TWO MINUTES OR TWO BITES

Four of us went out to dinner last night. A family style restaurant. Imagine, the server never came back to the table to check on us until we were finished eating. I guess it's a good thing that I didn't drop my fork on the floor.

There are obviously several steps to good customer service. Missing the 2 minute check back, as I call it, is probably the worst of service. Actually, this is not the server's fault. The problem lies with management and the lack of training. The server was not busy, or lazy, she was actually somewhat conscientious otherwise. This tells me she just didn't know any better. I visit this restaurant about once a month and have never seen a manager on the floor. No one observing the operation. No one doing any training.

All new food servers must be given at least a 3 hour sit down orientation, preferably by a manager, a certified trainer, or even the owner. I usually spend about 1 hour on the restaurant policies. This hour also includes a tour of the entire restaurant. The second hour covers the menu. Go through each menu item in detail. Explain how things are ordered by the customer. For example, some entrees come with choice of soup or salad, etc. The last hour I spend on your point of sale computer system. The important thing is to develop your own written check list for this orientation. Get this down to a routine where everything is covered in the allotted time. Immediately after the orientation, go right out into the dining room for the new employee's first shift. The trainer should stay with the new employee every step of the way. Start with just one table. The trainer should tell the hostess when they are ready for another party. Train just a couple of hours this first shift so that there is time to sit down and review before the new employee goes home. No matter how much previous experience the new server has, a trainer should be scheduled with that person at least one more shift.

I have had just a good, or better, luck, thoroughly training people who have never worked as food servers. This has been especially true with college students. Some of these servers came back to work for me every summer.