What exactly is ‘friendly’ service?

by Stephen W. Ayers September 6th. 2016

When you go onto the social media sites to read the reviews of your establishment, you invariably read about ‘friendly’ service, or ‘bad service’ or any other amount of service related comments.

Of course, this is of the utmost importance since service is one of the things, if not THE thing that differentiates you from your competitive set. Other things impact the guest stay such as hygiene, cleanliness and maintenance, but service is the most impactful and that is usually why it gets the most mentions in any sample reviews.

You can experience the friendliest service in the world but which is of no use to you. I want to illustrate this point by telling you of when I started out in the industry and began as a waiter.

I put on my black trousers, crisp white shirt and black bow tie, shined my shoes and reported to the headwaiter.

He gave me a ‘captains order’ booklet, showed me the menus, informed me of my station and off I was sent to the races. Now I had been taught correct service and was the friendliest guy around but that got me nowhere fast.

The first time one of my guests asked for another knife, a napkin, a toothpick or for some other item I was lost. Nobody had taken the time to explain the whereabouts of all the backup stuff I would need! I did not even know where the guest washroom was, and yet I gave really, and I mean really, friendly service!

Of course I corrected all this very quickly and was ‘in the know’ by the end of my first day, but I really could have used that information before I started my first shift in that small fish restaurant by Lake Geneva where I earned some useful cash during my holidays.

Many, if not all, of the big brands have carefully laid out training procedures and perhaps a ‘big brother’ who is the ‘newbie’s’ back up encyclopedia for all questions. This should take care of all things service if the person is naturally likeable, and it usually does.

But how many GM’s and executive heads of department, or even the HR actually checks that this happens? How many times as a guest have you asked for a specific item and had to wait while your waiter went off in search of someone to ask? Or have you asked a waiter for specifics of a menu item only to be told that a quick trip to the kitchen for clarification was necessary? It happens all the time. Why? Because the training lacked either in depth information or because no one cared enough to make sure that the poor waiter was fully trained before being unleashed on his customers.

So I ask again, what is friendly service?

Friendly service is service that is correct, backed by in depth knowledge of not only the position, but all the necessary facts and locations to be able to do the job……and a friendly person to carry it out.

Why run the risk of getting bad reviews on any site? Every service personnel are entitled to training both before starting their position and also during and ‘on the job’ training. You might save a few cents by cutting corners, but you will undoubtedly lose much more in the long run.

My answer is simple: Train your service personnel fully in ALL aspects of their position, and you will get great reviews! It is a simple secret that everyone knows and that some ignore at their peril!

Stephen W. Ayers, CEO STAY Ahead Hospitality.

www.stayaheadhospitality.com