Bar Operations

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Developing Staff Engagement for Positive Guest Experiences

Developing Staff Engagement for Positive Guest Experiences

Previously Posted on RestoBiz by Doug Radkey 04/11/2018

Engaged and motivated employees are at the heart of positive restaurant experiences. Working at a restaurant or any hospitality-related business needs to be more than just another paycheck. Restaurant operators need to remember that money is not a motivator – it is a satisfier.

When employees are satisfied and engaged, everyone wins.

When restaurant staff members are effectively on-boarded, trained, and are emotionally happy in their environment (a venue where they get a sense of achievement, respect and wages), they are more often than not willing to share these positive moments with others, effectively becoming a brand ambassador – both inside and outside of the restaurant.

If restaurants hire for a mix of values and experience, versus experience alone, and create a systematic approach to hiring through proper job advertisements, interview processes, on-boarding, manuals and training, they will see an immediate difference in their culture and turnover costs.

This is why it’s important to remember that ‘values beat experience, when experience doesn’t work hard’.

Investing in employee engagement can give any new or seasoned restaurant a competitive edge. Let’s look at the steps needed to create effective staff engagement today:

On-Boarding Strategies

On-boarding is often overlooked within the restaurant industry, though it should be a priority! It’s an opportunity to introduce new hires to your expectations and culture, the first step in developing engagement. The days of throwing new hires into the fire on their first day of work needs to come to an end; no matter their level of experience. All staff should be given a series of welcoming packages, manuals and proper training specific to the brand. Lastly, on-boarding provides a clear chance to define what it means to be productive, promote compliance, and create the footprint for a memorable working experience.

Proper Communication

It is important to ensure the restaurant has a pre-shift meeting with all staff members on-duty. This will set the tone for the upcoming shift, whether in the kitchen or the front-of-house area. This is the time to ensure all staff clear their minds of ‘outside noise’ and are working towards a series of goals for the upcoming shift. Other communication methods that will increase engagement opportunities include hosting staff meal programs to discuss menu items, manager log-books (print or mobile friendly), and having other communication boards strategically placed throughout the restaurant.

Continuous Education

Consider starting a program that offers to help pay for culinary or other hospitality related education. Once a candidate passes their three month probation, discuss an opportunity for them to take their learning to another level. This could include online courses, in-class courses, or visiting suppliers such as breweries, wineries, or local farms to learn specific product information. Imagine the long-term benefits and staff engagement a program like this will do to a restaurant’s bottom line and overall guest satisfaction.

Flow of Creativity

When employees are empowered with the opportunity to be creative, great things happen. It is ideal to keep staff engaged in the food and beverage menu development process. It may be wise to create a program that promotes a new food and/or beverage item each month. If each staff member creates a new dish or cocktail; hold a contest to see which item(s) should be featured over the next thirty days. Then for each sale of that item over the next month, ensure the creative staff member receives a small commission from the sales. This immediately creates a new story, a level of engagement (online and in-store), and could help with future menu engineering strategies!

Staff Reviews

One of the many methods used to create culture and accountability, is that of performance evaluations. This type of evaluation is extremely helpful to track an employee’s step-by-step development and is highly beneficial; for both the employee and operator. Staff evaluations highlight areas the employee may be excelling at and areas that are in need of improvement. It also provides an opportunity to develop performance based rewards, which is an excellent way to reduce employee turnover costs and keep employees engaged in their day-to-day tasks.

Team Experiences

Outside of commission-based sales and continuous education opportunities, restaurant teams still seek other experiences. When is the last time the entire team went to a staff party or took part in a staff building exercise? Depending on concept and median age of employees, a restaurant operator has the opportunity to take their team min-golfing, laser-tag, paint-balling or out for a meal/drink elsewhere, one night per quarter, to name a few examples.

In summary, providing a consistently positive restaurant experience through staff engagement is what creates customer loyalty and long-term brand ambassadors. Once you have formulated this mindset, and designed these programs, it’s time to promote it. Get your staff to talk about it, get them to help in your recruitment efforts, create a story on your website and menu, showcase your staff everywhere possible (social media), and finally invest in their future for the sake of yours. It really can be that simple.

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Preparing for Wage Increases

Preparing Your Restaurant or Bar for Wage Increases

Originally Posted on FoodableTV – By Doug Radkey 03/09/2018

If you haven’t done so already, preparing your restaurant or bar for a regulated wage increase should be near the top of your to-do list, no matter your region. There has been plenty of government level discussions and a ‘movement’ if you will, defining a need to offer better living wages for citizens across North America (and abroad), with a focus on the hospitality industry.

The day is coming if it already hasn’t happened in your area.

