Excuse Me, Ms, Sir, Somebody.....Hello!!

With restaurants being allowed in more areas to open to some capacity, we need to have a hard look at our Teams and processes to make sure that we are ready to handle welcoming Guests back into our restaurants. That may mean a re-education of our floor Teams because now, the have to actually work the floor.

With this past weekend being Valentines, we decided we would go out for dinner. We made this decision late and when we booked, took the only reservation that left. Saturday at 5pm. Knowing that restaurants do not want you showing up too early, I planned my time to get there about 5 minutes early. When we go close to the restaurant, I knew we were going to be late.

There was a lineup around the block from the restaurant. Now, this is a busy place(Charlie's on Prior, Prior Lake MN) and has been well supported by it's regulars throughout the pandemic, but I have never seen this. Not knowing what the issue was, I called the restaurant to let them know I was stuck and going to be late. It took a while but I was finally able to speak to someone. They were aware of the line and assured me my reservation was safe and thanked me for calling.

Shortly after my call, the line started to move. Slowly but it was moving. When we got around the corner to where we could see the restaurant, we also saw a very warmly dressed person approaching cars. The line up was due a preorder fundraiser for a local church and everyone had showed up at the same time to get there orders. The warmly dressed person(it was around -30 with the wind) was confirming who was there for the fundraiser and who was there for a reservation. He got to us and we told him we had a reservation. He directed us around the line and we were able to easily find a parking spot. They saw an issue and reacted to make it better. That made me feel a bit better about how things were going to go for our night out.

When we got to the Hostess Stand, we were promptly greeted and could see that she was visibly stressed. But, she remained friendly and made sure she did her best to make us feel welcome and seated us right away. Within minutes our server was there taking our drink order and then our food order. Everything came out very quickly and we enjoyed our meal.

Now, I know this all sounds pretty mundane and really just meeting expectations, but that is where you are wrong. Here's why. We were at the restaurant for about an hour. For the first 20 minutes I could see the manager and his Team rushing out orders to the waiting cars. At no point did that impact our dining experience. When they were done with the delivery, the manager made THREE stops at our table to see how we were enjoying out meal and engaging in appropriate conversation with us. Not intruding, just the right amount.

I thought back to some of my other recent restaurant visits and realized, this is the first time I have had a manager do a Table Touch in a very long time. I was so used to not getting one, it surprised me a bit, but in a good way. It seems like the Table Touch is a lost art that many restaurant managers are not taking advantage of. This is your chance to make that first impression all over again. Guests are finally coming back to dine inside and we need to make sure we let them know we appreciate them and that we care about their experience in our restaurants.

In QSR, we used a 10ft., 4ft. rule. At 10ft you were at minimum making eye contact and within 4 ft you were engaging the Guest. It is important to make that connection and let the Guest know they matter. We have a 3 minute threshold. If someone connects with a Guest every 3 minutes, it resets our clocks and we will less likely feel neglected.

When re-opening your dining rooms, you need to make sure you retrain your Teams on Guest engagement. Remind them how important that connection is to their and your success. It has been a long time since they have done this and you need to reinforce the behaviour. Do role playing, put up some cheesy signs in the back and live it yourself. You set the tone for your restaurant. If they see you living it, there is a better chance they will follow along.

To manager at Charlie's on Prior, in Prior Lake, MN. THANK YOU. You reminded me how important this is and made our dining experience even that much better.

If you need help working with your Teams and redeveloping some of the techniques on how to welcome your dine in Guests, feel free to reach out to me at [email protected]. I am happy to help!