ELECTRONIC HOUSE CALL - September 30, 2005

For the past three days I have been in a session conducted by Robert Kausen, my co-presenter from this year's Super Summit. This weekend I am stretching my skull in a two-day seminar in Vancouver, BC with Sydney Banks, a long-time guru to both Robert and me.

To keep growing personally and professionally, you must regularly explore the limits of what you "know" and challenge yourself to see a bigger picture. Some of that is picking up new skills and some is finding new ideas ... but the work that will have the biggest impact is that which leads to a shift in your thinking. This process is as important for me as it is for any of you ... and I DO practice what I preach! If you have not budgeted for personal development in the year ahead, it might be time to sharpen your pencil.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!
This is issue #400 of the Electronic House Call, surely a milestone of sorts. For those whose history with me is relatively short, this whole adventure started on September 26, 1997 to serve the less than 10% of my subscribers who had e-mail at that time. Since then, it has totally replaced the old hard copy newsletter that I used to mail out every month. The subscriber base has grown from a few hundred to over 3,000.

I am often asked how I can possibly come up with new "stuff" every week and the short answer is that I don't always have to. I may recycle an article from several years ago if it strikes me as still being appropriate ... or I will take a fresh look at something that I wrote about earlier. And the Muse still strikes and sets me off on a rant from time to time.

All in all, I find that the Universe abhors a vacuum and if -- as often happens -- I sit down to write the EHC without a clue as to what I am going to say, an insight always seems to pop into my mind. At least, that has been the case for the past 400 weeks or so. Next week ... who knows?

THE POGO AWARD
You may know that one of my frequent quotes is from my favorite swamp philosopher, Pogo, who surveyed the trash and pollution that spoiled his habitat and commented with sadness, "We have met the enemy and he is us." In that spirit, I am instituting a recurring award called the POGO, awarded to restaurant operators whose actions, in my opinion, set our industry back to the dark ages.

My first POGO goes to the anonymous restaurateur whose poor judgement prompted this e-mail from Christine Bacca:

I live in Virginia and recently went to a restaurant to celebrate my daughter's birthday. I have a second daughter with severe food allergies. To give you an indication of the severity, she has had an anaphylactic reaction in the past to a minute amount of milk. This is not just lactose intolerance. Her life is at stake. In the past at this restaurant I have brought my daughter's food in a separate container and she has eaten what I brought and the restaurant even warmed it up for her.

This time things were different. I was informed by the manager on duty that the food could not be warmed up and that the food could not even been brought in. She suggested some items on their menu -- none of which could be guaranteed to be milk-free, egg-free, or free from cross-contamination. So we had to leave.

My question is this: In the case of someone with food allergies why could we not have her own food? It would certainly take the burden off the kitchen staff.

A Note from the Doc:
I am sorry to hear of her experience. I cannot justify the behavior but I can guess why it might have happened. You can count on people to do what they are rewarded for. Unfortunately, there are still some myopic companies whose managers will get in more trouble for violating some rigid policy manual rather than for using their initiative to please their guests. It sounds like she ran into one of those.

In a very narrow sense, I can understand why a restaurant might have devised a policy against guests bringing in their own food, but in this case that policy seems clearly inappropriate. These companies are dinosaurs and like the dinosaurs, will become extinct. Give your business to those who earn it.

On behalf of the majority of restaurateurs who I believe have enough common sense to have done the right thing for her, I apologized to Christine for her experience. I hope she was able to salvage the birthday party in a more enlightened eatery.

FINALLY: A SOLUTION TO BOTTOM LINE BLUES
I am excited to introduce you to a restaurant sales- building clinic that can actually double your take- home cash. Let me explain briefly ... Many restaurant marketing seminars are essentially a compilation of good ideas. That is OK as far as it goes ... but do you attend a seminar to get a list of good ideas ... or are you really more interested having in the increased profit those ideas can bring you?

Good Ideas Don't Change Anything
You have probably collected enough "good ideas" to hold you for the rest of your career. The problem is that all the good ideas in the world will not put a penny on your bottom line. It is only when an idea gets properly implemented that more money flows into your pocket.

For the independent operator, the only justifiable reason to invest time and money to attend a marketing seminar is to see an increase sales in and, in turn, the bottom line profit. It will take more than a list of good ideas to make that happen.

You Measure Success in Dollars
If you are ready to start working smarter and (finally!) start making more money, marketing guru Joel Cohen and I invite you to attend our annual Birthday Bash -- an exciting restaurant marketing clinic that is totally unlike anything we have ever offered before ... because the focus and the format is all about making sure you get past the "good idea" stage and actually start implementing ideas that will have a positive impact on your bottom line.

I would love to explain how this new format program will be radically different from anything you have attended before and what you have to gain by joining us for our annual Birthday Bash in Las Vegas this November, but this is not the place to go into it.

Click on the link below to find out what we have in mind ... and how you can get a $600 gift by taking advantage of our birthday celebration. But do it now. The special deal expires in two weeks. Click here to get the whole story on the Birthday Bash.

THE SEPTEMBER SURVEY
The September survey looks at the impact of rising gasoline prices and how you are addressing the issue. From the sound of things, you should also be prepared for higher utility costs ... which will put the pressure on menu prices. Altogether, it will add up to another challenge and the question is what are you going to do about it?

We will start a new survey next week, so if you want to get your thoughts on record (and receive the comments from other respondents), now is the time.

As usual, I will provide a compilation of all the responses to everyone who contributes to this project. Click here to add your thoughts to the September survey.

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

It is harder to motivate servers who have been with our company awhile and have gotten comfortable with their incomes and schedules than it is with those who are relatively new and are either eager to please or "hungry". This means there's always a trade-off between excellent but sometimes indifferent service and less-excellent but more attentive service.

Contests don't seem to work, personal meetings are only effective for a short time, monthly staff meeting leave them bored, no one offers new ideas when solicited at the staff meetings or privately. It seems the only time we hear comments is when we have an off nghit or they're under-tipped and, of course, those comments are not positive.

I also seem to have the same problem with certain of my managers when we're trying to push a new idea, product, or contest. this means I am constantly monitoring behavior instead of marketing the business to increase sales. -- Oneil Brassil, Memphis, TN

Learning to listen to your staff -- and being intensely interested in what you hear -- will deepen the respect you have for each other. That will show up in the form of increased productivity, lower turnover, a more positive working climate fewer on-the-job emergencies.

Never doubt that the most critical skill you can develop as a manager is your ability to truly listen.

I will continue to collect your answers to this important question ... and you can add comments as often as you want. Just click on the link below and contribute your insights for the common good (and your own as well!)

What did YOU learn from YOUR staff today?

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