Should your venue have already been offering what’s called a ‘living wage’? Arguably yes, but the market for years has demanded ‘good food for cheap’ (for the most part) which has dictated the need for restaurateurs in particular, to pay out the lowest wage possible to its hard-working staff.

However, the times are rapidly changing. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Not surprisingly, however, many restaurateurs, potentially ones like yourself, have become concerned about the complications a dramatically large increase in their costs will have on their operations.

The biggest challenge most restaurant owners face when considering a large wage increase is how they’re going to adjust their concept and overall business models, sales, and marketing strategies to effectively respond to the increase.

Smaller independent restaurants are placed into a concerning financial position that could have dramatic implications. But, it doesn’t have to be so grim for small operators with a well-thought-out plan about what processes need to be in place.

1. Review of Concept

Restaurateurs are ultimately responsible for achieving long-term viability. The key elements to a successful concept are scalability, sustainability, profitability, consistency, and delivering memorable experiences.  To achieve this, one must weigh their overall value against their expenses.

The first step to preparing for a wage increase is to measure your value proposition. How can you add further value to your guests to ultimately increase your revenue? What are one to two ways you can increase value within each of the above five listed elements within your unique venue?

Create a SMART action plan to implement over the next 1-3 months.

2. Review of Systems

Successful restaurants are also built on systems. As an employer, these systems need to be reviewed on an ongoing basis. What FOH and BOH systems can be scaled, improved upon, or simply cut-out, to maximize efficiencies without diminishing guest experiences, profitability, sustainability, and consistency?

This is the time to review your restaurant’s service sequences, training programs, food & beverage preparation, line of equipment, food & beverage suppliers, menu development, communication systems, inventory management systems, use of technology, and many others.

A complete 360 degree assessment of your operations is the most ideal approach.

Doing so will position your venue to potentially reduce weekly hours while offering an improved competitive wage that will be more utilized to its maximum potential.

3. Utilize Available Data

Improving a restaurants staff scheduling process within itself is an easy way to control costs, positioning a restaurateur to maximize its sales per labor hour and other labor performance indicators. Restaurant labor costs are a prime expense that needs to be properly controlled to eventually turn a profit.

An increase in labor benchmarks means your other prime costs including food and rent costs, need to be reduced below what’s been known as ‘industry standards’. This means that your food costs should be between 25-30% (instead of 30-35%) while your rent should be 5-8% (instead of 10-12%).

Aligning these benchmarks to profitable levels will position your venue for a sustatainable future; even with a wage increase – there is nothing to stop a venue from obtaining what’s often referred to as an impossible 10-20% net-profit over a period of time.

Utilize data on labor, hourly sales, and the month-over-month operating results from your point-of-sale system, to forecast expenses (creating a revised budget) with an increase in your new minimum wage over the next twelve months.

Physically visualizing this data and its results will determine the route you will need to take to pivot and align the remainder of your cost categories.

4. Menu Engineering Strategies

Once your systems are deemed to be operating at their full potential, it may be time to review your menu engineering strategies. To assist in a wage increase, for example, it is ideal to consider adding ‘value added’ menu items, simplifying food preparation methods, and looking to eliminate any complex menu items.

Your last resort should be to increase menu prices. Look at all other aspects first, including size of menu, preparation time, prime food costs, the number of ingredients used, and the repurposing of those raw ingredients throughout the menu, where possible.

Looking for ways to reduce and control food & beverage costs (controlling – not cutting), while developing a menu your target audience wants & needs, may position your restaurant to have more available funds to use towards an increase in labor costs.

5. Review Promotional Plans

The math is simple, an increase in sales and margins will position a business to pay its staff higher wages. Often the problem doesn’t lie within traditional lunch and dinner hours. To fill seats during traditional non-peak hours, restaurateurs need to consider menus that target day-parts and added-value; while understanding their ideal customer profile.

The moment a restaurant stops marketing is the moment it starts failing. Once a restaurateur truly understands their locations slow periods and peak periods, in addition to the target market and guest spending habits, a strategic plan can be developed and executed to maximize each moment of each day; by ensuring your restaurant has a monthly and quarterly marketing and sales plan created.

In summary, once that moment is gone, you don’t get it back. Therefore, what could an extra $100 to $200 per day in sales during typical ‘slow periods,’ do for you and your new labor costs, in one full year?

6. Look After Your Employees

Employees are your number one asset. If we (most restaurants) weren’t already paying just a minimum wage to employees, this discussion wouldn’t be needed. It’s time restaurant owners look to take the initiative and implement a better living wage for their employees.

Build culture and value by developing sustainable hiring programs, consistent training systems, scalable pay grades, profitable working environments, and memorable customer experience strategies to develop a brand your entire community (customers and employees), will want to support over that of your competition.

