8 common mistakes restaurants make in service design

 

Let’s take a look at the world 1^st best restaurant in 2014– NOMA restaurant in Copenhagen. The restaurant has received such a huge number of compliments such as “flawless”, “Great experience and perfect food”

(URL http://www.tripadvisor.fi/Restaurant_Review-g189541-d694971-Reviews-Noma-Copenhagen_Zealand.html)

They created and designed outstanding service without any mistake. Do you want to know the secret? Do you want to build a perfect restaurant of your own? Never makes 8 common following mistakes below:

    1.      Not training your staff properly:

Customers meet 10 great staffs and they will remember only 1 rude staff.

Every client is worth having great experience; hence, no matter the number of staffs you have: 10 or 1000, training both full-time and part-time employees properly from the smallest is essentially successful key.

HOW TO SOLVE: All customers have to be very impressed at outstanding service!

ü  Eye-contact & Smile’s value: ‘’A smile is a curve that sets everything straight.’’ - Phyllis Diller

ü  No more wrong greeting: Replacing ‘’How many of you…? Do you want to sit next to the window?’’ by an excited attitude and warmly welcoming words

ü  No cell-phone during shift

ü  Being extremely polite: No 1-word answer, no question like: ‘’Just 1 of you?’’

ü  Handling the situation: Mistakes are accepted with remarkable apology or immediately smart reaction.

(Source: Common Restaurant Mistakes: Service Mistakes and Missed Opportunities by Industry headline http://www.fsrmagazine.com/content/common-restaurant-mistakes-service-mistakes)

    2.      Being Inaccessible to Customers:

After receiving incredible service or product, clients now want to meet the managers for good feedback and support. Is the manager reachable?

When customers’ loyalty is concerned, being accessible is also crucial. It is ineffective that customers come on some days and the restaurant is closed.

Keeping contact with every old customer (even they came 1 time), providing solution during closing time for new potential customers (for example: a friendly staff or ready mail box at the door with some coupons)

    3.      Toilet’s problem:

Let’s look at INTERCONTINENTAL MAYUR VIHAR RESTAURANTS – INDIA’s toilet:

(top 30 recommend for New Delhi’s tourists on Tripadvisors) 

(Source: http://www.silverfoxstudios.com.sg/gallery/intercontinental-mayur-vihar-restaurants/) 

Many restaurants forget the importance of toilet's design, a specially beautiful and bright toilet actually brings customers back. This rule applies for both medium and small bar/restaurant. We were very impressed by a nicely designed toilet in a small pizza restaurant. The service and food are good but not remarkable; however, because of the restroom's design, we feel our interest in carefulness and cleanness are fulfilled, which turned us into their close customer.

Restroom can create big value for your customers, remember it! Basing on targeted group's value, you should offer them the right design style because all of the successful restaurants in the world own perfect restroom!

4.      When are values created? 

The 4^th common mistake is that you ONLY design service to bring value for YOUR ALREDY customers.

Starbucks is successful because they changed the meaning of coffee, they made coffee become a trend, a habit, a moment that people can have place to talk, to read, to enjoy together!

Hence, opening a cooking club every Tuesday night, having space for ‘’potential customers’’, turning your restaurant into a public place on regular basis can help you to create a ‘’society’’ and create value for everyone who might be your future customers.

At first, they come to your society because of their own benefit. Then, the moment they need to choose a restaurant to hang out, they are likely come to yours, where they know that friendly staffs and their friends are there! 

5.   Basics are hanging out. 

Sometimes, your staffs may too focus on making and asking about the orders and forget to say “Please” or “Thank you”. Even though this is considered small mistake that customers might not notice, this never happens in a perfect service design restaurant.

Doing small and basic things in such a very polite way will impress your clients totally. Most of your competitors forget it and you will be the one who turns ‘’Please’’ and ‘’Thank you’’ become your restaurant’s signal. 

6.   Too friendly or lack of friendly. 

Balance between attention and casual delivery is optimal. In any cases, being too friendly or lack of friendly could be misunderstood as dis-respect the customers. They are the Kings and Queen, not friends or enemies.

Manuel from Fawlty Towers was famously the world's worst waiter.

(Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)

Some staffs are trying to be friendly with customers, but asking too much makes them become annoying. Just a big smile with cheer-up face can bring clients’ happiness. Sometimes, question like ‘’How is it going?’’ doesn’t work when customers are busy or your restaurant operates in a different culture. 

Some customers can forgive because of this small mistake, however, some maybe never come back because of this imperfect! 

7.   The menu. 

What do you think about your menu? Too much? Too little? Lack of styles? Only if you love you menu, or else, you should REPLACE IT.

A scientific menu not only saves customers time but also saves your money. The customers don’t have to take a long distance before go to the order. Because they don’t want to read it again, they might order less food. Meanwhile, your chef doesn’t have to make too many different meals at the same time.

Instead of a wide range menu showing how many types your restaurant can make, you should make a beautiful concise menu, and then cook perfectly. Switching the meals after time to refresh your restaurant is recommended as well.

TIPS- The layout is important. Make it attractive and readable:

• Group most profitable serves together.
• No money signs. 
• Use pictures, creative text to guide customers.
• A clean menu
• Updating menu at least once a year.
• Make sure your staffs remember the menu well.
• Put your menu on the internet and this is easily accessible by mobile for the travelers.

…be easily accessible by mobile for the travelers

8.   The order. 

Restaurant’s organizing is extremely important, which deliveries your passions and messages to clients. You have to make sure every item is clean and in reasonable order.

Customers can come in and take a comfortable seat without dirty dishes and meals on the table, the cover and decoration are always in well prepared. After one finishes and goes, remember to clean and decorate the table again.

Do you want to come in a dirty restaurant as pictures? 
(Source: http://boards.weddingbee.com/topic/help-ugly-artwork-pic-heavy/)

SHORTLY, REMEMBER TO:

ü  Give excellent service

ü  Changing and updating all the time (because service design is not only creating but also altering services)

ü  Exceed expectation! Being remarkable, excellent, standing out!

& That’s your key to succeed! We hope you the best luck in your journey.