The 13 Fatal Flaws of Restaurant Service

by Jim Sullivan, CEO, Sullivision.com, Contributor to Wall Street Journal, USA Today and New York Times

Service is a company's invisible product. It makes a meal taste better and drives repeat business. It's the lifeblood of any successful foodservice company. As someone whose training programs are used by companies that include Walt Disney, Panera Bread, Marriott, Starbucks, McDonald's, The Cheesecake Factory, Shake Shack, Denny's and more, I've learned a lot from these great brands about what good service looks like. But this article is about what service does not like. Here's a short list of the primary reasons that restaurant guests will visit the competition instead of you. What's missing from this list? Please add your comments at the bottom of this post and thanks!

1.  Cashier or Host absent or distracted when greeting or seating. Most customer complaints can be traced back to disrespect or perceived disrespect. A distracted, visibly irritated or stressed greeter (or cashier) should not be the first thing a customer experiences when walking in the front door of a full-service restaurant. After all, they just drove past 10, 20, 30 or 40 other restaurants to come to yours. Hosts and greeters should be enthusiastic, focused, and pleasant, especially when they’re busy. After all, the customer is not an interruption of their job. The customer is their job.

2.  Too slow when speed is expected. Over 60% of Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) business in North American foodservice chains is now drive-through, and studies show that shaving just 10 seconds off the drive-through wait time at peak periods increases throughput and annual sales by as much as $37,000 per unit. Show your managers and team how to be both accurate and swift during peak and slower drive-through meal periods. Make sure that you and your managers recognize the hourly associates when they improve accuracy and speed, and coach them how to get better when they don’t. Hot Tip: put a premium on accuracy over speed. After all, you’re not in the business of serving the wrong food fast.” Just try to woo back a customer who drives all the way home only to find a wrong, incomplete or missing order. Always repeat the order back at the pass-through window

3. Too fast when ease is expected. In full-service operations, assess first what time constraints—if any--your guests might be facing. Speed it up for guests in a hurry, but don’t rush customers who want a leisurely experience. How do you know the difference? Train servers to first take the experience order. Greet each table in a friendly and calm manner; find out if they are in for a leisurely meal or have a tight time-frame. Now pace and layer your service accordingly. P.S.: just because a guest tells you they’re “not in a hurry” doesn’t mean the server should then give priority to all their other tables. What the guest is really saying is “We’re hungry but not in a hurry to eat.”

4.  Server interrupting w/out permission. Too many servers robotically hustle up to the “next” table and interrupt guest conversations with an abrupt “Ready to order?” backed with a forced smile. Teach servers to stand next to the table if guests are talking to each other until eye contact from the guest indicates they’re ready.

5.  Manager interrupting with or without permission. Managers are taught to do “100% table visits” but few have mastered the finesse of doing so. They too often interrupt guests in mid-bite with a brash “How is everything, folks?” Suggestion: wait to the side for permission to interrupt, just like a server should. And don’t stay too long unless it’s obvious the customers want you to.

6.   Superficial Congeniality. This term speaks volumes to the fact that service has to feel natural, warm and genuine to have true value for the customer. What does “superficial congeniality” look and feel like? Picture the flight attendants on United Airlines, whose facial expressions seem to have been the inspiration for the Whiskey Sour.

7.  Letting guests overhear managers and crew discuss the daily activities of running a restaurant. Customers should never have to be within earshot of managers telling busers to wipe down a table, clean the bathroom, or bring more ice to a bartender. They should never, ever have to hear a manager reprimanding a server or greeter, or listen to a Multiunit Leader having a meeting at an adjoining table while complaining to a unit manager about pay or performance. You’re always on stage. Make certain that your managers are pulling those conversations away from your customers, and do the same when you’re meeting with them in your dining rooms. 

8.  Not noticing a guest with a problem. The most important real estate in a restaurant is the 18 inches or so between the top of the table and the top of the customers head. Managers must be taught to constantly scan the dining areas for guest’s body language in every section. Look for patrons who appear to need something or seem unhappy with their food, beverage or experience. Managers should then direct the server to those guests or approach them herself to resolve the problem. Know what’s even worse? See next point.

9.  Avoiding a guest with a problem. This is much worse than not noticing a problem in the first place. Managers and servers must be vigilant in the dining room about resolving a small problem before it becomes a big one. The classic problem resolution formula follows the acronym BLAST: Believe the Customer, Listen to them, Act on the complaint, Satisfy them and Thank them for bringing it to your attention.

10. A work area that is not spotless. Unless you’re a slammed grill cook in the middle of a dinner rush, there is no reason why your work area shouldn’t be clean and neat, always and all ways. You serve better and sell more in a clean restaurant, (including clean tables, counter tops & pass-through shelfs at drive-thru windows). Don’t think that customers don’t notice and talk about it.

11.  Thanking the cash register. Too many customer-facing foodservice cashiers conclude transactions by handing back change and then looking down while they mutter “thank you.” Ouch. Eyes up, big smiles, sincere appreciation.

12.  Spending too much time with regulars and ignoring the “unknowns.” Teach your managers the importance of seeking out strangers every shift and touching every table. Ask guests if this is their first time with you, learn their names, and thank them for their patronage. Don’t let managers spend all their time with just the familiar customer faces and miss opportunities to meet new ones.

13. Forgetting who the real competition is. That would be your customer, not another restaurant.  

To deliver exemplary service, add something to the experience that cannot be bought or measured with money, and that is sincerity and hospitality. In summary, Keep it fresh, keep it focused, keep it fun, and remember to say thank you. We're only as good as your last happy Guest.

This is but a start on a list of restaurant service flaws that could easily go to a hundred. Add your fatal flaw in the comments section under this post and let's see if we can't collectively create a comprehensive checklist for all to benefit from. Thanks!

This post is excerpted from Jim Sullivan's best-selling book Fundamentals: 9 Ways to Be Brilliant at the New Business Basics. Over 170,000 copies sold. Please check out the brand new 4th Edition of Multiunit Leadership as well. Both books available at Amazon or Sullivision.com.