Have you ever been at a restaurant and your food order is wrong, but the waiter or waitress blames the cooks?  More than once I’ve heard a waitress say something like: “They get half the orders screwed up on Friday nights.”   Or, “They’re not the smartest cooks.”  Or, “We’re short on help back there tonight.”  Here’s my all time favorite: “I’m not your waitress.  You’re not in my section.  I’ll send over your waitress.”

Frankly, I don’t care!  That’s not my problem!  I don’t work here.  I’m the customer, for goodness sake!

When I order coleslaw, rather than fries, I do not want to hear a waitress blame the cooks.  I just want my coleslaw.  And, I want my waitress to make me feel like the entire restaurant staff feels bad that I didn’t get my coleslaw.  After all, I came to a restaurant for the service as well as the food.  I could have served myself a meal at home.  Part of the reason I went to a restaurant is to sit there and not work.  I expect service.  Good service. 

I AM NOT UNIQUE IN MY EXPECTATIONS!   That’s every customer’s expectations, which should drive virtually every business function in every business.  The businesses that make customers feel special win.  Period.

I expect warm food, and my order served timely and as ordered.  I should NEVER hear a waitress distinguish herself from the kitchen.  There are not two separate operations within a restaurant.  There are no seating or service “sections” that the customer needs to know about.  Not from the customer’s perspective, and only the customer’s opinion counts.  No host or hostess should talk about the kitchen staff or the wait staff as different or distinct from the host’s job.  No waiter should pass the buck to another waiter.  If a customer needs something, EVERY waiter in the joint is eligible to address that customer’s needs, wants and demands.  A restaurant is a single entity and offers a single customer experience.  And that concept should be drilled, taught and mandated by management in restaurants and every other business type.  YOUR BUSINESS INCLUDED!

 For more thoughts on this subject, please take a look at the follow up post-  All Employees Are In Sales-  Part II