Never Say No!

I've written about practicing a "Hell Yes!" mindset when performing tasks and living life in general. Here, we're talking about the fundamental premise of never saying "No" to a customer.  This is not in support (or denial) of the common thinking in business that customers are always right, but to empower your staff to always be solution-providers and not problem-creators. 

For instance, when a customer walks through the front door of your business (brick & mortar or virtual), they should never feel dismissed.  The word NO is not an option.  In fact, the customer should never feel like they have to jump through your obstacles for the transaction.  This is the quickest way to send a customer to your competitor.  The key to handling these situations is to provide options and solutions.  Further, always make them feel important and their best interest a priority to your business.

In Stephen Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, habit #5 is Seek First to Understand, then to be Understood.  Listen and understand the problem first then start your response with, "Yes, and if we..." and provide options.

What we're prescribing is simple but not easy.  Make it your company's policy, practice over and over, and have a proper response to every obstacle.

#2 - Tip for Tipping

In a recent trip to South Beach, we found that most hotel restaurants and pool/beach bars automatically charged gratuity (18%-20%) on your bill.  This practice was limited to the tourist areas only.  Nonetheless, our service experience was very good to excellent everywhere.  In a highly competitive market like Miami, the key to success is delivering on all three pillars  (service, food and atmosphere) everyday.  

At that moment when customers are tipping, the overall service experience is what they're basing it on while food and atmosphere are secondary.  Someone who gives 20% versus 15% isn't necessarily feeling that they've received 33% better service, or that 18% is indication of "almost" excellent. Conversely, someone may love the food and service but felt that the noise-level was too high, and hence, leave 15%.  To some degree, it is subjective and arbitrary. 

However the real metric to focus on is Word-of-Mouth (WOM), which is an invaluable tip.  Operators should program on the credit card machines an additional option to WOM, that is, the ability for customers to broadcast a rating (at the table) directly to Facebook or Twitter.  For the operator, this is an effective way to capture, measure and own critical information.  Receiving 15% and World-Class is a better indicator than just receiving 20%.  Analyzing both metrics provides a pathway to better serve your customers and quickly address issues.

The WOM options are as follows:

   World-Class = five stars
   Sound = four stars
   Promising = three stars
   Acceptable = two stars
   Help = one star

As a weekly incentive program for the team, the operator would match the tips received when the overall rating of Sound or World-Class is achieved.  This money can be a donation towards a community cause or charity of choice.  In turn, customers can participate in your social initiative by being more mindful when tipping. Win-Win for everyone.

The point is to align staff and operations towards a common goal.  Deliver on hospitality excellence (service, food and atmosphere) to increase your rating, tips and social cause.

* food includes wine/bar program

What is your Expertise?

Figure out your specialty (a solution-provider) and become the authority by setting a new standard for your industry.

When my wife needed to fix her sunglasses before our vacation (a problem), she couldn't find a store in the Toronto Eaton Centre to help her including a department store.  Store employees would give her the standard line, "You didn't buy them here so we cannot service them!"

However Sunglass Hut came to her rescue by fixing the sunglasses while she waited (at no cost).  A staff member explained, "We're in the business of sunglasses!"

When you focus on satisfying a person's problem even when there is no transaction simply for the purpose of relationship-building,  they will become a member of your tribe.  As a member, they'll broadcast your differentiating factor and never forget that you've solved their problem once.

Care Ethic

I enjoyed watching HBO's documentary "Herblock:The Black and The White", a story about Herbert Block's fifty-year career as a political cartoonist for the Washington Post.  Particularly, Herb used the term "Greed Ethic" to describe how the Government was being ran; "Anything for a Buck!"

So it made me think, what drives the behaviour of hospitality leaders? Most would say Work Ethic as working hard and diligence were critical during the Industrial era.  Though now in the connection revolution, working smart trumps working hard especially among millenials.

I believe that Care Ethic, someone who cares deeply about other people and always does the right thing in service, is the most valuable trait for our industry.  When putting others before yourself is habitual, then anticipating the needs of others is easily trainable. Genuine care is innate and not learned.  To seek and retain a leader who is naturally caring will require an operator who is, at minimum, equally dedicated if not more caring.  Naturally, leaders will attract other caring leaders - Birds of a Feather.  

As your leaders multiply, so does your customers.

The Power of Habit

(Summary) The Power of Habit - Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg.

I first heard of Charles Duhigg on Success Magazine's audio series some time last year. I really enjoyed the story he shared about Paul O'Neil's first shareholder's meeting when he joined Alcoa (manufacturing company of foil wrap, Hershey's kisses and pop cans) as the new CEO.  As a classic example of focusing on a keystone habit, O'Neil delivered an epic speech to the shareholders and board members about focusing on the company's safety not profits. O'Neil believed that having zero injuries in the workplace would invariably yield profits for the company.

