Know your customers

The other day I saw something on the Asian Food Channel that reminded me that we should never assume what our customers think of us. The documentary was Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmare. It was about the famous Chef Gordon Ramsey. He goes around helping owners of restaurant improve their restaurant and in turn their profit. This week it was a restaurant in Spain, the restaurant had a small kitchen but a menu of 75 items. The owner wanted to try something different. He even had a dish of Deep-fried Prawns served with Chocolate Sauce. He only assumes that the customer will like it. This reminded me of the time when I was working in Phuket, Thailand. We added to our new menu Spaghetti Carbonara. The chef cooked it using the traditional method, lots of cheese and cream and thick. We noticed that the dish came back half eaten. So we went around asking people why this is so. Then we found out it was too thick and too creamy. So the chef did some modification to the dish, he added some chicken stock and made it with a little gravy. This was a winner. Nowadays in my present restaurant I have a book where the senior wait staff write out comments that they get from the guest, no matter if its good or bad. The book is read by me and my chef. I have found some interesting information on how to improve my food and service. The wait staff has to go and meet a minimum of 2 people each daily. Don't depend on the guest questionnaire in the middle of your table. Most people don't like to waste time filling it up unless its really a serious complaint. One on one interaction is really important. Try it and you will see for yourself. I always remind my staff if you don’t know ask, don’t assume. Assume is making an ASS of U and ME.

Be afraid, be very afraid- Off the social media

Nowdays most marketing gurus recommend the use of the social media like facebook, twitter to promote your product. While this is very true, the social media can also hurt us back. As anyone can put up something on the World Wide Web, we should be very vigilant in locating what people are saying about our product. One fine example just happen about a month ago. A hotel in Melaka, Malaysia had a few unfavorable comments about cleanlines in a tripadvisor website. Another person used that comments and put up a blog of the top 10 dirtiest hotels in the world. He put that hotel in the the list of the top 10 dirtiest hotel in Asia. I received that blog in my mail, already five times to date. I have stayed there on one occasion and found the cleanlines to be acceptable. Imagine what would happen if you would search the net for this hotel and find this blog, I'm sure you wouldn't think of staying there. Formerly we are always told to be careful of the word of mouth. Now the word of mouth is even bigger with the social media. My suggestion is to have a few staff dedicated to surfing the social sites looking for comments both good and bad. Improve on the bad and highlight the good. Replying the comments will show peple that you care about their feedback,never hit back or discredit the person. By doing this you will build lasting business.

The buck stops with the CEO

There was a great article in today’s Sunday Star about the dismal standard of service in Singapore. And how this can be solved by the leaders joining in to improve service standards. I find this to be very true. This is leading by example. Most companies have great vision and mission. And even greater slogans but if the leader don't show any effort in making the slogans work, then the staff won't follow. It will be another decoration on the wall.
To read the full article, click here The buck stops with the CEO