Service, Service, Service
They say first impressions are important, and usually the first place diners start interacting with your staff and forming an impression of your restaurant is the front of house (FOH) where they are greeted, seated, and have their orders taken. The FOH is also where customers relay any critiques or complaints that they have about the food or service. Keep reading for some tips on how to improve diner-staff interaction and service recovery after receiving a customer complaint.
Staff-diner interactions
Here are the 10 steps to have your staff remember when interacting with guests:
- Greet the guests
- Seat the guests
- Present the menu
- Write and repeat order back to the guests
- Pass the order to the kitchen
- Serve the order
- Present the bill
- Present the change
- Thank the guests
- Re-set the table
Here are some tips!
- Remembering the names of your guests adds a personal touch to your service.
- Wearing a genuine smile when greeting guests sets a more relaxed atmosphere.
- Recommending dishes when a diner seems uncertain about what to order shows a mastery of the menu.
- Remembering the right orders displays professionalism of staff.
- Update diners regularly on the status of their orders.
Service recovery
It is very common to receive complaints as not all guests are satisfied the same way. This makes learning to deal with these complaints professionally a very important aspect of the FOH.
What is service recovery?
It is a systematic business process to help you deal with customer complaints professionally. The goal is to identify the customers’ issues, address the issues and retain the customers. Proper handling can turn dissatisfied diners into loyal customers.
Elements of service recovery
- Empower and encourage staff to respond to complaints effectively. Teach them to be patient, to articulate the situation, remedy the problem and balance the interests of the company and customer.
- When asking guests about their meal, show that you are sincere in knowing their opinion.
- Treat every complaint and comment as valuable feedback.
- Perform the steps in complaint handling below.
Steps in complaint handling
- Create a system for receiving complaints.
- Record and process the complaints.
- Acknowledge the complaints with personalised responses.
- Analyse the complaints and resolve the problems.
- Follow up with the customer.
Congratulations, you’ve completed the Improving Interactions and Service Recovery topic!
Continue on to the next topic, pick a related topic from the Service, Service, Service module, or go back to the Chefmanship Academy modules page.
