Effective Offline Promotion
Although, most of your traffic will still come from search engines and various online promotions, a little effort using traditional media might also bring a large number of visitors to your website.Reasons, why you should take offline promotion of your website seriously include:Internet is increasingly becoming a part of our daily life. However, still a big segment of the society – especially, the elderly – don’t spend that much of time online. Traditional media is a good method of getting their attention.If a person sees your printed a

Your First Job -- Work Experience And Applications
Increasingly, it is received wisdom that you will need work experience prior to applying for your first job, and that, particularly in the arts, this will probably have been unpaid. The number of graduates has been rising sharply over the past few years, with employment competition becoming ever tougher, but do you really need to offer yourself as a slave just to get a foot in the door, and how valuable will such experience be considered by others?If you wish to work for nothing, make sure that it is on your terms and for your benefit, perhaps to try out a particu

Customer Services Departments: Do They Live Up To The Name?
Have you ever been transferred on the telephone to the so-called customer service department and the lady or gentleman on the other end cannot or rather will not help you with your problem? All you get is a bureaucratic; I am sorry but that is our policy.And you think to yourself; I am sorry but I was your customer and now I am your competitors customer and I am going to tell the whole friggin world too. Well if you have had this experience and such thoughts you are not alone. In fact this is exactly the problem that businesses and corporations face these days.The meals come in two sizes--regular and value-sized. Which do you prefer?
Guest: I’ll try the value-sized.
Cashier: Great choice! We get lots of compliments on it! Your total is $4.99. Have a great meal and let me know if you need anything else.
Guest: I will!

In Scene 1, the cashier offers service, which leads to a satisfied guest. That’s okay. But in Scene 2, the cashier offers hospitality, which leads to a loyal guest. That’s better.

All too often, we are guilty of forcing our cashiers to follow a series of service steps in an effort to standardize our delivery system. To that end, we simply process people through a line. As guests, if we wanted that, we could simply have a terminal where we enter our own order. That idea would be as successful as the failed full-serve restaurants where you had to cook your own steak!

As Bruce Tulgan, founder of Rainmaker Thinking, says, "Do you want your spouse satisfied or loyal?" Therefore, our cashiers need to stop acting like service robots and start providing a better experience. The scenarios above take the same amount of time for the guest but provide a totally different tone for their meal. Consistent performance at this level will enhance the benefit for the guest, distance yourself from the competitors, and drive frequency--the only true way to build long-term sales.

Guests want value. As you know, value equals the benefit received divided by the money spent. How can any other type of restaurant provide a better value for the dollar than a quick-serve with a fairly low check average? All it takes is moving the benefit to the guest. Here’s how.

Shift communication: Spend 30 seconds per employee prior to and after each shift. Let them practice on you--versus the guest--and review their shift numbers, their best highlights, and opportunities they have.

Guarantee message: On table tents, counter mats, register toppers, or buttons/stickers on the cashier, allow the guest to manage the employee while you are not around. (See "The Training Manual" in the March 2003 issue of QSR for more details.)

First-timer identification: Add a button on the register for "first-time guests." The cashier can find out if the guest is a first-time visitor to your concept, press the button, and it prints on the ticket. The kitchen can ensure it’s outstanding and the manager can stop by their table if they are dining in. It really creates a wow!

Grow your skills: If you don’t know what you don’t know, you can’t be an effective leader. Constantly learn something new and teach it to your staff. A few books every manager should read:

First, Break All the Rules, by Marcus Buckingham. Challenges the norms and teaches you how to move your leadership style significantly forward.

MYOB, by Jim Sullivan. Plenty of easy-to-implement ideas (and laughs) for any restaurant.

Customer Satisfaction is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is Priceless, by Jeffrey Gitomer. Clearly illustrates the point outlined in the scenes above. Okay is not okay.

Service That Sells, Pencom Publishing. Full of selling ideas.

Send Flowers to the Living! Rewards, Contests and Incentives to Build Employee Loyalty, by TJ Schier. If you want the employee to treat the guest better, you need to treat the employee better. This book has plenty of restaurant examples.

