need to write about how independent restaurant owners and operators are coping with economic crisis that is affecting the country. I understand very well how tough it is for some of you and also, as an operator myself, know how frustrating it may be to see business sliding to the point one starts feeling hopeless, and think that the only alternative to improve it is to make cuts, even in areas that will affect customer satisfaction directly, things like changing the quality specs of the products, cutting service hours, portion size, etc. and while doing so, in this process, one tends to lose focus on the very basics of the business, to exceed the customers expectations. Today, more than ever, you almost have to re-invent the way you do business, looking for innovations and new ways to deliver excellent service.

Lately, I've dined in several restaurants around town, I noticed that most of them have cut back on things that really affect the experience of the customer, like the quality of the ingridients and service. I know very well that in every restaurant operation there are "fat" that need to be trimmed down at best or eliminated, and this is where the operators and ownesrs need to take a step back and look where they can eliminate that "fat" and maximize the guest experience.

Some have outdated menus, I call them outdated, because, there were many "86" items that were in the menu, in one case I had to go over 3 or 4 different wines until I found one they had, it is a frustrating experience, but I believe the worst part of all, was that the server was not aware of the availibity of those wines, and I know that he too was frustrated and embarrased, as service was not up to standards, I know the standards of that restaurant, as I dine there at least once a month, it is one of my favorite places, or maybe I should say, it was?

My point is, is your average check is down, the traffic is down and you don't maximize what you get, to the contrary, you give less, then of course, you'd get less as well. But on the other side of the coin, if you focus on the business you have and nurture it, maintain your quality, your level of service, and give some extra and your service staff is focusing in selling and not in serving, chances are that the traffic flow of your business will increase as well, you see, customers nowaday, are more educated and know very well when they get a good value for their money.

Remember, time of crisis is time of opportunities as well, when we face a crisis, time is telling us that we need to make some changes, that the processes, products and ideas that brought your business here, are not longer effective and need to be renewed, or updated, you can not keep doing the same thing and expect a different more positive result.

Now it is the time to re-focus, to re-charge, to, maybe, create a new vision for your business or most important to re-train and take a deep look and your staff and how they are delivering the product. with all this said, I have a question for everyone, are you aware of the six steps of service? are you and/or your staff living it? are you staff giving great service with passion? are your servers, serving or selling? do you still feel the passion for service or have you let up during these challenging times? are you and/or your staff taking care of business "one customer at the time"? Remember, your leadership role is very important to set the tone of the direction for your operation to move forward or backwards and that you are holding in your hands the future of your business, and possibly, your own!

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Product Tiers and ADR Clusters: Integrating Two Methods for Determining Hotel Competitive Sets

Product Tiers and ADR Clusters: Integrating Two Methods for Determining Hotel Competitive Sets

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Customer Service Principle

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Throughout business history, companies have introduced grand strategies designed to raise their levels of customer service. They soon discovered, however, that the strategies were the easy part. Getting employees to buy into the strategy and make it work proved more difficult. Not surprisingly, results were usually doomed to failure from the start.

This inability to "close the deal" has been a perennial cause of puzzlement and frustration to company executives. They assumes that once strategies are unveiled, employees will implement the program in such a way that customers notice an increased level of customer service.
Wrong. Not only do sales and service not rise; morale goes down with them! The reason? The assumption that customer service can improve without employee commitment.

All too often, management forgets that strategies and programs start and end with their people. This assumption is a throwback to the thinking of the American Industrial Age when employees were reduced to a component of production, not unlike a piece of equipment.

Industrial age thinking was based on the concept that employees did not want to work and were definitely not concerned enough to do quality work. Employees were given orders, and except for breakdowns (injury or illness), tasks were grudgingly completed.

Of course time has proven again and again that employees DO want to work, they DO enjoy their work, and they want to care about the quality of their work. Research has shown that work plays a huge part in a person's self esteem, self worth and personal happiness.

To turn your strategy into reality, you must create an environment that builds employee pride and quality. It is absolutely vital that customer service be a long-term, everyday commitment that employees believe in. Otherwise, employees will think it just another passing management fad that will fade away after a brief flurry of activity like so many other programs. They've seen it all before and if they don't believe it, it won't succeed.