It’s understandable that small independent restaurants are vulnerable to a minimum wage increase, but there are ways a restaurant can prepare itself for, and take the initiative on their own, to increase wages and pay their staff a more comfortable living wage.

Change starts now!

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4 Ways to Prevent Restaurant Burnout

4 Ways to Prevent Restaurant Burnout

Originally Posted on FoodableTV by Doug Radkey 02/21/18

We know restaurant owners, chefs, and managers, more often than not, wear too many hats, leading to upwards of 60 to 80+ hours of work per week.

No matter how much improvement we’ve collectively made in recent times to keep operations manageable, flexible, and “fun,” there still seems to be the long hours, the working on holidays and weekends, and the minimal margins.

Let’s not forget about the labor restraints, the rising operating costs, and the demand of the overall market to deliver quality food, drink, and experiences; all at often the lowest price point possible.

It takes sacrifice and required systemized thinking, creativity, social skills, stress management, and a lot of passion to win in this industry — which leads to an enormous amount of personal pressure.  

This job-related pressure and the extra hours at work will, no doubt, create higher than normal amounts of stress; leading to personal exhaustion, poor decision making, mental health issues, and sometimes even family related conflict.

If this sounds like you, you need to find a way to simply work smarter, not harder. If you currently have the mindset that by working more hours will result in more work being done, you are wrong and need to make a restaurant lifestyle change, today!

This mindset is, in fact, the starting point of what we call: burnout.

Burnout within the restaurant (and hospitality) industry is real and happens more frequently than it should. Preventing burnout and building a work-life balance for everyone—including owners, chefs, managers, and support staff— is, in fact, possible, contrary to popular belief.

Here’s how:

1. Hiring the Right Team

The first step is to build a team based on values, vision, mission, and culture. Creating and executing on these statements will build the foundation within your concept to create consistency, accountability, and room for growth.

The right team, however, is only as good as the training program installed at the venue.

A profitable training program will provide common elements such as the use of checklists, incentives, and easy to understand procedures. This will then, in turn, create a system of standards— one that reflects your vision, value, mission and culture statement— immediately positioning you as a leader, to properly delegate tasks and empower your team to achieve the required daily objectives (therefore making life easier for everyone).

2. Creating Operational Systems

The more any restaurant depends on the owner’s day-in and day-out involvement in the operational details of the establishment, the greater the risk of failure and burnout.

Starting and operating a successful restaurant also relies heavily on having the right systems in place, allowing the venue and its hired team to work as one cohesive unit.

Having the correct systems in place will create consistency, develop operating capital by reducing costs, enhance your team morale, and build business value while positioning your concept for future growth opportunities.

These systems include HR management, inventory management, communication systems, financial control systems, positional and shift related checklists, quality control systems, and more.

The benefits that you will quickly achieve through the implementation of these systems are much greater than what you will need to invest in setting them up.

3. Utilizing Available Resources

It is also important to stay on top of your game by continuously learning. There are multiple ways to accomplish this, such as working with industry mentors, attending trade shows, reading leadership and industry-driven books, and/or listening to podcasts (just to name a few).

Owners, managers, and yes, even front-line staff should have the mindset and a personal development plan in place, to continuously learn the industry. Continuously learning will reduce your daily involvement, improve on team experiences, and drive the results your restaurant needs.

Without diminishing restaurant fundamentals, is there also a way to implement technology within your restaurant, allowing you to work more efficiently? What are some cost-effective resources available to you and your team to enhance operational systems? It’s time to look for these investment opportunities.

4. Finding YOU Time

It is critical that you find yourself some ‘you time’. With the right team, systems, and resources in place, it is not only beneficial for you but for your entire team, as well. Look for ways to have a 30-minute workout in the morning, afternoon, or evening after work.

You also want to ensure you’re taking time off each week for yourself, your friends, and your family. Lastly, schedule a vacation, and take it.

No excuses!

Stop trying to do everything yourself. Learn to trust your team, delegate tasks based on their varied skill sets, and simply avoid burnout.

If you recognize any of the symptoms of burnout, it’s time to make a change in your restaurant’s lifestyle.

Find your balance and build a culture that places a premium on life. It may look like more ‘work’ up front, and there are many more solutions to suggest, but investing in a people-first mentality, will provide the results you need to begin leading a successful operation.

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Conducting Restaurant Staff Performance Reviews

Conducting Restaurant Staff Performance Reviews

Originally Posted on Typsy by Doug Radkey – 12/06/2017

It takes happy, engaged employees to create memorable guest experiences. To do this requires leadership, culture, and accountability. This in turn will develop a cycle of improved revenue, loyal customers, and a decrease in employee turnover.

