Best Practices
Never Underestimate the Importance of a CONSISTENT Guest Experience
The most expensive way to grow sales in any restaurant is by trying to attract more first-time guests through marketing, advertising and promotional activities.
Restaurants spend thousands of dollars annually trying to bring in more first-time customers in hopes of turning them into repeat guests. Considering that regulars make up as much as 80% of a restaurant's sales, turning first-timers into repeat, loyal guests is absolutely essential.
Yet, for all the expense and effort restaurants spend to attract new diners, often, little attention is given to making sure those new and existing customers receive the best possible guest experience EVERY TIME.
The reality is that many independent restaurants are inconsistent in the areas of food quality, customer service and cleanliness. When a restaurant fails to provide a reliable experience that guests can count on, the only thing that marketing success does is let more people know faster that they can’t depend on the restaurant to deliver excellence every time.
Consistency is what transforms average to excellence.
– Author Unknown
The ONLY way to provide a restaurant experience that draws guests back is to provide the same, superior dining experience EVERY TIME. And there’s only one way to do that - having effective SYSTEMS in place that are used and followed all day, every day. That means having and USING standard recipes, clearly defined service steps and training processes as well as checklists to ensure cleanliness, adequate supplies and quality control.
So, before you spend another dollar on trying to attract more first-time customers, review your systems – are they designed to ENSURE every single guest has a positively memorable experience EVERY time?
Searching for ways to improve your guest experience? Read our article Use Systems to Improve the Guest Experience in Your Restaurant and check out our course Delighting Guests with Personalized Hospitality to start building positive, consistent guest experiences.
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Webinar/Podcast
Mastering Talent Management: Strategies for Restaurant Success
Confronting rising labor costs and a complex regulatory landscape, restaurant operators face the critical challenge of effectively recruiting and retaining employees.
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System
Restaurant Kitchen Management Systems
This directory contains over 50 categorized kitchen management resources to help you get started implementing the six main kitchen management systems to keep your restaurant operating profitably and consistently.
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Download
Restaurant Checklists
Restaurant checklists that help owners, managers, and teams execute consistently across startup, staffing, training, and daily operations.
