Have you pulled up to the gas pump lately and thought about how cheap gas is? If so,
that’s called conditioning. We’ve been conditioned over the last few months by the high
gas prices that $2 per gallon is cheap. I’m sure the oil companies hope it stays there, and
they’ve conditioned us to accept it.

Look inside your restaurant. Have you conditioned your customers to accept mediocre
food, service, or cook times? Are your employees conditioned knowing you accept the
lowest standards possible and they can come in late, out of uniform, and be unproductive?
It’s never too late to re-condition the team. It’s not so important where you are today, but
rather what you are doing about it.

Get a jump on New Year’s Resolutions and take the month of December to re-focus on
recipes, procedures, cook times, and cleanliness in the back of the house. Make a
commitment to uniform standards and attendance policies. Ask the staff for input on how
to make your restaurant a better place to work–perhaps being a better boss is a good place
to start. Out front, work on hospitality when greeting and thanking the customer vs.
putting them through a process. Get the team to suggestive sell and move those new gift
cards or gift certificates during the holidays.

For you personally, condition yourself to say more positive comments than negative ones
(4-to-1 is a good ratio), train something new each day, hold interactive pre-shift meetings,
role play with your staff, and have a contest-a-day to bring some fun back into the work
environment. Making your restaurant great starts with you. If you can’t or won’t re-condition yourself, the staff certainly won’t.

Remember, gas for $2 per gallon is not cheapwe’re just conditioned to believe it is.
Want your staff to be excellent? Condition them to believe that as well!

T.J. Schier is service professional, consultant and speaker with over 20 years experience in operations and training. Founder and president of Incentivize Solutions and podTraining, T.J. has helped numerous clients enhance their service and training programs and spoken to tens of thousands of managers, franchisees and operators in various fields. Visit http://IncentivizeSolutions.com/ for more info motivating today’s employees, training today’s generation and delivering outstanding guest service; or http://podTraining.us/, a unique new system and the foundation of ‘i-learning’ - using the device of today’s generation, the iPod - to train your workforce.

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What’s your first impression of this directive? “Tray all drinks when more than two are
ordered.”

Your first impression is probably that you want to be the company selling the trays or,
perhaps, that this practice would cost you a fortune.

Having personally witnessed Pal’s Sudden Service pump cars through the window with an
average at-the-window time of under 20 seconds and do this, it seems a worthwhile
investment. Why? Instead of two trips (or two people) to get the drinks to the customers,
valuable seconds are saved to allow either more people to get through the line or more
time for selling. Either way, sales increase. Plus, it is much easier for the customer to
receive their drinks this way.

My past few experiences last week with other quick-service chains have proven this theory
— it took another 5-15 seconds just to get all the drinks, both when dining in or going
through the drive-thru.

So what other things can you do to save time and move the line quicker?

- Take condiment requests at the order point and have it print on the receipt. This will
increase your order accuracy — as determined by each customer — and make for a
speedier transaction at the pickup point. Again, last week in multiple experiences, I found
there were delays at the pickup point to get these things to me.

- Teach production staff to listen to the order. Instead of waiting for a ticket or the order
to appear on a monitor, they become more productive.

- Have everything in arm’s reach so production staff and cashiers don’t have to move too
far. This includes selling props or P.O.P. materials to help cashiers sell more effectively.

While these actions might seem to cost money, the minimal investment is cheaper than
advertising and an inexpensive way to continue to enhance service. Can you afford not to
do these things? Sure, if you want your customers to shop at your competition!

T.J. Schier is service professional, consultant and speaker with over 20 years experience in operations and training. Founder and president of Incentivize Solutions and podTraining, T.J. has helped numerous clients enhance their service and training programs and spoken to tens of thousands of managers, franchisees and operators in various fields. Visit http://IncentivizeSolutions.com/ for more info motivating today’s employees, training today’s generation and delivering outstanding guest service; or http://podTraining.us/, a unique new system and the foundation of ‘i-learning’ - using the device of today’s generation, the iPod - to train your workforce.

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The lines are blurring between segments - we’ve seen fast-casual and full-service
restaurants with drive-thrus begin to challenge the competitive advantage traditional
quick-serves once had. Taking a diversion from the usual focus of this column on training
and service, let’s look at what you can do outside to bring more customers inside.

Get online. Make it even easier for customers to get their meal from you. If you can
minimize the ordering process at the unit, you save labor and the customer saves time.
Yes, you might have to create an express line, but to have orders placed online, instantly
print in the kitchen, and be paid directly into your merchant account saves tons of time
when the guest arrives. Additionally, no one has to pay attention to the fax machine! The
real benefit, however, is the database of information these customers provide. If you are
expecting a slow day, you can use the database of customers to send out a lunch special at
10:30 as a last-minute reminder to visit your restaurant for lunch. Everyone has
information but only a few choose to use it!

Get to know them. Really get to know the businesses in a 1-2 mile radius — they are
your core lunch customers. Visit them and find out who controls the communication and
distribution in the office, as well as who is responsible for placing catering and large
orders. Invite them in for a free meal or, better yet . . .

Edible business card. Pick a local business per week or day and deliver a surprise lunch
attached to your business card. Not only is it a nice surprise, but it will also create a buzz
for your brand and keep you top-of-mind when the employees are hungry. Treat your local
businesses like friends and they’ll repay the favor with their loyalty.

As a reminder, marketing should be the step that happens AFTER your operation is
running top-notch. There is no sense bringing in more customers for an average or belowaverage
experience — it just hastens your demise. Focus on the inside and then look
outside. Your customers are waiting for you!

T.J. Schier is service professional, consultant and speaker with over 20 years experience in operations and training. Founder and president of Incentivize Solutions and podTraining, T.J. has helped numerous clients enhance their service and training programs and spoken to tens of thousands of managers, franchisees and operators in various fields. Visit http://IncentivizeSolutions.com/ for more info motivating today’s employees, training today’s generation and delivering outstanding guest service; or http://podTraining.us/, a unique new system and the foundation of ‘i-learning’ - using the device of today’s generation, the iPod - to train your workforce.

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