One of the many methods used to create culture and accountability, is that of performance evaluations. This type of evaluation is extremely helpful to track an employee’s step-by-step development and is highly beneficial; for the employee,  restaurant owner, operator, or manager.

Staff evaluations highlight areas the employee may be excelling at and areas that are in need of improvement. It also provides an opportunity to develop performance based rewards, which is an excellent way to reduce employee turnover costs and keep employees engaged in their day-to-day tasks.

The key ingredient however to a winning employee evaluation program is consistency. Be consistent in the timing of evaluations, your required standards, and with all employees (meaning do not single any one employee out from the others).

Asides from consistency, it’s ideal to also keep the following six tips and steps in mind when conducting staff performance reviews:

1. Create the Foundations Early 

Make it known during the on-boarding process that all employees are subject to both regular and scheduled evaluations. 

Design a complete staff performance plan by formulating accurate job descriptions, job expectations, standard operating procedures, on-boarding processes, pay scale development, training programs, and team building exercises.

These systems will create the foundations to work from, for future performance based evaluations.

2. Schedule Evaluations in Advance

When it comes time to complete an evaluation, the employee shouldn’t be surprised. It’s either part of the scheduled evaluations that they’ve been made aware of from the start, or you’ve had regular discussions with them, leading to a required off-schedule evaluation.

When you schedule an evaluation in advance, you can explain to them the entire process and provide them with a copy of the evaluation forms, so they’re equally prepared.

3. Encourage Self-Evaluation 

This form of evaluation is often over-looked by many employers, though it is an extremely important aspect to the overall evaluation process. It is best practice to have employees fill out the exact same evaluation form to see how their personal observations may pair with your observation.

Finding out how they feel about their own performance will set the tone for the evaluation meeting. It will also open a brief discussion period about any obstacles they may be experiencing to achieve a stronger performance.

4. It’s Not All About Your Employees

Performance reviews should develop an opportunity to create ‘two-way’ communication. Don’t make it all about the employee. Use this time to ask if there is anything the restaurant can do to make their job or employment experience better for them and their team mates.

Make note of this discussion and see if there are any trends or consistencies among the answers from multiple employees so you as the owner, operator, or manager can take immediate action to improve.

5. Provide Balanced Feedback

The overall staff evaluation should look at the quality of their work, including their dependability, attendance record, customer service rating, team-based communication, openness to feedback, and how they’ve handled unique or stressful situations. It is ideal to score and rank each category out of 10, to provide a measurable goal for improvement.

You want to take this time to provide honest feedback with a solid direction to improve on the requirements of the hospitality driven business.

Discuss the previous period, but keep in mind that at least 50 percent of the performance evaluation should be spent on the future. When talking, use simple, direct language while comparing each issue to a note within your completed standard operating procedures. This is how effective leadership is then respected.

If there is a below average score, anticipate the possibility of a confrontation or negative reaction. However, as the leader, if you’re properly prepared for the evaluation, you can take a proactive measure by following every negative with a positive, to reduce this possibility and to keep the momentum of the meeting in check.

You want to spend more time on the positives to enhance the performance improvement plan.

6. Set-Up a Performance Improvement Plan

This is the opportunity to improve on performance, morale, motivation, personal development, and overall profitability. By using a series of ‘SMART’ goals (Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely) an employer can create a system of reward and accountability.

Whether it was an excellent, average, or below average review, there should always be an improvement plan in place. It’s ideal to provide three SMART goals for each individual to work on between now and the next review or specified time for improvement. As the employer, is there any further support and/or resources they need from you to achieve these goals?

Write these goals on the performance review form, discuss any rewards/incentives, and ensure both parties sign it for optimum accountability. 

Completing these reviews on a consistent basis will provide employers with the opportunity to develop happy, engaged employees.

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Creating Adult Playgrounds in Your Bar

Creating Adult Playgrounds in Your Bar

By Doug Radkey 11/09/2017

Traditional darts, billiards, and even dance floors are starting to take a back seat in today’s fast-paced bar segment. To be current, playful, and competitive, today’s bars are required to step up their ‘game’; where having a great time must be a guarantee!

It’s no secret, that keeping guests in a venue for as long as possible creates more revenue generating opportunities. By providing a variety of interactive games and maximizing the square footage (creating an adult playground), venues can provide the energy needed to attract guests, amplify their brand messaging, and generate revenue throughout the many parts of a day or evening.

To do this successfully, bars need to first create unique value, vision, mission, and culture statements while understanding their true target market. This will ensure that the right mix of interactive games, music, food, and beverages are provided – creating an atmosphere that will resonate with the guest.

Here are five #barhacks to keep in mind when developing your venues interactive strategy plan:

Create Energy

After reviewing your target market and the available square footage, what interactive games would generate positive energy and a memorable experience? Which day-parts are lacking revenue and what can you add to fill in the gaps and maximize on each operating moment?

