ELECTRONIC HOUSE CALL - February 27, 2004

I am finally back in synch after the Germany trip ... although I seem to be losing the battle with my seasonal allergies at the moment. Tonight I head to Cape Cod for my sister's birthday, then to Michigan to speak at the General Manager's conference for a regional restaurant group.

"Yes" Begins at Home
I seem to be running into an increasing number of restaurant staffers whose first inclination is to tell me what they cannot do for me, like the waiter in Stuttgart who told me that they were full and could not serve us ... while he stood in an empty bar and had several empty tables in the dining room. Was that any worse than the waitress who would not substitute sliced tomatoes for hash browns or the cook who found it impossible to prepare my Caesar salad without croutons?

You are probably familiar with "Coach" Don Smith's mantra that "The answer is yes, what's the question?" You may even have used that as the subject for a sermon to the troops, who smiled, nodded their heads in agreement ... and went out to tell a guests that they couldn't sit in the corner booth. Where do they get these attitudes?

You may have to look no farther than your mirror. When one of your key cooks tells you that he suddenly needs the next two days off, is your first inclination to tell him that it is impossible ... or do you explore the various ways in which you might be able to juggle things so that you can approve his request? Be honest with yourself.

Attitude always begins at the top, so what they see is what you will get. If you want your staff to always look for ways to accommodate your guests requests, it has to start by your showing them the same courtesy. You are the role model whether you want the job or not.

Tis the Season
I may get a few unsubscribes for bringing up something that sounds political ... but we are living in political times and there are events going on that are too important not to address. Watching our political process, it is easy to be overwhelmed with a sense of futility, no matter what your political leaning. Ours is supposed to be a government "of the people" and yet I think the average person feels rather powerless to have any real impact on the direction of things. "The Government" is so large and amorphous that is it akin to attacking fog -- no matter what you do it doesn't seem to have any effect.

I recently became aware of a project called TrueMajority.org that Ben Cohen, founder of Ben & Jerry's is involved with -- a way for the average guy (and gal) to get their opinions heard, no matter what those opinions might be The project is beyond any particular partisan ideology and, I think, deserves a look by anyone who is frustrated by the lack of common sense and lack of debate that we see from so many of our political representatives on both sides of the aisle. For whatever reason, there are important issues that are not being fully discussed and somebody has to help get the dialogue opened. If not you ... who?

True Majority monitors what is going on in Congress 24/7 based on the principles of peace, justice and sustainability. When your voice is needed, they send you an e-mail that explains the situation. If you choose to send a fax to your Congresspeople, just click reply to the e-mail alert, add any comments you like and click "send." Their technology will then generate a fax from you to your Congresspeople. That's it.

Over 325,000 people have joined in this effort -- a sizeable block of ordinary citizens. The True Majority website has a short cartoon-like movie that outlines what they have in mind, how their thinking runs and how you can become part of the process. They are not looking for money, just your occasional involvement. If nothing else, it is worth a look just to see the technology ... but I think you will be impressed with what these folks have in mind. I certainly am.

Mark Your Calendars
The next Year of the Guest Sales-Building Workshops are tentatively scheduled for Monday, April 19 in Las Vegas and Wednesday, April 21 in Milwaukee. Watch the EHC for details as they firm up.

If you are really feeling long range, start thinking about Super Summit 2005 on January 24-25 in New Orleans.

The Perpetual Question
What did you learn from your staff today?

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