To illustrate the difference in employee attitudes consider this parable. An observer passed by two job sites and asked one employee from each what they were doing.

Employee one: I'm working like hell for too little money.
Employee two: I'm building a cathedral.

Notice any difference in attitude? One was sold on the project and therefore became part of it, while the other was merely a part of the machine. Which employee would you want representing your establishment?

Customer Service Principles:
Commit to excellent customer service. Live it, breathe it, believe it, and reward it.
Sell the employees on the whole, not just their part.

Ensure that any Marketing initiatives emphasize your employees, not just your products. When morale and pride go up, you can bet services and sales will go up. Make your employees feel they are part of an elite group.

Ensure all customer contact employees have autonomy to accommodate their customers, even if it means bending company rules. Then take a hard look at those bent rules, and see if they need to be discarded entirely.

Be better than your competitor by knowing your competitor. Take your key people out to a competitor's operation, and talk about what works there and what doesn't (after you've left, of course.)

Finally, keep the focus on your people: They ARE your business!

Service Equals Performance Equals Service

http://www.yaseintl.com/george@yaseintl.com

Service can be described as a "performance" of some kind involving two parties whereby one party is the benefactor and the other party is the performing party receiving some type of monetary payment. The value of the Service depends on the personal experience of the benefactor.

When I looked it up in Webster's, there it was #11 out of 31 definitions. The payment part was not included, but the key word mentioned was "performance."

As I relate this to restaurants, it's so easy to see why dining room service is excellent training for actors, since they're performing all of the time. There might be days when their energy level is low, yet they are still expected to perform on the show stage at night. It is not much different for dining room service staff whose livelihood depends quite a bit on how they look and act before many people per night. The word "performance" makes a lot of sense when relating it to other Service fields such as medical, legal, financial and armed, even in religion they're called prayer services.

With increased human knowledge and modern inventions, the term "Customer Service" has evolved over time. Whenever a new technology is invented, an array of "services" develops making it accessible to the general public with success depending on product "performance" and the product related "Services performance." Whether it is a bulb to make a room bright or a flying machine that sends people around the world faster, the need for developed services attached to new technologies does create jobs.

Even at the computer, we dial up our Internet "Service" Provider to gain access to the information highway. The instantaneous delivery of sorted out information within seconds is now the norm. Proper navigation "performance" (that word again) allow us to surf the World Wide Web streamlining information at our fingertips. With improved search engine technology, the return of consumer searches has become more categorically specific-once again proving better performance results in better service.

Take a look around, and you will notice service performances touch every part of our daily lives - many of which are taken for granted.

Customer Service Radar

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By George Abuabara

On multiple occasions I have heard my associates praise service personnel who have “it”. “It” is difficult to define, but “it” makes customers happy. One facet of “it” is what they refer to as ‘table radar’. M*A*S*H viewers know that ‘Radar’ O’Reilly received his nickname because his ‘radar’ enabled him to know what was going to happen before anyone else did. With ‘table radar’ a server knows what the guests needs before the guest actually asks for it.

Since this talent for assisting customers before they ask for assistance can lead to extremely satisfied customers it is appropriate to ask if this is a talent one must be born with or if it is a skill that can be learned. I believe that this is a skill that can be learned and developed. Servers with ‘table radar’ have the ability to “read” the customer ‘s face and postures and to detect subtle cues that lets them know the customer needs something. They act upon these cues and past experience to provide information, assistance, and sometimes products before they are requested.

To develop this type of “radar” the customer service representative (CSR or server) needs to recognize that the customer is not as familiar with the goods, services, facilities, or physical arrangement of the business as he or she is. The CSR must understand that even before many customers have the opportunity to express their need for assistance verbally they will show signs of bewilderment, confusion, or dissatisfaction on their face or in their posture. The customer may even show these outward signs before they are personally aware of their own feelings and confusion.

Once the CSR recognizes the customer’s signs that assistance is need the CSR must overcome his/her own hesitancy to intrude and must be willing to approach the customer to offer assistance. Often the fact that someone offers assistance will trigger the customer’s recognition and naming of their own needs, which they will express to the CSR.