Hot trends for new builds: If you’re just starting out, look at the feasibility of a business model that revolves around an adult driven bowling alley, shuffle board layout, axe throwing cages, and/or indoor golf simulation that pairs well with unique food, craft beer, cocktails, and music.

Hot trends for operating bars: If you’re already operating and don’t want to plan for a major renovation, analyze your current square footage and consider adding in the likes of bocce ball, adult arcades, ping pong, beer pong, foosball, life-size connect four or skee-ball for example; either indoors or outside on the patio. If you have multiple large screens, consider hosting sport tournaments using an x-box (as one example). Maximize each minute and feel free to rotate a variety of games in-and-out, to keep it fresh.

Collaborate

Providing this type of atmosphere and energy is what suppliers like to see. This opens up an opportunity to collaborate with your suppliers to step-up promotions and offer unique, highly valued prizes and theme nights that will be a win-win for everyone involved, including your customers.

Food & Drink

Once you know the interactive route you’re taking, it opens a large opportunity for unique menu items. Outside of traditional speciality menus, consider adding self serve food or drink stations. With fun, interactive adult games comes the notion to reflect on your youth. For example, a fill your own candy bowl station or build your own ice cream sundae station. Or perhaps consider adding in a ‘create your own’ Caesar (Bloody Mary) bar stocked with different flavour infused ingredients.

Revenue Packages

Adding in all of the above tactics will position your bar to create ‘stay & play’ type packages or revenue generating membership cards, which will also create long-term loyalty. With the right marketing plan, this ‘value-add’ approach will win with both the younger and older generations.

Amplification

When finalizing your strategy plan and mix of interactive games, music, food, and beverages, always think social media. Design everything so it is social media worthy meaning guests will want to take photos, take live video, or simply check-in at the hottest spot in town – creating an inevitable fear of missing out (FOMO) among their network.

Pairing all of this with a fun, secure atmosphere will undoubtedly create brand ambassadors and long-term success for your bar. It’s time to think outside the box and up your game to create memorable guest experiences!


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Security Strategies for Your Bar

Security Strategies for Your Bar

By Doug Radkey – 10/25/2017

Slips and falls, over-serving, theft, and violence are the most common reasons a bar needs very strict safety and security strategies. Bars, pubs, lounges, and clubs in particular, must continuously look at opportunities to reduce risk and liability.

The bar industry is built upon reputation and that reputation can be altered in the blink of an eye. In reality, it only takes a short moment of ‘looking the other way’ to create an unwanted atmosphere that encourages theft and an opportunity for violence, in particular.

As a bar owner, operator, manager, bartender, cook, server, or security personnel, it is your cohesive duty to create and maintain a safe environment and positive experience, not only for your customers, but your other team members as well.

How can we reduce risk and liability while creating a positive, memorable guest experience?

Bar Characteristics

The first thing to consider, is the bar concept. What brand messages are being portrayed? What type of environment has been created? Characteristics that often relate to violence and liability issues include darkness, crowded areas, noise level, competitive games (example pool tables), aggressive bouncers, and temperature/ventilation issues. How would you define your characteristics and what can be changed to improve them?

Drink Safety Policies

Guest harassment and potential danger, often comes with either the quantity of drinks consumed and/or the consumption of ‘spiked drinks’. Ensure that all bar staff have been highly trained (and have ongoing training) on proper serving protocols, signs of intoxication, and potential elements that can lead to ‘spiked drinks’ by other guests. In addition, it’s important to have a ‘safety drink’ that female guests can ask for if they feel they’re in danger, which should be posted in the female washroom indicating what to do if they feel they’re in a dangerous situation.

Install Strategic Cameras

There is plenty of new (affordable) technology that can assist in bar security, theft, and the protection of overall liability. Consider installing night & day 360 degree cameras to capture every moment as it happens. Cover the bar, liquor shelves, dance floors, cash registers, storage areas, hallways, patios, and all doorways with proper indoor or outdoor monitors. With digital storage space, you can now keep hours and months worth of data, to protect your brand from potential litigation.

Lighting Strategies

Dark areas are perceived as an area to start fights, to steal, to spike drinks, or to handle drugs. Ensure that washrooms are bright and that each light bulb both inside and outside the venue, has a true purpose. Is it to create atmosphere, create a sense of security, or a blend of both? Think through each light placement for a better sense of security and to protect both staff and customers.

Staying Alert

Sounds simple, but as time goes on, people often put their guard down and become complacent in their day-to-day activities. Absent-minded owners, managers, and staff can lead to danger for everyone. Provide a known presence, remember there is safety in numbers, and have ongoing meetings regarding theft, security, and guest experiences to keep everyone on the top of their game.

