It's the little things.
Tony Pickering has owned Max Dale's Restaurant in Mt. Vernon, WA, since 1978, and he believes great customer service starts with small details. "The little things are so important. When something doesn't go quite right you have a real opportunity to impress the customer by handling it right. When people are impressed by how you handled a mistake, they remember it, and next thing you know you have a great customer."
Smile.
"Be warm, friendly and SMILE," suggests Jeff Young, Operations Manager of Buzz Inn Steakhouse, a Seattle area steak house with 15 locations. Just the act of smiling can help your attitude and make you more enjoyable to be around. Even when you are talking on the phone people can tell if you are smiling.
Keep communicating.
"Keep the customer informed, even when things are going bad," says Young.
Be observant.
"Pay attention to the customer's body language," Young also suggests.
Remain calm.
When things get really hectic, take a deep breath and count to ten. It won't help anyone if you get angry or allow yourself to feel panicked. Remain above the fray.
Acknowledge people.
"We have a very seasoned staff and they do a great job of making customers feel special," says Tony Pickering. You don't have to stop and talk to every person in a ten foot range, but make eye contact, smile, and say hello. Be open to stopping and assisting anyone who needs help. Stop and take a moment to hear what your customer has to say -- and think about your answer before you respond.
Stay involved.
Check back early on during the meal to make sure everything is OK. Ask customers if everything was OK before they leave. "Stay involved with the customer until they leave. After you deliver the their food, check back several times, pre-bus the table, and thank them when they leave," suggests Young.
Continue to re-enforce customer service.
"We talk about this at our monthly managers meetings," says Young. "And I reinforce it each time I am in the restaurant. I sit in the middle of the dining room where I watch and listen. Then I provide feedback to the managers and server team."
Choose the right employees and treat them right.
There are things you can do when you are hiring to make sure the person you hire will have the right attitude toward customers. When Jeff Young interviews a candidate for employment he thinks about the following things:
- "Do they smile?"
- "I ask them to give examples of good and bad customer service."
- "I have them tell me a true story of bad service and what they did to resolve the problem."
- "Before I hire a manager I have them complete a 'working interview.' A working interview is spending two hours in a restaurant, spending a half hour with a lead server, a bartender, on the cooks' line and then with the store manager. When the applicant leaves we collect feedback from the staff. If the applicant does not do well in the working interview, we will not hire them."
Tony Pickering tries to promote from within whenever possible. And above all, he looks for a good fit with the rest of the staff. "It's important to like one another and fit in. When a crew is proud of where they work, comfortable with the management, and enjoys coming to work each day, you can feel it when you walk in the door. We try to create a happy environment for our crew. Customers can sense it."
Empower your employees.
Managers should trust their employees with the power to make decisions that will help customers. "I'll have to ask my manager" is not helpful. Every employee should have the power to make things right for the customer. "Our servers have the power to make things right and take care of any situation they need to. I think that's important," says Pickering.
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