Electronic House Call - December 31, 2004

ELECTRONIC HOUSE CALL - December 31, 2004

Fifty-two weeks a year I am deliriously content to chronicle the possibilities and pitfalls of life in the hospitality business. It is my job, my passion, my duty and, I freely admit, a comforting crease in the fabric of my own life on the road.

But this is the last column of the year and, just this once, I want to write about what I wish the restaurant business was about.

New Year Wishes
I wish that more operators would learn that you do not have to sell your soul, abandon your family or give up your health to have a successful restaurant. The difficulties and stresses that most operators face are not inherent problems of the restaurant business, they are very predictable symptoms of the way they understand the business. Change your thinking and you change your life.

I wish that managers would learn to slow down, know less and learn more. When you get speeded up you lose the willingness to listen. When you do not listen, you stop learning. When you stop learning, you stop growing. When you stop growing, you are dead. All of which brings me to ask, "What did you learn from your staff today?"

I wish that everyone who operates a boring restaurant would stop it! The world does not need one more place to eat. While boring restaurants make ideal competitors, they do not force you to be better and they only educate the public that dining out is no big thing. Give me a highly competitive marketplace populated by great operators who absolutely force me to excel or perish ... and watch how good I can become!

I wish that every operator would realize that by discounting their basic products, they undermine their entire pricing structure. Pizza people are the worst in this regard. Rampant discounting has made their products into commodities and educated the public not to buy a pizza without a coupon. I am not against offering special deals, but in my book, deals should be value-added not dollars-off. If you must drop a price, do it for a specific reason and only for a very limited time.

I wish that every staff member (including you) was as excited about coming into the restaurant every day as your guests (hopefully) are. When work is fun it doesn't seem like work. You can do a good job and have fun at the same time. Lighten up! (And if you are having fun ... notify your face!)

I wish that everyone who makes their living in this business, even for a few weeks, approached their work with a passion to serve, an eagerness to learn and a desire to do a great job. The work you do does not define who you are, it is just what you do for a living. HOW you do your job, whatever it may be, is what defines who you are. You can be great at a job, even if you do not plan on keeping it forever.

I wish that every cook and manager in the country could spend a few hours with Phyllis Ann Marshall. If that were to happen, the culinary consciousness in every commercial kitchen would reach new heights! Too often, I see restaurants put out uninspiring food just because they can sell it, not because they are proud of it or because it helps to set them apart from their competitors. A few more WOWs at the table would help make dining out a true delight ... and raise the energy level of the kitchen crew as well. Do the work.

I wish that "the government" would stop using businesses as unpaid bookkeepers. The ever-increasing load of taxes and other regulatory requirements is causing many good operators to abandon their plans for another restaurant, or worse yet, to leave the industry altogether.

I wish these same local, state and federal governing bodies appreciated the role of restaurants in creating quality of life in the community ... and made it easier for us to open and operate. Major urban renewal projects have stalled until an influx of interesting restaurants caused them to take off. Life in small town America often revolves around local dining spots. Deals are made, lives are changed and rifts are healed when people break bread together.

I wish that our guests were more tolerant of our missteps, more appreciative of our efforts, and more honest with their feedback. There is no act of hospitality that isn't improved by being acknowledged with gratitude and no problem we cannot solve if we learn about it quickly from a guest who loves us and who understands that lapses happen but are never acceptable.

I wish that guests truly tipped based on the quality of the service they received. When diners leave 20% for indifferent service and never return, it does not help the server -- or the restaurant -- to "get it." I think a few more 10%-ers ... and a few more 30%-ers would do wonders all around.

Finally, I wish that 2005 turns out to be your best year ever -- that you will take a few calculated risks, invest more time and money in your own professional development, spend more quality time with your family, trust your staff to carry more of the load, make the time for relaxation, reflection and rejuvenation -- in short, that you will live each day of your life and enjoy it to the fullest. Happy New Year!

Sadly
2004 will forever be memorialized as the year of the Southeast Asia Tsunami disaster. We cannot even begin to grasp the scale of this tragedy which has killed 120,000 people to date and will likely see 80,000 more die before things are even remotely under control. This is an unprecedented natural catastrophe that has far-reaching implications for our Pacific region neighbors.

Our condolences and prayers go out to the thousands of families who have lost loved ones in this tragedy. I urge you to provide assistance in any way you can and to encourage your guests to do the same. At times like this, as on 9/11, we are all in it together.

A New Year's Gift
Finally, if you missed the Christmas freebie, here is a second chance. I want to pass along a gift that I received courtesy of my friend and colleague, Aussie marketing guru Max Hitchins. It's an e-book titled "Handy Hints for Hangovers" ... something that seems appropriate for this time of year.

In it you will discover what causes hangovers, which alcohol is worse for you, techniques to reduce hangovers -- like the French cure (sex), the Haitian cure (voodoo dolls) and the Iraqi cure (goat's head soup) -- what to do for a splitting headache, what to do for an upset stomach ... and much more.

Ever generous, Max has also given permission for you to use this book as a marketing tool with your own list. You can offer it as a download or print it out and distribute it. Thanks, Max. You are a class act!

Download your free Hangovers e-book at http://www.hospitalitydoctor.com/hangovers.html

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

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