Part III. Burning the bridges of NO returns!
“Burning the bridges of no return” is a brazen act giving rise to the figurative phrase “Crossing the Rubicon,” meaning everyone is committed in a mutual course of action... survival, success and “returns” depends on it! The reference is to Julius Caesar along with his generals, who set fire to their ships during the invasion of the Rubicon River. The tactic was used to impress upon his soldiers to stand and conquer, because retreat was impossible. "Crossing the Rubicon" means to take an irrevocable step that commits everyone to a specific course.
Welsh poet Dylan Thomas put it nicely, “When one burns one’s bridges, what a very nice fire it makes.” We are all living upon the shores of what seems to be a very gloomy future, but it’s not. It’s what we make of it. This moment in time can be contemplated on, as burning the old bridge and rebuilding a new one. Taking action, where it becomes impossible to return to the old way of doing things that may have contributed to some of the problems . Make sure EVERYONE is on board and committed to your strategy plan, NOT your business plan.
It takes commitment to make returns!!!
You don’t need a masters degree to figure this stuff out! All it takes is common sense, reading my blog (subscribing would be nice), posting it (on Facebook and Twitter) or using it for a ramp up.
Question: What is the most common thread between a restaurant owner and wait staff?
Answer: “Money” that’s what! All the other stuff is fluff.
Question: Where exactly is the heaviest battle, between profit and loss, fought?
Answer: It’s fought, “table side”, in servicing the guest.
Most wait staff are hired on as (1099’s) Independent Contractors. Both the restaurant and wait staff work for profit. This is where the metal meets the iron between the Spartan generals and the warriors who fight on the SAME SIDE. They fight as one! (refer to Part II) In case you don’t get the 1099 part, it means you're self employed / an Independent Contractor / Entrepreneur.
Question: What’s the biggest difference between them?
Answer: The restaurant owner/managers (Spartan generals) are the vehicle. The driving force that shoulders the heaviest financial burden in providing the tables from which the wait staff (Spartan warriors) launch their battle, with one defining difference. The only cost to the wait staff is their apron and time. Wait staff! Listen up, and remember! This posting applies to you as much as it does to the owners and managers. Our posts put coin in everybody’s pockets.
The only “commitment” each of you have to each other, is to please the guest.
Something for the Spartan generals to remember about their warriors ~ The best wait staff usually know when to leave well enough alone with a guest, so trust them. The staff pulls up their socks each morning, strap on their aprons and go out there to face life with all their innocence, guilt and huevos shining for all to see. They pay their dues and take their chances with people’s pocket change. They throw the dice and shoot the rapids. They wrestle with the angels and the devils who sit at your tables. They throw themselves at the mercy of the lions in the BOH.
Something for the wait staff to remember about their Spartan generals ~ It’s all about YOU, and the trust the generals put in your skills (so beef it up), do your job right! Don’t do it "good", do it "great", and be one less problem for them to deal with each day. Read! Read! Read! Educate yourself daily. Know everything about what you are selling and always strive to go that extra mile.
Study the terrain you will war in ~ Walk through your establishment from the front door “with your entire crew”. Do this often, even daily. Visually see everything from a customers eye. Check if you have too many empty tables singing “Only The Lonely”. (refer to Part I) From the guests standpoint, this becomes the biggest anathema and a major red flag that screams doom.
- Remove tables that haven’t been used in the last three weeks.
- Segregate certain areas according to high and low traffic time.
- Corner off by camouflaging with bulky tall plants or revert completely to tables within the bar or outside areas (if permissible). It’s all a matter of scheduling and logistics. For now “think cozy”.
- During dead traffic time. Serve meals at the bar. (if applicable)
- In some establishments removing the tablecloth, is instantly translated by customers as affordable.
- Make sure all unnecessary place settings are removed by wait staff once guests are seated.
- Make sure the tables are mise en place to perfection. Everything must sparkle.
Since this is considered a war, attitude means everything ~ Hubristic egos, bellicose personas, chortling, and whinging are officially banned from the workplace until further notice. Period! If there is a non-guest related problem don’t even mention it to your lead, without a positive alternative or solution. That goes for everyone!
Part IV to follow next...
Special Feature
Server Not Servant blog and Book ~ “The customer has as much to do with the success of the HUMAN interaction as the server does.” The mission of Patrick Maquire’s, Server Not Servant blog and forthcoming book, entitled, “I’m Your Server Not Your Servant”, is to engage people in a dialogue that results in more respect for service industry workers and greater civility among human beings. It’s an excellent behind the scenes perspective, served up beautifully for anyone who provides customer service. He identifies three core elements that are critical to anyone waiting to be served or preparing to serve another.
- That “The customer has almost as much to do with the success of every customer service interaction as the service work."
- That “The customer, especially the abusive customer, is often dead wrong.”
- That “All of us are responsible for serving each other with mutual respect and civility.”
The blog provides an excellent forum for expression and exchange. It has the relaxed aura of a warm, congenial, old fashion general store, with a black, pot bellied, wood burning stove smack in the middle, where everyone gathers around for hearty discussions that prove to be valuable life lessons and mentors beckon us closer to learn at their knee. This is the forum that provides just the right unadulterated habitat. Participants are able to read amazing and pivoting experiences from within the bowels of the industry service workers who deal with taming the sometimes wicked customer service beast. The who’s right, and the who’s wrong, is left for the reader to determine. How often does one find a repository to express so much, in so many different ways? I, for one, have never found it anywhere other than Server Not Servant blog.
His forthcoming book will provide us with thought-provoking, unleashed experiences as seen through the eyes of those attempting to serve. It allows us to listen, learn and catch more than a glimpse into the sometimes faulting frailties of customers, untethered and in raw definitive behavior. One human extracting from another. We highly recommend visiting this blog and making note of his book.
Contact Patrick at: patrick@servernotservant.com http://www.servernotservant.com/
FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=162669757168 Tel: 617.542.9393
To my loyal readership.
Thank you for your patience. Sorry for the long hiatus, it was unavoidable. I’m back now and kicking like a stallion. Got lots and lots of good positive stuff to share with you.
Many thanks,
Penelope
Comments [20]