ELECTRONIC HOUSE CALL - May 28, 2004

Can I finally stop moving for at least a week, please? I have been in motion for over a month and I am SO ready for a little down time at home. The NRA Show program went very well, I thought. They gave me the big room (then put me on at the same time as Madeleine Albright, the keynoter!) but we were standing room only. As one attendee said, "Madeleine isn't going to put any money on my bottom line."

A Slice of Life ... or Death
We recently had a clean-up day in the neighborhood. After the work was done, the neighbors headed to a local watering hole for lunch and libation. While they were decompressing, an older man in a corner of the restaurant started to pass out and fell off bar stool near the pool tables, possibly of a heart attack. Folks caught him before he crashed and laid him on the floor (another reason to keep the floor clean). A member of our group, a nurse, went over to help.

At first he was unresponsive, but breathing, so no CPR was done. The medics arrived within 10+ minutes, hooked him up and took him away. A number of restaurant staffers came over to thank our nurse friend for her help. While she was helping the man, her fish and chips got cold and she had to pay full price for her meal. She didn't complain but the neighbors all thought that it would have been a nice gesture if the restaurant thanked her by comping her meal, especially since she had left it to get cold.

All this raises two questions in my mind. 1) How many of your staff are trained to handle medical emergencies, besides calling 911? The restaurant crew did send someone outside to keep the doors open and direct the medics, but only one staff member asked, very faintly, if there was a doctor in the house. 2) What is the appropriate way to recognize/reward a guest who comes to your rescue in a medical emergency? In my book, the restaurant missed an opportunity to solidify a relationship with our group by recognizing the nurse's contribution and at least picking up her meal, but you may see it differently.

What are your thoughts? You can weigh in on the Restaurant Doctor Forums and add your opinions for the benefit of all. Just click on the link below.

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What's Wrong With This Picture?
While we are on procedures, here is another one for you. My flight to Chicago connected in Detroit, but all flights to Chicago were canceled that night due to weather, forcing me to spend the night in the airport hotel. As I came down the elevator to get dinner, I noticed 1) that the dining room was 2/3 empty and 2) there was a big back-up at the hostess stand. Curious.

When I got closer, I could hear the hostess telling all these stranded guests that she couldn't seat them for at least 45 minutes because they didn't have reservations. Period. Most of us left shaking our heads, fought our way through airport security one more time and found something marginal to eat on the concourse.

I will not presume to second-guess the situation, but it points up again that you should never tell a guest what you cannot do for them. Tell them what you CAN do. In this case, she might have said something like, "We have an unusual number of reservations tonight and I need to hold their tables for a few minutes longer, but let me put you on the list. You can order appetizers in the bar and I will seat you just as quickly as I can." She would certainly have salvaged a goodly amount of business that left in a huff ... and made her own night a lot more pleasant as well.

What are you training YOUR front line staff to say to guests?

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

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