Electronic House Call - January 10, 2003

ELECTRONIC HOUSE CALL - January 10, 2003

For a slow time of year, it has been a busy week. The Year of the Guest program kicked off last weekend (details below), we have a new program starting for the pizza industry, I have the monthly information to put together for the Coaching Program, a Management Insight Series interview with Ed Chilleen on smart cards (great info!) ... and then there is all that pesky year-end tax stuff.

The routine is close to being broken, however, as I am getting ready for my sixth consecutive appearance at the New York Restaurant Show on January 19-21. If you will be in New York City during that time, please drop by and say hello. I will be doing the opening program each day of the show.

YEAR OF THE GUEST
Noted restaurant marketer Joel Cohen I have declared 2003 as The Official Year of the Guest. We believe there are still some tough times ahead and that operators must return the focus to their guests and the experience that diners have in the restaurant if they are to not only survive, but prosper in the coming year.

To do this, we have developed a series of 50 proven tips that will help you enhance personal connection with your guests, increase frequency, develop positive word-of-mouth on the street, build party size, create the WOW and just generally make your operation more guest-friendly. As a subscriber, you will receive a new tip by e-mail every week. The price of the program is minimal (you can subscribe for as little as $12!) and ... here is the interesting part ... 100% of the money raised goes to support the work of Share Our Strength, the national organization that taps the resources of the hospitality industry to end hunger and homelessness.

In the first few days of the program, we have already raised over $5000, but since our goal is $50K, there is still a lot of work to do. If you have not signed up yet, please do it now. After all, your money helps a good cause ... and how far wrong can you go for twelve bucks?

For more information on The Year of the Guest go to http://www.YearOfTheGuest.com

THANKS, HOWARD
Subscriber Howard Black, owner of the Bright Star Grill was recently caught by that horrendous ice storm that hit North Carolina. He passed along the lessons he learned from the experience and I will be including them in the Coaching Program material this month. While most of you do not receive the Coaching Program material (a pity ... but correctable!), Howard's actions point toward a larger lesson.

Life does toss some pretty rough things at you from time to time ... and in the moment, all you can do is the best you can do. However, once the event has passed ... and before you collapse into bed to lick your wounds ... pull your crew together and de-brief while things are still fresh in everyone's minds.

What went right? What went wrong? What would we do differently if something similar happened again? What do we need to do to be ready for another event like this? Who were our heros and how can we acknowledge them? Turning adversity into a positive learning experience -- which it surely can be -- helps defuse any lingering pockets of resentment at the way something might have been handled under stress, gets the staff involved in learning from the event, brings the climate up and pulls everyone back together so they can get on with business.

Click here for information on my Coaching Program

THIS TIME I AM GOING TO DO IT
Now that you are all back in the flow of life after the holidays, it is time to sharpen your axe and get serious about improving the skills of your staff and managers. Tax deadlines are approaching and I need to toss more money into the Federal hopper, so the timing on my first-and-possibly-last-ever inventory clearance sale couldn't be better ... for all of us. The sale will be a great way to stock up your professional library. I will have information out to you this weekend ... but act quickly. The sale will not last for long. Watch for it.

THE PERPETUAL QUESTION:
What did you learn from your staff today?

[ Home ] [ Top ] [ Email Restaurant Doctor ]