OnSite Consulting | Consulting to Hotels, Casinos & Restaurants Nationwide |

RESTAURANT CONSULTING | WAKE UP | YOUR CUSTOMER DOES ALL THE WORK

On a daily basis we are required to explain to clients what we mean when we say that ‘a customer does all the work’ in a restaurant, not the operator. Whilst the concept is initially indigestible for an operator, it is nevertheless true. The customer does all the work.

The majority of our customers have focused time and effort contemplating everything BUT the customer. Handling and managing vendors, payroll, human resources and all the miscellaneous tasks that need to get done by someone running a hospitality venue. If these areas are either outsourced or run efficiently, the venues would see an immediate and dramatic increase in revenue – because they would have time to think about the key driver of their business: The customer.

As a restaurateur, you can only expect to get out (receive) what you put in and it all comes back to rewarding the customer for the work they do in arriving at your restaurant. Still puzzled?

When a customer decides they want to eat out there are hundreds if not thousands of different dining options that they can choose from. They made the decision to choose you. They are the ones who have to spend on gas and parking to get to your doorstep and they are the ones who chose to take a break from working (making money) or spending time with other family or friends to eat at your restaurant. They are the ones who took the time to rally the troops and make a reservation.

Once they are in the door, they are taking a risk with their family, friends, business associates or date: They are hoping that this experience and food will be a great one and will be worth both the money they will have to spend and the time. Additionally, the central customer is hoping that the choice of restaurant reflects well on him or her and as opposed to the embarrassment of having made a poor decision. A restaurant, meanwhile, has no risk. A customer walking in is simply an opportunity for them to provide the customer with the experience they deserve which will bring repeat business and/or recommendations to friends or online portals.

The customer is taking all the risk and can end up bearing the brunt of the restaurants mistakes, whether it be disappointment in the service, food, staff, wait times or overall experience. Every time a customer dines out, it is a lottery for the customer.  The price vs. value and the eventual opinion on the venue is not just about food but also experience.

Once they have left your establishment they continue the marketing of your restaurant through reviews on online review portals, sharing opinions with acquaintances and most importantly keeping it in the social arena – being talked about, for good reason, is the critical to keeping a restaurant popular.

This can obviously be a positive or negative for the restaurant depending on the customer’s experience. The positive side is the priceless and essential marketing: There is no better or more valuable form than a recommendation via word of mouth. Your customer needs to have had a very good time to feel compelled to recommend your restaurant.  Conversely, it can also be the kiss of death if the experience was negative. So this is how the customer does all the work. The customers bring in the money required to pay the owners, the customers work to make money to go out for dinner to pay your bills, your vendors, your landlord and so forth. The common error is an operator’s belief that it is the employees that are generating the revenue but this is simply not the case. It is the customer NOT the restaurant generating the tax revenues for the city and state and most importantly, they chose you. When a customer takes a moment to provide critique or opinion, they feel like they are helping the restaurant. Their advice, be it compliments or criticism, should be taken very seriously – because this is the most important of your revenue.

So all in all, the entire process in your restaurant starts and ends with your customer, the one person who does all the work …. and you are not focusing on him or her. So spend some serious time and effort thinking about your customer before, during and after their visit because responding to their needs and evolving with your customer base is the best recipe for success.

OnSite Consulting is a nationwide hospitality and consulting company to the casino, hotel & restaurant market. Providing immediate solutions for sites seeking turnaround, insolvency and concept repositioning. www.onsiteconsulting.com