ELECTRONIC HOUSE CALL - August 12, 2005

My how the work piles up! I am just digging out from under the accumulation during the last trip and I am scheduled to be off again next Thursday for a week in Ukraine! (I am just waiting on an international wire transfer of funds to make it official.)

The Ukraine economy is growing quickly and with it, the demand for restaurants. Local operators have not seen much outside their own country so the industry is rather inbred at the moment. The client has asked me to spend two days with a group of 100 Kiev restaurateurs to open their eyes to new possibilities.

All this will have to be done with simultaneous translation and promises to be quite an adventure ... for all of us, I expect! I do not know what to expect as far as Internet access goes, so please understand if my response time is a bit longer for a few days.

THE SPICE OF LIFE
On the way back from New York last week, we stopped for dinner at a restaurant in the Minneapolis airport. The salad was ... how shall I describe it? ... inedible. Not that it was made from substandard ingredients -- it wasn't. In fact, everything in it was quite fresh.

The problem was that aside from the lettuce leaves, everything else in the salad -- cucumber, onions, carrots, corn, tomatoes -- was diced to a uniform 1/4" size. This meant that the only way to eat the salad was to awkwardly scoop it up. Stabbing the pieces with a fork was virtually impossible.

The end result is that it was a struggle to eat the silly thing. Variety is the spice of life and that is no more true than in something like a salad. To be attractive to the eye, there needs to be a variety of size, texture and color.

All it would have taken to make this mish-mash into a decent salad was to shred the carrots, keep the onion in thin rings, make small tomato wedges and cut the cucumber in half slices. In short, provide some variety in shape and size. Make the pieces large enough to stab with a fork ... and small enough not to need cutting. (This is not rocket science. It makes me wonder who is watching the store.)

BACK IN BUSINESS
The forum (chat room) has been down for awhile due to some technical glitches that were just sorted out with the hosting company ... in South Africa! We have a real international thing going on here.

In any event, we are finally back in business. The chat room is a great place to post questions and share your expertise for the good of all. I doubt there is an issue that the group collectively cannot solve. All of us are smarter than any of us.

Take a look at the Doc's Chat Room.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS
In the July survey, I asked you about your most significant accomplishments so far this year. I did not ask people to identify themselves, so I can't give this one proper credit, but I thought it was worth sharing.

The most significant accomplishment for me in the last six months would definitely be my ability to listen. It is amazing what I can learn and figure out when I shut up and listen rather than expounding my vast opinions upon my managers and staff.

My guys have opinions and will give them freely if they think I will truly listen and not judge them for saying their ideas out loud. Most people in our industry for any length of time have seen some good operations and some horrible ones. My opinions have come from my experiences, but that is kind of like tunnel vision.

I hired these guys because I thought they were the best for the job. So I say to myself, “Self, just let these guys run with the ball and be a blocker for awhile to keep all the distractions out of their way. If they can succeed early on, they will grow and grow." So I have tried to give them the projects that they can achieve with some good planning and our help. It seems to be working, profits are way up over last year and getting better every time I see a P&L.

We were already working on this process, but the Super Summit concreted the action plan as to what we had to do. In six months, we have given ourselves a tune up and oil change. Hopefully in the future it will not take as long for the tune up when we get out of whack and the tune ups will be on a more regular schedule. Thanks Bill and Robert for the enlightenment.

SUPER SUMMIT REVISITED
“Just when I thought that I was out, they pull me back in." That was the lament of Michael Corleone in the final "Godfather" movie ... and I can relate. After the second session of the Super Summit in June, Robert Kausen and I thought we were done for awhile. But the alumni have been pressuring us to do it one more time.

Some of them want to attend the program again. A few want to bring family members. Several want to get more of their key people up to speed before we start the ongoing support program ... and the two- day basic program similar to what we did in New Orleans is a pre-requisite.

We resisted, but they insisted.

Since follow-up makes more economic sense with a larger group, we finally relented and agreed that if there is enough interest to make a fall program feasible, we are willing to offer it ... but with one big condition: NO BIG PROMOTION CAMPAIGN. I have no energy for sending out repeated sales pitches for an event that has already been well- explained and whose impact, even in the early stages, is apparent.

There are three good reasons to keep this a closely-held secret with minimal promotion:

1) If you are not already convinced that we are offering something truly different here, you are never going to get it and beating you over the head repeatedly is only likely to irritate both of us.

2) There isn't much I can tell you about this year's Super Summit program that regular readers don't already know.

3) Our best promotional material comes from those who have completed the program anyway.

Final details are being worked out as we speak, but here is what we know about the program right now: It will be held November 7-8 in Nashville. Tuition and scholarships are the same as April and June. If the money matters, this is the last time you will see this program at these prices.

I should warn you that if you pass on October, you will not have access to this material again until we put another basic session together sometime in 2006, most likely in June. At that point, it will be re-branded as the Leadership Development Project and the cost will be about twice the price we are offering in November ... as befits the program results.

It's your life, it's your money ... and it is entirely your choice. If you want to take us up on this opportunity, complete the online application. We are only accepting 36 people into this final program and when the seats are filled, that will be it until at least next June.

Click here to get the story on the Super Summit.

THE AUGUST SURVEY
New month, new survey.

Cell phones are a fact of modern life. Since virtually everyone under the age of 30 carries a cell phone (and a good majority of those over 30 as well!), it creates new issues for restaurateurs. This month we are looking at what those issues are and how you are dealing with them.

Have you found it necessary to create policies on cell phone use by your guests, management or staff? If so, what are the policies? I will provide a compilation of all the responses to everyone who contributes to this project.

Click here to add your thoughts to the August survey.

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

I learned that it is very difficult for my staff to sweep the carpets with a broom. So they are apt to forgo sweeping the floor. We have bought carpet sweepers in the past but they break very easliy (about a month into owning them) and they cost around $50 bucks to replace. I did some research and found a sweeper you can replace the roller (the part that breaks). My floors have been noticeably cleaner ... and my staff noticeably happier. -- Phil, Bennigan's, Rockville, MD

My perpetual question is really a lot deeper -- and a lot more important -- than it may sound. The answers you get do not have to be life- changing, but just the fact that you ask ... and really listen ... will do more to improve the climate in your operation than anything else I can think of.

If you have ever worked for someone who didn't listen, you know what I mean. Now just don't turn into someone like that yourself!

I will continue to collect your answers to this important question. Just click on the link below and contribute your comments for the common good.

What did YOU learn from YOUR staff today?

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