ELECTRONIC HOUSE CALL - August 25, 2000

FRIENDS IN NEED
I am pleased that so many folks write me with their questions and concerns. While I can field most of them, some inquiries call for a wider range of experience than I can provide and I open them up to the subscriber list for input. I have been impressed with the quantity and quality of the responses this generates. Here are some that arrived this week. As always, if you have advice to offer, please respond directly to the person who posed the question with a copy to me. When I have some free time, I will work out a way to post the questions and answers on my website (www.restaurantdoctor.com).

Jeff Stanley <madisonjeff@webtv.net> writes:
I have a very popular restaurant with a perfect location in Madison, Wisconsin. We are being condemned by the city for a new art district. Do you know of anybody in the industry that this may has happened to? I am seeking any advice to help me make sure the city does not run over us.

Greg Fong <gfong@ns.sympatico.ca> writes from Canada:
I have to replace the carpeting in my dining room. The general consensus seems to be that carpeting is the obvious choice. It is easy on the legs, plates bounce off of it, it is a lot less slippery and so on. I would like to know what people feel about flooring choices.

Michel K <bedowen@earthlink.net> had a new one for me:
Do you know of any training videos for employees to learn how to report their tips? We are thinking of getting into the IRS's EMTRAC program and wondered if there were any existing training videos. This would cheaper than creating our own.

Kathy Stewart <kathy@gar.sc.com> asks:
Do you know of any high quality training videos on alcohol awareness? We've been using TIPS, but the video is so old, and the acting is SO bad, our servers and bartenders just hate it. We believe that the information is important to convey, but we'd like to change companies. One of my servers told me that she once saw a video that was pretty good with Bill Cosby, but I can't find it online anywhere.

(Also from Kathy Stewart) Along those same lines, can you recommend any great training videos at all for any restaurant department? I've got a lot of catalogs but haven't found much that is specific to the hospitality industry. The only ones I've found leave me unimpressed with the server skills of the people depicted in the video. I'm almost at the point that I want to create an in-house video, but would hate to do it if there are great products out there.

A note from the Doc:
Since the September Management Insight Series tape is a marketing discussion with Joel Cohen, here is another tidbit from his e-mail newsletter

HOW DO YOUR SERVERS INTRODUCE THEMSELVES?
"Hi, my name is John, and I'm going to be your server tonight." Or, how about this one"Coffee?" Or, from an ice cream chain -- no greeting at all! I dined at Pappadeaux's Seafood, and was wowed when my server said, "Thank you for joining us tonight for dinner, I'm really glad you're here. Is this your first time for dinner?" I felt like I was being treated like royalty, and it was so refreshing not to have someone drop to their knees, and put their elbows on the table and give their spiel. Now, if you're serving from behind a counter (ice cream, coffee bar), customers at least expect a warm greeting and eye contact.

So the Doc asks . . .
How are your servers opening the interaction with your guests? Do they realize they are starting a relationship which has significant financial implications for both the house and themselves? How do you know?

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