The Restaurant Doctor - Electronic House Call

ELECTRONIC HOUSE CALL - June 21, 2002

I am in Raleigh, North Carolina having just co-presented a seminar today with marketing whiz Joel Cohen. Tomorrow I head for the Outer Banks and then to Beaufort for consulting and training sessions with a couple of independent operators.

COOL IDEA OF THE DAY
From Dennis Worsham of Mango Mike's in Alexandria, Virginia at the seminar todayAs the greeter is walking guests to the table, she asks if they have been to the restaurant before. If this is their first visit, the greeter puts down a red cocktail napkin (instead of the regular napkin) to signal the server, manager and anyone else on the staff who may come by the table that this is a first-timer.

PURCHASING 101
Don't pay for product quality you don't need. If you break up tomatoes for pasta sauce, buy crushed tomatoes rather than pay the premium for whole tomatoes. If you crumble real bacon for salads, buy pieces and ends rather than paying the premium for whole strips. While we are on the subject, try using the cheaper crumbled bacon on your bacon cheeseburgers rather than whole strips. The sandwich will be easier to eat, there will be bacon in every bite, you can use more bacon and still put out a tastier (and differentiated) product at a lower cost!

START TO NOTICE
If someone can get what they want by whining to you long enough, you will only encourage whining. What gets rewarded is what gets done.

WHOSE JOB IS IT?
Awhile ago I was talking with a restaurant manager who told an interesting story. He said that when he was an hourly employee, every night the manager would tell him to clean the shake machine, a job that he really disliked. He quickly learned that if he didn't clean the machine, that within 30 minutes the manager would do it himself . . . so he never cleaned the shake machine! In the same vein, I learned that when I jumped in to help the dish crew, they were more than willing to let me do it. However, they quickly adopted the attitude that "Bill's got it. Let's go get a cigarette!"

Start to notice when you find yourself doing someone else's job for them. It is actually disrespectful and it will not help them master the task. ("Step aside son and let a man show you how.") Don't get me wrong -- it is certainly fine to help out when it will really make a difference. However, help out only until your staff is just about back in control, then step away and let them take it from there. Stay in the game any longer and they will start depending on you to do their work for them.

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