Service in the front is as important as as a good chef. I have mentioned this in my website Restaurant Promo Ideas previously. You can have the best Michelin Star Chef, but if your staff can't sell the product or can't get the food item to the customers table properly and promptly. You will slowly loose your customers.As customers are the life blood of any restaurant, your business will gradually decline. There are lots of resources on the net to help you train your service staff both free and with a price tag. This free ebook consist of 13 chapters of the author's experiences and knowledge in relation to restaurant service. The Brilliant Basics to Exceptional Restaurant Service
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
The Brilliant Basics to Exceptional Restaurant Service
Service in the front is as important as as a good chef. I have mentioned this in my website Restaurant Promo Ideas previously. You can have the best Michelin Star Chef, but if your staff can't sell the product or can't get the food item to the customers table properly and promptly. You will slowly loose your customers.As customers are the life blood of any restaurant, your business will gradually decline. There are lots of resources on the net to help you train your service staff both free and with a price tag. This free ebook consist of 13 chapters of the author's experiences and knowledge in relation to restaurant service. The Brilliant Basics to Exceptional Restaurant Service
Friday, October 12, 2012
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Improving Customer Experiences - Is It Still Important Or Is Price The Only Thing That Matters?
Has the economic downturn minimized the importance of the Customer Experience?
In Chapter 5 of my book, Strategy Activation: How To Turn Your Vision into Marketplace Success
, I talk about how important it is to improve your holistic customer experience to differentiate your company from your competitors. As products and services continue down the inexorable path toward commodification, it is the ongoing customer experience that drives customers to choose one vendor over another. However, in the past two years, as the economic downturn has forced significant changes in customer behavior, many have questioned the importance of the overarching customer experience. These naysayers claim that in tough times price is the only thing that matters. Customers, they say, are more likely to accept a bad experience as long as they are getting a good deal. This perspective, however, is not confirmed by the data.
When Money is Tight, Customers Expect an Even Greater Customer Experience...
The most recent Harris Interactive Customer Experience Impact Report surveyed consumers on how they engage with companies both online and via phone, what they find frustrating, and how negative and positive customer experiences affect them. They discovered these facts that are startling to most business owners today...
* 87% of the surveyed consumers stopped doing business with an organization or company because of a negative customer experience. That's up from 68% reported just two years ago.
* Even during tough economic times, the significance of customer experiences does not dwindle. More than half (58%) of consumers polled said they will pay more for a better customer experience during a down economy.
* Consumers stated that the most important thing companies could do to encourage them to spend more is to improve the overall customer experience So, it's clear that even when finances are tight, people still value good service.
Why This Study's Results Are Not Surprising To Me...
When money is easy to come by customers are likely to be more forgiving. Consider this restaurant dining example... When the economy was booming many couples found themselves dining out twice per week or more. With eight to ten dining-out occasions per month a single bad experience is easily forgotten. However, when belts tighten, monthly dining-out occasions may settle back to just two or three. With fewer opportunities to "splurge" on an evening out couples and families now demand that each experience justifies the expenditure of limited funds. Thus a bad experience like poor service, long wait times and cold food makes a bigger impression and stays with us longer. Once you have a bad customer experience, you may wait months before you visit that restaurant again - and that's if you ever go back. Plus, you'll probably tell your family and friends about your experience. This will make them think twice before they visit that restaurant.
Real Proof That Bad Customer Experience News Travels Far...
A recently published Forrester Research report, "How Customer Experience Drives Word of Mouth" cites:
* Consumers tend to discuss bad experiences with more people than they discuss good ones
* Gen Xers, as a group, tend to tell the most people about a bad experience
* Gen Yers are the chattiest in general. They are more likely to tell someone about a good experience. They are also the most likely to share a bad experience. So, don't you think that you should find out right now exactly what your customers are saying about your organization's performance over the past eighteen months? Have their experiences diminished in the wake of corporate austerity? As we begin to see the recession bottom out, now is the time to explore this issue; to find new ways to improve the customer experience; to ensure that your customers have only good things to say!
Strategy Execution Consultant Scott Glatstein, President of Imperatives LLC turns market opportunities into record breaking profits even in a recession. Now, with his new book, "Strategy Activation: How To Turn Your Vision into Marketplace Success
," Scott unveils his groundbreaking plan for improved customer experiences and higher strategic profits. Get your FREE Sneak Preview at: http://www.strategyactivation.com
Source: http://scottglatstein.articlealley.com/improving-customer-experiences--is-it-still-important-or-is-price-the-only-thing-that-matters-1258447.html
In Chapter 5 of my book, Strategy Activation: How To Turn Your Vision into Marketplace Success
, I talk about how important it is to improve your holistic customer experience to differentiate your company from your competitors. As products and services continue down the inexorable path toward commodification, it is the ongoing customer experience that drives customers to choose one vendor over another. However, in the past two years, as the economic downturn has forced significant changes in customer behavior, many have questioned the importance of the overarching customer experience. These naysayers claim that in tough times price is the only thing that matters. Customers, they say, are more likely to accept a bad experience as long as they are getting a good deal. This perspective, however, is not confirmed by the data. When Money is Tight, Customers Expect an Even Greater Customer Experience...
The most recent Harris Interactive Customer Experience Impact Report surveyed consumers on how they engage with companies both online and via phone, what they find frustrating, and how negative and positive customer experiences affect them. They discovered these facts that are startling to most business owners today...
* 87% of the surveyed consumers stopped doing business with an organization or company because of a negative customer experience. That's up from 68% reported just two years ago.
* Even during tough economic times, the significance of customer experiences does not dwindle. More than half (58%) of consumers polled said they will pay more for a better customer experience during a down economy.
