ELECTRONIC HOUSE CALL - July 25, 2003

After a terrific reception in Kansas City last week, I am off to New Orleans for the National Speakers Association Convention. (New Orleans in July? What's wrong with this picture?) Actually, I love the city and its restaurants ... but will probably not be strolling the streets at high noon!

MAKING A NOISE IN THE MARKETPLACE
As if you didn't have enough to worry about, let me add one more -- noise. I was in a restaurant earlier this week where the acoustics were so harsh that the folks in my party could not even hear each other across the table. The only solution was to speak more loudly ... which raised the general noise level in the room ... which meant that everyone had to speak a little louder ... and the problem escalated. The food was good, the service adequate but the overall experience was not one that I would want to repeat.

Granted, a certain noisy busy-ness can be an appropriate part of some dining concepts, but in general, I believe that guests should be able to converse easily without shouting. At the least, pleasant acoustics can give you an advantage over more noisy competitors.

The graying of the Baby Boom generation will put more and more seniors in your seats in the coming years ... and older diners are usually more sensitive to (and put off by) high noise levels. Some restaurant critics are even taking noise level readings during their visits and including the dining room decibel figure in their reviews. In short, you had best pay some attention to the noise level in your place. If it is too high, take corrective action before you alienate any more diners. None of us operate in a market big enough that we can afford to let ANYONE get away!

AND YOUR POINT IS ... ?
When you apologize to a guest for lapses in execution (no servers, long waits and the like) but do nothing to make up for the lapse, all you are doing is giving excuses ... and excuses suck. The fact that a guest knows why they are getting lousy service does not somehow magically fix the problem.

When lapses occur -- as they surely will -- of course you have to let the guests know, but do the extra work to offer something to make up for the inconvenience. "I am sorry. Things seem to be taking a bit longer than usual in the kitchen tonight. Let me bring you a few more appetizers with our compliments until I can get your meals to you."

If you are awake enough to be aware of the problem before the guest is, you can pick up points. If you wait and see if they are going to complain before you take action, you risk letting them slide into a bad mood where it will take even more of a gesture on your part to recover. Worse yet, only 1 in 25 will complain. The rest will just take their business elsewhere and never say a word ... at least, not to you.

LAST CHANCE FOR EARLY REGISTRATION
"Wow! Two days jam packed with mind blowing ideas and concepts delivered by some of the top people in our industry. I was ecstatically pleased with my investment [in Super Summit 2002] -- so much so that there will be two of us coming to Disneyland in September. The ideas flow so fast and freely that it is very difficult to know which way to turn."

"Bill Marvin has invigorated my mind and our business for over 6 years. Any time he assembles a crew of his peers to host a conference with, I want to be part of it ... and thanks to the profits I am making because of his ideas, I can afford to go!" -- David Keeler, Barnacles Restaurant, Duncan, BC, Canada

There is a reason that David is excited. If you would like to be a little more excited about your business and its future, you really need to be at Super Summit 2003 in Anaheim, California on September 8-9. The early registration discount ends on August 1. Sign up now and save some money! Click on the link below for the full story on Super Summit 2003, the program, the faculty and the reasons why you absolutely, positively must be there!

For the full story on Super Summit 2003, go to http://www.supersummit.net

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

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