Bouncers

Are they still needed? Yes, they are an important part of a bars security plan, especially in larger establishments or venues with competitive gaming, live music or DJ’s, and dance floors. However, aggressive bouncers can actually lead to violence and security issues. Hire properly trained bouncers, have a security plan in place, and enforce your rules of conduct (which you hopefully have). Also, ensure your bouncers have a positive and transparent relationship with local police in addition to an effective communication plan, if there are multiple bouncers.

Bars can even step up their game by also hiring ‘guest experience officers’ who are visible on the floor both enhancing the guest experience and communicating with security staff of potential issues before they escalate. This is a less aggressive approach and is known to work, in both security elements and an increase in sales through brand perception.

Bars that target younger, less agreeable and more impulsive drinkers are the most at risk. Know your concept, know your target market, and know the consequences of having a poor security strategy. Your reputation and long-term success ultimately depends on it!

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Often Overlooked Benefits of Restaurant Lighting

Often Overlooked Benefits of Restaurant Lighting

Originally Posted on FoodableTV by Doug Radkey – 10/19/2017

There are so many critical elements that go into the design of a restaurant, so much so that it can easily become overwhelming. It’s a moment during the start-up or renovation period, where specifics that play a large impact on customer experience, can simply be overlooked. One of the key elements that are often overlooked — is the importance of restaurant lighting.

To create positive emotions and to deliver on your promise for memorable customer experiences, a concept must think through its initial design while utilizing processes, maximizing communication, and creating surprises through a multitude of ‘touch points.’ Arguably one of the most important touch points in the overall design — is again that of restaurant lighting.

Lighting within a restaurant (or bar), affects many elements within both operations and guest experience, including food and drink presentation, atmosphere, and length of stay. Lights come in many creative materials, shapes, sizes, and brightness; therefore the largest challenge is finding the right balance for each location and concept.

When planning a restaurant space, one has to consider the ‘job’ of each light source. Is it meant to highlight wall features, to enhance a back-bar, to highlight walkways, washrooms, and exits, or is it to create the right mood over a table? Or perhaps it is for security, liability, and theft prevention?

When considering the job of each light source, it’s imperative to remember to keep customers and operations top of mind first and not the architecture itself.

Here are other ways that restaurant lighting can have a large impact on revenue, profit, and customer satisfaction by again, considering the ‘job’ of each source.

Sense of Security

Ensure that the restaurant and bar space is well lit (this is both inside and outside the venue). Strategic placement and brightness of lights will undoubtedly reduce theft opportunities, reduce damage to property, reduce injury and liability, and keep both employees and customers safe (especially at night).

Differentiated Space

Different lighting sources within a venue can assist in creating multiple spaces. Similar to guest positioning, lights can assist in highlighting the multiple “levels of comfort” that guests will connect with and want to be seated near, allowing the restaurant to maximize each individual seating area, effectively managing customer satisfaction and revenue opportunities.

Seat Optimization  

Lighting has another effect on Restaurant Revenue Management, as well. If a restaurant wants customers in and out quickly (QSR model), they should consider brighter lights paired with fast paced music, as it often makes guests feel hurried. A balance between warm and bright lights is ideal for casual restaurants where dimmed (softer) lights is therefore more ideal for restaurants that are looking for longer guest duration.

Kitchen & Bar Performance

Don’t forget about a restaurants team and the productive areas within the restaurant space. Ensure the correct light placement and correct choice of bulbs is decided upon for inside the kitchen and bar production area. Consider where food and beverage preparation and final presentation will be completed for a final quality check before being delivered to the guest.

Food & Beverage Presentation

Increase restaurant and bar profits with the correct back-lighting, up-lighting, and track lighting along liquor, beer, and wine displays. Take it up a notch and differentiate positioning of premium product with a different set of lights. Furthermore, food and drink can look unappealing if placed under the wrong lighting element— therefore bars and full service restaurants should use dimmers to control brightness (softness of light) and to ensure there are no shadows along the plate or glass while at a table.

Energy Conservation

When deciding on lights, consider the upfront cost and the ongoing energy cost and look for long-term operational savings, adding profits to a restaurants bottom line. Restaurants use a lot of lights so dimmers (or control systems) for example, are great for a variety of concepts to reduce costs and create more efficient layouts.

Curb Appeal

A restaurant cannot forget about its exterior lighting. Outside of the obvious security reasons, a well designed exterior with strategic lighting can in fact, invite people inside versus them choosing a neighboring restaurant. Lighting along entranceways, signage, landscape, and the up-lighting of architectural highlights, is most ideal. Lastly, outdoor lighting for a restaurants patio needs to be creatively decided upon and equally not overlooked to create not only the right outdoor atmosphere, but curb appeal, as well.

