The Restaurant Doctor - Electronic House Call

ELECTRONIC HOUSE CALL - June 19, 1998

Earlier in the week, I sent you a query, "What did you learn from your staff today?" It was originally going to be just a follow-up to the folks who attended our seminar, "How to Increase Your Cash Flow by 50% and Get Your Life Back . . ." but I thought it would be worthwhile for everyone to ponder.

In any event, I got the following response(s) from Grant Webb who owns East Side Mario's (among other ventures) in Ottawa, Canada. Grant attended the seminar when we were in LA and I thought you might gain a few insights from his comments.

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Hi Bill I learned several things

1) One of my newer but weaker staff is great at suggesting side salads as an add-on at lunch time. I gave her a big pat on the back and told her to keep up the good work.

2) After asking my Patio bartender how things were going she informed me that many of the staff were not following opening and closing duty lists on the patio and she finds this very frustrating. I told her that I understood and appreciated her feedback. I will ask some of the other staff the same question in the next few days. I have a feeling that if I ask them if they felt the duties were being done right or not, that the duties will improve on their own -- just because of my interest. Good thing is, no discipline is needed to make this happen.

3) I found out that a new dishwasher I have teaches developmentally challenged kids how to skate.

4) I learned that another of my servers was very hungover, after asking her why she was a little off today. I thanked her for doing her best and at the same time asked her if she felt a little silly for punishing herself and her guests with inferior service.

5) I had a chat with another bartender about gardening and kids camps (she has 2 children). I told her I'd bring in some info about one of the camps I was enrolling my son in.

Thanks for the reminder. I will try to learn more tomorrow. -- Grant Webb

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I responded:

Great news! Amazing what you can learn if you listen. Amazing what you can get done when you don't try to do it all! Please keep me updated as things progress.

PS Would you mind if I shared your comments in my newsletter?

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Grant wrote back:

Not only is it amazing what you learn when you listen, but it is also amazing what you can see when you actually "watch". We often find ourselves caught up in the dynamics of this business so much that we forget what our true roles are. My partner Roy and I always used to kid each other that we were the highest paid busboys in the city. Not that there is anything wrong in helping out when you are truly needed. On the contrary, the trick is not helping out when you are not needed. This is something I always knew, but now I am finally putting it in to practice. I think my staff appreciates my feedback and communication more than my running food for them -- especially when they don't need it!

Oh yeah, feel free to use my comments in your newsletters.

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So -- what did you learn from YOUR staff today?

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