In the book, Charles uses a Habit Loop to describe how habits are formed. It always starts with a "Cue" that triggers a "Routine" which gives a desired "Reward", and around-and-around it goes.  The main idea of changing a habit is to replace the undesired Routine (injuries in the workplace) with a desired one (zero injuries) while the Cue and Reward (safest place to work in America) stay constant.

The current 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi is a great example of athletes using the Habit Loop.  They train and develop a physical skill into a mental behaviour for the purpose of marginalizing error under stressful conditions.  In hospitality, the habit loop would be a powerful tool to train staff for the same reason.  For example, the keystone behaviour of ensuring every guest felt welcomed.  The metric would be using the word "Welcomed" or "Welcoming" when guests described their experience of your establishment to others.

Here is how it works:

• Cue: Every touch point (phone, face-to-face, email)
• Routine: Pretend your speaking to Grandma
• Reward: Guest feels welcomed

Train your staff, at every touch point, to communicate with each guest as if they were talking to Grandma (kind, loving, caring & patient).  You wouldn't have to tell them to be respectful, kind and patient to Grandma (relevant interview question).  If guests received this level of attention from the website, reservation process, arriving, dining, leaving, and finally a "Thank you" phone call/email the next day; they would surely feel welcomed.

If you want to win the Service Gold medal, train your team the right habits and don't leave it to chance.

Employee's Happiness

In the hospitality industry, benefits are being offered more regularly at the Management level. If the idea is to attract talent by showing a company's long-term commitment and interest in the employee's well-being, then there are other ways to fulfill this objective (especially for smaller companies).  In addition, these unique alternatives are more cost-efficient, directed to team building and invested in growth.

For other industries, companies that offer lavish benefits believe there is a ROI.  As we can learn from these leaders, here are my fave-five of Inc. Magazine's 10 Best Companies for Employee Benefits:

1. The American Institute of Certified Accountants offers Health and Wellness program that includes biometric screening and cooling classes. 
2. Capital District Physician's Health Plan offers month-to-month financial planning workshops.
3. Diamond Pet Foods offers free annual wellness exams; a registered dietician helps employees create nutritional plans.
4. Medicus Solutions offers resources to help workers with parenting, elder care, and work-life balance issues.
5. The Star Conspiracy offers unlimited vacation time.

Upon designing a benefit package that best suits your business, make sure you stick to it.  In a business where people are the source of your success, what's more important than ensuring their happiness.

Winter and Licious 2014

During the coldest time of year when spending money and braving the harsh weather are obstacles to dining out, Winterlicious has given Torontonians (GTA) a reason to try new restaurants and network with friends.  As someone who loves the hospitality industry, it is amazing to see a bustling restaurant with happy guests, delicious plates and staff having fun.  Though owners are making less money, this is a time to be building relationships and goodwill with your guests, keeping your staff hours up, and creating momentum for the rest of the year.

Consider Licious as an investment towards the marketing of your restaurant, as eager "fooddies" turn their dining experience into a sport by out-blogging, out-tweeting and out-instag-ing (instagram) each other.  As expected, thumbs up or down on service is an integral part of their comments.  Thankfully, Winterlicious restaurants have been receiving positive feedback for their excellent service and, ultimately, good value.

Keep up the good work (restaurants and restaurant-goers), only 8 more days of Winterlicious and then 4 more weeks of Winter.

P.S. Maybe Winterlicious would extend an extra week just to shorten the Winter season!?!

Tip for Tipping

Do you ever wonder why restaurants need to charge gratuity automatically for groups of 6 or more? It's not because the staff have more work to do than a deuce or a four-top. In fact, it's marginally less work for the front-of-house and back-of-house team.  Also, it's not because customers are more demanding when they're dining among a group...well sometimes.

Winterlicious is upon us in Toronto for the next two-weeks and some restaurants have a disclaimer on the menu that every table, regardless of size, will be subject to an "auto-grat!"

In a culture where tipping is expected in the service industry, it is ludicrous that the customer-server dynamic is not more symbiotic, especially when both parties have "worn the other shoe."

Perhaps we can learn from Uber - a taxi app in North America.  I like Uber because of their two-way rating system between the cab driver and customer.  Upon leaving, the customer rates the driver and the driver rates the customer (out of five stars).  When you order a cab, the customer can see the driver's overall rating and vice-versa. This keeps everyone accountable for their own actions.  As a result, the majority of Uber cab drivers are nicer, more caring (not talking on the phone while driving) and polite.  Cab driver's like Uber for the same reason, that is, Uber customers are nicer.  Oddly, Uber started in Toronto under two-years ago and the customer-driver relationship is already in balance.

If you want great service, you need to be a great customer.  Service can be defined by how you'd want to be treated when you go to a friend's home for dinner.  In this scenario, are you not on your best behaviour as a guest?