Business Killer 4: Non-traditional Competitors Cont'd - Restaurant Case Study with Agnes
Posted by Ryan Volberg at November 29, 2007 2:45 PM
Determine Service Levels by being a Customer
With a revitalized menu, Agnes thought about how to improve the service standards at her restaurant.
Since her approach with her menu was so successful, she decided to take a similar approach with how guests were treated in her restaurant. So she invited a group of friends to come for dinner. She carefully chose the party. A neighbor, one of her friends from a local charity she was involved with and her sister in-law who was very active in politics. The group had wildly differing opinions on many topics and previous encounters had been almost, well, explosive. The activity at the table would create little opportunity for staff to approach Agnes personally. This would give Agnes a chance to survey both the treatment at her own table and how other guests were being treated.
What she saw appalled her. Dirty plates left to sit, crumbs on the table and wine bottles sitting empty with no offer from servers to get more were just the first three entries in her small notebook.
By the time dinner was done, Agnes had made several pages of notes.
As she drove home, she let her mind wander to some of the best experiences that she'd had as a customer in other restaurants. When she walked in the door, she sat down at her kitchen table and began to outline what she considered to be, "The Perfect Dining Experience". She worked until well past 3:00 in the morning before retiring to bed.
She rose early, in spite of the fact that she had planned to work a mid shift from 11:00 in the morning until about 9 or 10 at night. She called the manager at the store and had him call all the servers for a short-notice staff meeting.
At 3:00, the staff were gathered for the staff meeting. Agnes had never been much for speaking to groups in public, but her 15 servers were almost like family. Some of them had been with her for years. Nonetheless, today was different. Agnes was extremely excited about what she was going to share, and it showed.
Agnes started to outline the new service standards. She could almost feel the tension in the room rise.
"You're asking us to be robots," expressed one server loudly.
"I'm not introducing myself to customers that way...It's so tacky," said another.
"Listen, I put up with you changing your menu and playing big-shot restaurant owner, but if you're going to make these changes to the way we treat customers, I'll quit." That comment stung badly since it was delivered from a veteran employee.
It was clear that Agnes had missed the mark with some of her ideas. What could she say or do to save this rapidly deteriorating situation?
Next time: Agnes tries to regain control of her staff and ultimately, her customers' experience in her restaurant.
Ryan Volberg is the CEO of Vivonet, a company dedicated to ensuring retail and restaurant success.
 Category: Survival Tips Story of Agnes the Restaurateur
Comments
|