* Consumers stated that the most important thing companies could do to encourage them to spend more is to improve the overall customer experience So, it's clear that even when finances are tight, people still value good service.
Why This Study's Results Are Not Surprising To Me...
When money is easy to come by customers are likely to be more forgiving. Consider this restaurant dining example... When the economy was booming many couples found themselves dining out twice per week or more. With eight to ten dining-out occasions per month a single bad experience is easily forgotten. However, when belts tighten, monthly dining-out occasions may settle back to just two or three. With fewer opportunities to "splurge" on an evening out couples and families now demand that each experience justifies the expenditure of limited funds. Thus a bad experience like poor service, long wait times and cold food makes a bigger impression and stays with us longer. Once you have a bad customer experience, you may wait months before you visit that restaurant again - and that's if you ever go back. Plus, you'll probably tell your family and friends about your experience. This will make them think twice before they visit that restaurant.
Real Proof That Bad Customer Experience News Travels Far...
A recently published Forrester Research report, "How Customer Experience Drives Word of Mouth" cites:
* Consumers tend to discuss bad experiences with more people than they discuss good ones
* Gen Xers, as a group, tend to tell the most people about a bad experience
* Gen Yers are the chattiest in general. They are more likely to tell someone about a good experience. They are also the most likely to share a bad experience. So, don't you think that you should find out right now exactly what your customers are saying about your organization's performance over the past eighteen months? Have their experiences diminished in the wake of corporate austerity? As we begin to see the recession bottom out, now is the time to explore this issue; to find new ways to improve the customer experience; to ensure that your customers have only good things to say!
Strategy Execution Consultant Scott Glatstein, President of Imperatives LLC turns market opportunities into record breaking profits even in a recession. Now, with his new book, "Strategy Activation: How To Turn Your Vision into Marketplace Success
," Scott unveils his groundbreaking plan for improved customer experiences and higher strategic profits. Get your FREE Sneak Preview at: http://www.strategyactivation.com Source: http://scottglatstein.articlealley.com/improving-customer-experiences--is-it-still-important-or-is-price-the-only-thing-that-matters-1258447.html
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Service Equals Performance Equals Service
Service can be described as a “performance” of some kind involving two parties, whereby one party is the benefactor and the other party is the performing party receiving some type of monetary payment. The value of the Service depends on the personal experience of the benefactor. When I looked it up in Webster’s, there it was at #11 out of 31 definitions. The payment part was not included, but the key word mentioned was “performance.”
As I relate this to restaurants, it’s so easy to see why dining room service is excellent training for actors, since they’re performing all of the time. There might be days when their energy level is low, yet they are still expected to perform in the show on stage at night. It is not much different for dining room service staff whose livelihood depends quite a bit on how they look and act before many people on any night. The word “performance” makes a lot of sense when relating it to other Service fields such as medical, legal, financial, and armed; even in religion they have prayer services.
With increased human knowledge and modern inventions, the term “Customer Service” has evolved over time. Whenever a new technology is invented, an array of “services” develops making it accessible to the general public. Its success depends upon product “performance” and the product-related “Services performance.” Whether it is a bulb to make a room bright or a flying machine that sends people around the world faster, the need for developed services attached to new technologies does create jobs.
Even at the computer we dial up our Internet “Service” Provider to gain access to the information highway. The instantaneous delivery of sorted out information within seconds is now the norm. Proper navigation “performance” (that word again) allow us to surf the World Wide Web, streamlining information at our fingertips. ” With improved search engine technology, the return of consumer searches has become more categorically specific, proving that better performance results in better Service.
Take a look around and you will notice Service performances touch every part of our daily lives - many of which are taken for granted.
*****************************************************************************
About the author: Richard Saporito is a NYC Restaurant Insider with more than 30 years experience. He is currently the President of Topserve Restaurant Consulting, Inc. and the author of "How To Improve Dining Room Service." Discover how to improve your restaurant's dining room service and dramatically increase your profits here:
How to Improve Dining Room Service E- Book
For more customer service ideas, please drop by my website Restaurant Promo Ideas.
As I relate this to restaurants, it’s so easy to see why dining room service is excellent training for actors, since they’re performing all of the time. There might be days when their energy level is low, yet they are still expected to perform in the show on stage at night. It is not much different for dining room service staff whose livelihood depends quite a bit on how they look and act before many people on any night. The word “performance” makes a lot of sense when relating it to other Service fields such as medical, legal, financial, and armed; even in religion they have prayer services.
With increased human knowledge and modern inventions, the term “Customer Service” has evolved over time. Whenever a new technology is invented, an array of “services” develops making it accessible to the general public. Its success depends upon product “performance” and the product-related “Services performance.” Whether it is a bulb to make a room bright or a flying machine that sends people around the world faster, the need for developed services attached to new technologies does create jobs.
Even at the computer we dial up our Internet “Service” Provider to gain access to the information highway. The instantaneous delivery of sorted out information within seconds is now the norm. Proper navigation “performance” (that word again) allow us to surf the World Wide Web, streamlining information at our fingertips. ” With improved search engine technology, the return of consumer searches has become more categorically specific, proving that better performance results in better Service.
Take a look around and you will notice Service performances touch every part of our daily lives - many of which are taken for granted.
*****************************************************************************
About the author: Richard Saporito is a NYC Restaurant Insider with more than 30 years experience. He is currently the President of Topserve Restaurant Consulting, Inc. and the author of "How To Improve Dining Room Service." Discover how to improve your restaurant's dining room service and dramatically increase your profits here:
How to Improve Dining Room Service E- Book
For more customer service ideas, please drop by my website Restaurant Promo Ideas.
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