July 25, 2008
July 25th, 2008
Superb customer service is key to make loyal advocates out of your customers.
In this issue:
1. Don't Eliminate the Middle Man--Add One! (+a gift)
2. My Biggest Mistake in Customer Service
3. CustomerServicePoint.com Info
Don't Eliminate the Middle Man--Add One!
by Richard Saporito
Today, there are situations when we actually add a “middle person” instead of eliminating one for increased service efficiency. If it’s cost-effective and demand is high, then proper market positioning will make it a worthwhile endeavor. For example, my sister just informed me of a food delivery service in New Mexico that will let you choose one out of many different food outlets (all types of ethnic/fast food)- and then guarantees delivery within a specific time period. This not only gives the customer assurance of reliability, but more choices for dining take –out style.
In other areas of industry, the same idea holds true. There are electrical suppliers that no longer manufacture the product of electricity, but now are involved only in the delivery process of electricity to the customers. Because of market fluctuations, the new delivery supplier will utilize many other different energy suppliers to get the product of electricity to the customer efficiently and at the best market price. Again, adding the middle man seems to benefit all around.
In relating this theory to restaurants, it is the food runner that has become popular, especially in the larger dining establishments that rarely existed years ago. Food runners are employees who only work the rush hours of the dining room- only running food back and forth from the kitchen to the tables with light dining room table interaction (condiments, fresh pepper etc.). It is a 2-4 hr. shift, depending on how long the dining rush lasts.
Before large restaurants existed, the waiter would complete the process of order taking and delivering of the food. Today, the food runner can be implemented (additional middle man) relieving the waiter of this time consuming and sometimes painstaking process. The waiter must share a percentage of his tip with the runner, but in return his job is eased because the food is delivered for him- allowing extra time to work more tables and up sell to customers thereby increasing sales. Though, it does remain the waiter’s responsibility to check the table for additional diner needs-- either while the food is being placed by the runner or shortly thereafter. The tip-out to the runner is usually 10-15% depending on the service system, but well worth it if waiter sales can increase by 20-30 %.
The main point is the food runner addition improves delivery service efficiency while being cost-effective (if the sales increase outweighs the payroll increase). Properly integrating employees into the dining room with exact middle man connections always makes for smooth service flow. It’s not a matter of just blindly throwing extra employees at a service problem, but organizing the best system possible with the minimal amount of labor.
Adding the middle man can sometimes streamline operations in such way that it becomes irresistible and impossible to ignore. Always, the demand arises when delivery routes of a service system become overloaded.
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:
http://www.customerservicepoint.com/diningroomservice
Brought to you by Richard Saporito, the founder and President of Topserve Restaurant Consulting, Inc. He has over 30 years of restaurant service experience in many large, diverse, and profitable New York City establishments ranging from small independents to large scale corporate operations. Dining Room Service Quiz (165kb) (also available from the Member Info Point) |
A short quiz
that will give you 10 tips to help you quickly improve dining room service & increase restaurant profits!
My Biggest Mistake!
Norma from Raleigh, NC (USA) asked me the following question on my Questions and Answers page:
"Tell me about a time when you made a mistake in dealing with a customer situation. What was the final outcome and lessons learned?"
Before I answer this question I have to tell you that there was a time that I had a hard time dealing with angry customers. I was still a young man, and each time someone was flaming me, I took it inside, and it built and built and built...
CustomerServicePoint.com Info
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