Why GREAT Service

At a meeting 2 days ago the questions were asked "Why have our customers recently been giving us high scores for service? Especially since we haven't made any visible changes to our products." There were several responses from people around the table:

• We've held people accountable
• Informed employees their pay increases were tied into customer satisfaction.
• New employees, etc.

I believe there is a reason the restaurant I manage is #1 year-to-date (in a very large company) for dinner service. We must first "Have the right people in the right job" Right people meaning people who have a strong desire to serve our customers. Then:

• Place them in a position where their talents will contribute to success
• Develop, Encourage, Motivate employees constantly
• Strong floor presence (manage from the restaurant not from the office)
• Manage fairly without personnel biases
• Empower employees to take care of the customer
• Manage by example (show good service to the customer by doing it)
• Demand teamwork and equality (don't need kings & queens giving customers bad service)
• Train, Train, Train daily

But how do you get (i.e. the journey) to #1 in customer service? Hmm....... sounds like that maybe the next blog.