Move Over

I have never, ever heard of this happening.

The other day, one of my regulars (we will call her Jan) came in and related the following story to me. Apparently, there is a restaurant she frequents when she goes to the movies. The last time she was in, she took her usual seat at one of the high tops in the bar. The restaurant was not overly busy, but busier than a usual early weekday. Jan was approached by a female server she had not seen before. According to Jan, this server was of an age that would suggest she has serving experience. The server approached the table and took Jan’s order, the following conversation ensued:

Server: “If a couple comes in, we will have to ask you to move to a bar seat.”

Jan (surprised): “Really, why is that?”

Server: “Well, you are just one person and you are sitting at a table for two.”

I don’t recall how Jan responded to this, but she was not impressed. Apparently Jan has been a regular there for some time, and she has gotten to know the owners. The point of this story is not Jan’s response. Rather, it relates to the issue of customer service. It boggles my mind that someone would say such a thing. What would this server do if a couple sat at a four top?

This points to an unfortunate trend within the service industry. Many people say they are committed to customer service, and claim to understand the importance of if. Unfortunately, too few actually know how to follow through. More often than not, customers are taken for granted. It is important to remember they have other choices and your actions today could send them somewhere else tomorrow. People have a choice when looking for products and services, and they are even more discerning in today’s economic climate.

Does this mean you let customers take advantage of you? Absolutely not, however, it does mean you need to look after their needs as best you can. I realize customer service can be difficult at times, (see the Clublife post from Feburuary 10th for instance) but most of the time it is actually very simple and effortless. Subtlety seams to be a dying art.

What responsibility do I have?

So, I am struggling with a dilemma. A while back I asked the question “What responsibility do I have?” with regard to our new owners. That question has become more pressing seeing as they have asked for my input. It’s not a case where they have asked for just my input, I got the impression they wanted input from everyone. I am struggling with the issue of trust, and that is causing a certain degree of reluctance on my part. Additionally, I don’t want it look like I am kissing ass, because I am not. At the same time, from talking with friends in the industry, this is not a good time to be looking for a job. What to do?

I could go in several directions here. One way would be to do a full report on everything I think I know. That would take time, but it would also be a valuable exercise for me. Putting my ideas down could be enlightening, and I would have something that could be useful in the future. The second option would be to do the full report for myself, and then provide them with a condensed version. And thirdly, I could just give them a specific list of suggestions. Not sure what to do here. Perhaps I need to think about it for a bit.