Reading articles and books or watching videos is a start but cannot

uce Tulgan, founder of Rainmaker Thinking, says, "Do you want your spouse satisfied or loyal?" Therefore, our cashiers need to stop acting like service robots and start providing a better experience. The scenarios above take the same amount of time for the guest but provide a totally different tone for their meal. Consistent performance at this level will enhance the benefit for the guest, distance yourself from the competitors, and drive frequency--the only true way to build long-term sales.

Guests want value. As you know, value equals the benefit received divided by the money spent. How can any other type of restaurant provide a better value for the dollar than a quick-serve with a fairly low check average? All it takes is moving the benefit to the guest. Here’s how.

Shift communication: Spend 30 seconds per employee prior to and after each shift. Let them practice on you--versus the guest--and review their shift numbers, their best highlights, and opportunities they have.

Guarantee message: On table tents, counter mats, register toppers, or buttons/stickers on the cashier, allow the guest to manage the employee while you are not around. (See "The Training Manual" in the March 2003 issue of QSR for more details.)

First-timer identification: Add a button on the register for "first-time guests." The cashier can find out if the guest is a first-time visitor to your concept, press the button, and it prints on the ticket. The kitchen can ensure it’s outstanding and the manager can stop by their table if they are dining in. It really creates a wow!

Grow your skills: If you don’t know what you don’t know, you can’t be an effective leader. Constantly learn something new and teach it to your staff. A few books every manager should read:

First, Break All the Rules, by Marcus Buckingham. Challenges the norms and teaches you how to move your leadership style significantly forward.

MYOB, by Jim Sullivan. Plenty of easy-to-implement ideas (and laughs) for any restaurant.

Customer Satisfaction is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is Priceless, by Jeffrey Gitomer. Clearly illustrates the point outlined in the scenes above. Okay is not okay.

Service That Sells, Pencom Publishing. Full of selling ideas.

Send Flowers to the Living! Rewards, Contests and Incentives to Build Employee Loyalty, by TJ Schier. If you want the employee to treat the guest better, you need to treat the employee better. This book has plenty of restaurant examples.

Reading articles and books or watching videos is a start but cannot

Let them practice on you--versus the guest--and review their shift numbers, their best highlights, and opportunities they have.

Guarantee message: On table tents, counter mats, register toppers, or buttons/stickers on the cashier, allow the guest to manage the employee while you are not around. (See "The Training Manual" in the March 2003 issue of QSR for more details.)

First-timer identification: Add a button on the register for "first-time guests." The cashier can find out if the guest is a first-time visitor to your concept, press the button, and it prints on the ticket. The kitchen can ensure it’s outstanding and the manager can stop by their table if they are dining in. It really creates a wow!

Grow your skills: If you don’t know what you don’t know, you can’t be an effective leader. Constantly learn something new and teach it to your staff. A few books every manager should read:

First, Break All the Rules, by Marcus Buckingham. Challenges the norms and teaches you how to move your leadership style significantly forward.

MYOB, by Jim Sullivan. Plenty of easy-to-implement ideas (and laughs) for any restaurant.

Customer Satisfaction is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is Priceless, by Jeffrey Gitomer. Clearly illustrates the point outlined in the scenes above. Okay is not okay.

Service That Sells, Pencom Publishing. Full of selling ideas.

Send Flowers to the Living! Rewards, Contests and Incentives to Build Employee Loyalty, by TJ Schier. If you want the employee to treat the guest better, you need to treat the employee better. This book has plenty of restaurant examples.

Reading articles and books or watching videos is a start but cannot

taff. A few books every manager should read:

First, Break All the Rules, by Marcus Buckingham. Challenges the norms and teaches you how to move your leadership style significantly forward.

MYOB, by Jim Sullivan. Plenty of easy-to-implement ideas (and laughs) for any restaurant.

Customer Satisfaction is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is Priceless, by Jeffrey Gitomer. Clearly illustrates the point outlined in the scenes above. Okay is not okay.

Service That Sells, Pencom Publishing. Full of selling ideas.

Send Flowers to the Living! Rewards, Contests and Incentives to Build Employee Loyalty, by TJ Schier. If you want the employee to treat the guest better, you need to treat the employee better. This book has plenty of restaurant examples.

Reading articles and books or watching videos is a start but cannot replace practice and repetition. It starts with you, then your managers and employees. Watching Tiger Woods gives us motivation but doesn’t make us a better golfer without practice and dedication. Begin moving the hospitality needle and see your sales increase!