Poor restaurant lighting can lead to a cold and clinical feeling or a dark and unsafe feeling among guests. Lighting can also have a psychological effect on guests, as their minds may play tricks on them when it comes to flavors and scents for both food and drink. 

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Creating Restaurant Brand Ambassadors

Creating Restaurant Brand Ambassadors

Originally Posted on FoodableTV by Doug Radkey – 10/14/2017

Ask nearly every restaurant owner what their number one, long-term marketing ‘program’ or tactic is, and most will say effective word of mouth. This can be great until it starts to fizzle down or another new restaurant opens up down the street resulting in the competition becoming the new talk of the town.

Instead of shooting into the wind and hoping ‘word of mouth’ with deliver desirable long-term results, restaurateurs need to embrace a program that is an extension of word-of-mouth marketing, by developing what is called ‘brand ambassadors.’

A brand ambassador will positively represent and promote a restaurant’s venue. They will embrace the company values, vision, mission, and culture. They will strengthen a restaurant’s identity within the community by providing additional visibility and overall awareness.

Yes, word of mouth happens organically over time because of excellent food, drink, service, and experiences, don’t get me wrong. But what if there was a way to double-down and create multiple micro-communities and multiple levels of ambassadors to promote a restaurant’s brand?

That’s where an ambassador program comes in.

Here’s how:

Owners & Operators

A winning brand ambassador program begins with guests and staff. However, as with any program, there needs to be a leader. As a restaurant owner or operator, there are many ways to be included within a brand ambassador program and be looked up to as the leader of the program.

Business Networking

Restaurant owners and operators can further ‘humanize the brand’ by networking within the community and showing the face behind the brand at a variety of business events that every city or community holds. Building effective hyper-local relationships is the first step to a winning program.

Community Involvement

Restaurants can build and protect their reputation by being involved in as many community based events as possible and even collaborating with other restaurant or foodservice operators within their area. An open mind and community driven mindset is essential.

Community Influencers

Restaurant owners and operators should also look to build long lasting relationships with community leaders, city officials, F&B distributors, local media, and bloggers— who are all influential within their city. These individuals can further amplify a restaurant’s positive message.

Set Goals

Once an owner or operator is on board with a true brand ambassador program, setting clear goals for both guest and staff ambassadors, is required. What do you want to see come out of this program? When setting goals, remember this one key rule a friend once said – ‘numbers lie and relationships rule’. Don’t look at the financials first; the money will flow once relationships are built.

Restaurant Guests

Happy customers are everything. They are the foundation to effective word of mouth. Outside of hoping they share their experience with their social network, there is a multitude of ways to get them further involved in the process of building true brand ambassadors.

Focus Group

Develop a group of individuals who show great interest in the restaurant (regular guests) and meet with them either once per month or quarter. Discuss upcoming community events, new menu items, or possible events to hold at the restaurant. Get them involved and give them something to talk about. For example, provide food and beverage samples of new menu items they will surely take photos of and share with their network.

Social Amplification

Similar to focus groups, consider holding ‘Facebook Only’ parties for example, where the only guests are ones that are fans of the restaurants page. This will surely amplify your messaging, product, and experience as they will be sharing photos or even live video of the event with their network.

Loyalty Programs

Every restaurant should have some form of loyalty program. There isn’t a one size fits all approach, but the general rule is that it will only work if the restaurant makes it worth something of perceived value. This comes down to knowing customer profiles and thinking of creative ways outside of just the standard ‘get one free after ten purchases’ loyalty program that everyone sees.

Restaurant Staff

When restaurant staff members are effectively on-boarded, trained, and are emotionally happy in their environment (a venue where they get a sense of achievement, respect, and wages) they are more often than not, willing to share the positive moments, effectively becoming brand ambassadors.

Provide Empowerment 

When staff members are given empowerment to make minor decisions, a lot of positive can come from it. Customer service is the number one benefit, and happy customers as we know, continue returning. A training program that focuses on customer service sequence training (role playing) will allow staff the opportunity to create relationships with guests while providing both confidence and empowerment within their respective roles.

Double the Social 

Nearly all employees will be active on some social media platform. Restaurants should look to encourage the use and even supply employees with content to share with their network. A social media training and a social media policy however, needs to be clearly articulated and signed off on to protect the brand. Furthermore, make sure staff members are included as much as possible with community events and any focus groups to amplify the social reach.

Create Stay Interviews

When staff members are happy, make a record of it. Create a ‘stay interview’ which is asking them questions such as why they love working at the restaurant so much? Create a video, share it, and post it on the restaurant’s website. This will create a positive brand perception which will improve hiring processes, reduce turnover costs, and set the stage for future brand ambassadors.