Where the customer is either unfamiliar with the company’s offerings or undecided about what will satisfy their needs, it will be necessary for the CSR to describe what options are available. The information to be communicated may relate to services that are available, features of a product or service, or directions as to how to access these items.

Good sales people make the customer believe that they have made a wise choice by affirming the decision and they act to see that the services and goods are provided. These actions are applicable to any staff-customer interaction. So the CSR must learn to let the customer know that they have made a wise decision (even if the CSR would have made a different choice) and they must follow through to see that the service or product is delivered and that the customer is pleased with it.

Finally, like any other skill, the development of customer radar is not a one-time event. This skill must be practiced over and over again until the CSR becomes proficient at it. As the CSR repeats this proves the CSR will become more skilled at recognizing those customers who have unexpressed needs. The CSR will be more comfortable approaching the customer, will be better able to describe the available options, and will be able to confidently affirm the customer’s choice and provide a satisfying customer experience.

To make this process more memorable, I have described the process using the first letter of each of the five steps listed to create the acronym ‘radar. Specifically:

Recognize the customer and the possibility that they may be confused, seeking additional assistance or services.

Approach the customer and make it known that you are available to assist them by providing information, services, and products.

Discuss the customer’s needs and the options available to satisfy them.

Affirm the customer’s choice and Act to deliver the product or service selected.

Repeat, repeat, repeat until the process becomes automatic and you can use your ‘radar’ to provide exceptional service to customers.

What's a Loyal Customer Worth?

Does it drive you crazy when a customer complains and you end up having to comp a meal or two? Do you get on your staff when they substitute a baked potato for the vegetables? If so, you may be focusing on short term results at the expense of building a solid base of loyal, repeat customers.

Have you ever estimated what a loyal customer is worth in sales over their lifetime, if they keep coming back to your restaurant? Many operators have. A national pizza operator has estimated the average “life time sales value” of a loyal customer is around $13,000. Do you think they mind having to give away a pizza or two in order to keep a customer happy?

A high-end hotel operator puts the life time sales value of a loyal guest at over $100,000. They are so adamant about keeping their guests happy that any staff member can spend up to $2,000 on the spot, no questions asked, to resolve a guest problem.

Smart operators know it always costs less to keep a customer than it does to find a new one. Look at your customers in terms of their long term sales potential if they keep coming back again and again, not just what they may to spend at one meal.

Communicate this concept to your staff and enlist their ideas and support in finding ways to turn casual customers into loyal guests.

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Grow Your Business Through Superior Customer Experiences

Your customers experience your brand every day, with every transaction made at your retail units. With so many options available to the customer, their experience with your front line is a powerful differentiator. Yet how do you make sure your customer's experience at every opportunity is one that will generate growth?

Listen to your customers, listen to your employees, and align those customer desires with employee actions through a powerful integrated approach that:

• Understands what customers value and what employees do to impact that
• Engages employees in planning and implementing improvements
• Rewards and recognizes employees for improvements

Sounds simple, right? But when I ask anyone in the service industry "what keeps you awake at night?" the most frequently-mentioned topic was how to use customer feedback to drive performance improvement. This may seem surprising given the number of organizations that regularly gather surveys, comment cards, and other sources of customer data. But, based on the feedback I get, it appears that a large number of these companies are not satisfied with their ability to use customer feedback to improve performance and/or achieve desired business results. Integrating customer feedback into a continuous improvement process is the essential.

Continuous Improvement – Doing It Right

Throughout the latter half of the 20th century, W. Edwards Deming popularized the notion of viewing quality improvement as a continuous, closed-loop process. This same approach has been discussed in connection with customer satisfaction measurement and management for at least 15 years The idea is fairly simple: Use measures of customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction (and related voice of the customer data) to identify priority issues for improvement. Plan and implement efforts to address those issues, and then gather new measurements to determine if actions taken are having their intended effect. Apply this process on a continuous basis to monitor and manage customer experiences in ways that will lead to desired business results.