ELECTRONIC HOUSE CALL - April 19, 2002

After a few days at home, a quick weekend trip to Cincinnati to talk with the Franchise GM's of Buffalo Wild Wings about how to create a climate where exceptional service happens effortlessly. Next week is all about getting ready for the Super Summit.

LETTUCE PROFIT FROM ECONOMIC TURMOIL
I got this note from Van Glaman of Lombardi's Restaurant in Salisbury, Maryland. It was prompted, I suspect, by my recent rant on salads:

It seems that when the price of iceberg goes over $2.00 per head in the stores, consumers consider restaurant salads to be a better deal than brown-bagging the greens. If you can keep your salad food costs in line by hitting the price clubs and maintaining your refrigeration at optimal lettuce storage temperature -- and if you can leverage the demand for greens into add-on sales like great soups, a side of bread sticks, a slice of pizza and a beverage sale -- you can parlay all this into more dinner sales and reap some excellent rewards.

A note from the Doc:
Van raises a good point . . . but you won't be able to reap the rewards unless you have exceptional salads. You should be very serious about the quality of product that you offer your guests. If you give them the same meals they could prepare at home, there is little incentive to dine out.

SEATING SNAFU
Awhile ago, I got this note, a question on dining room procedure from Pauline Spanos:

Why is it that when we go to a restaurant that is almost empty, the hostess will seat us right next to other guests? She could just as easily seat us where we could have privacy without the next table listening to our conversation. I see that all the time -- even in my own restaurant. I keep telling the hostess to spread the guests when its quiet, when it's busy then that's different. How should the hostess sit the customers? If you write an article on that subject then I'll pass it on to my staff.

A prescription from the Doc:
How have you defined the hostess job? If you define it as greeting and seating, then she is doing it right no matter where she plunks the guests down. I always defined the job as creating a positive first impression within 30 seconds, dressing the dining room and managing the flow of traffic on the floor. Here is my thinking on it.

The positive first impression covers the smile and friendly greeting. Notice that I also introduce a time factor here. If you leave guests standing awkwardly in the lobby wondering where to go and what to do next, it tends to lower their mood which in turn will cause them to feel less-served, spend less and be more inclined to complain.

Dressing the dining room means that the tables are seated with sort of a checkerboard mentality to spread the parties around so that the room always looks comfortable full, even when half the tables are empty. Nothing kills business faster than an empty dining room because people want to go where there is some action. Spreading the guests around also makes it more comfortable for them. Once the place is full they will tolerate other diners in closer proximity but not when there are clearly more private seating choices available.

Managing the flow of traffic means not seating any particular station faster than the server can handle it. Sometimes this means holding the guests for a few minutes even when there is a table available (and your training should cover how to do this tactfully) but it always means distributing tables equally among the servers, a policy that should also help avoid the situation you mention.

GOT QUESTIONS?
Remember that the message board on my website is always open. Go to The Doc's Message Board. It is a place where you can post your questions for other operators or contribute your own experience to help someone else find an answer. The EHC goes out to nearly 2300 people. Within that talent pool, I suspect we could solve almost anything!

PS: For reasons that my webmaster can't figure out, the newest posts are on Page 3 of the message board. Go figure!

SUPER SIGN-UP
Finally, you may be relieved to learn that there will be no lengthy promo for the Seattle Super Summit this week. I have finished flogging you on this rather amazing event. Frankly, I am a bit stunned that people are still signing up at this late date, but we still have some space and the registrations continue to trickle in. For people who live and die by reservations, restaurant people always seem to wait until the last minute! If you make one of those folks -- or would like a reason to make a last-minute decision -- go to www.hospitalitymasters.com for the full story on the Super Summit.

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