In summary, doing the unexpected, getting involved, creating engagement, highlighting staff, and listening to guests, will instantly develop the foundations for not only word of mouth, but that of a brand ambassador— delivering the desired long-term results!

by krghospitality krghospitality No Comments

How to Set Employee Expectations in Your Restaurant or Bar

How to Set Employee Expectations in Your Restaurant or Bar

Originally Posted on Typsy by Doug Radkey – 09/28/2017

Effective communication can provide your restaurant with two things. First of all, it creates an atmosphere where both front of house and back of house employees are excited, motivated, and honest. Second of all, it helps you establish workplace expectations, which can lower staff turnover costs.

Proper communication starts from the top, and from the time someone is employed (or arguably during the interview stage). The key to setting expectations, communication, and a positive working environment starts with onboarding, operation manuals, and formal training.

Onboarding

The true meaning of onboarding is often overlooked within the restaurant industry, though it should be a priority! It’s an opportunity to introduce new hires to your expectations and culture.

It’s also your chance to define what it means to be productive, promote compliance, and create the footprint for a memorable working experience.

Use the first day to discuss:

  • Short-term and long-term goals
  • The history of the restaurant
  • The vision
  • The mission
  • The values that make you who you are
  • Why customers enjoy your establishment

Create an open dialogue and allow for questions. Discuss the importance of manuals and training and set realistic goals for training completion.

The days of throwing new hires into the fire on their first day of work needs to come to an end; no matter their level of experience.

If restaurants hire for a mix of values and experience, versus experience alone, and create a systematic approach to hiring through proper job advertisements, interview processes, onboarding, manuals, and training, they will see an immediate difference in their culture and turnover costs.

This is why it’s important to remember that ‘values beat experience, when experience doesn’t work hard’.

The onboarding process should also be fun and exciting. Consider taking the process to the next level by developing a creative welcome package that consists of inexpensive but valuable tools, resources, and restaurant branded products that will go along with the paperwork needed for new hires.

This will instantly make your new hires feel like they’re a part of a team and set your restaurant apart from others in the immediate area. The added bonus is they will probably take a photo of their welcome package and share it with their social network!

Operation Manuals

Operation manuals should further outline items like:

  • Key statements
  • Policies
  • Probation periods
  • Scheduling
  • Harassment
  • Pay scales
  • Pay schedules
  • Tipping procedures
  • Emergency procedures
  • Pre-shift meetings
  • Opening/closing checklists

There should also be a complete kitchen and bar recipe manual that is continuously updated based on the current menu.

It probably sounds like this is going to be a large and heavy book (that no one will read because it sounds boring). Keep the categories short but impactful, and consider breaking them up into separate mini-packages.

You also want to keep in mind the variety of ages within your team and how they may react to different training and manual related material.

Consider creating a mix of visuals, infographics, videos, and written material in your operations manual. Incorporating video into the mix is a great way to create consistency in your messaging, and it will save you valuable resources over time.

It is imperative, however, that all components within the operations manual have a form of accountability. Make sure your new employees are signing off on their responsibilities so you have something to keep on record. They must ‘own’ it!

Staff Training

Staff training plays the third and final role in developing employee expectations. New hires need to be taught the specifics of your restaurant’s concept and business model.

They need to learn how to interact with customers, service sequences, food and beverage production, and specific equipment safety.

An advanced training program will offer adhoc training and cross-training opportunities. It will also offer a mix of classroom-style training (offline or online with a tool like Typsy), off-site training (at a brewery or winery for example), and on-the-job training (shadowing) that should be followed by tests to ensure the messages are being received.

The value of a training program lies within its structure. A winning training program will not try to train an employee all in one day, and you shouldn’t expect new hires to remember everything they learn in one session for the rest of their employment. It is imperative that a training program also includes refreshers and reviews, something that can be done in pre-shift meetings or during a restaurant’s periodic downtime.

A high percentage of employee turnover occurs within the first few weeks of employment. Step into a new hire’s shoes and remember your first days on the job, whether in a restaurant or another industry. How was your experience? Was it positive, memorable, and engaging? Most will likely say not.

In summary, you want to develop systems, experiences, confidence, morale, and consistency, which will set the expectations needed to successfully operate a restaurant.

If you have the correct mindset, the correct programs, and the correct leadership, any previous onboarding, operation manual and training nightmares will simultaneously go away, benefiting operators, employees, and yes, even the guest.

It takes a complete team effort and it starts from day one.

by krghospitality krghospitality No Comments

Sound Engineering for Your Bar or Restaurant

Sound Engineering for Your Restaurant or Bar

By Doug Radkey – 09/26/2017

In the bar (and restaurant) industry, emotions and experiences are paramount. Without delivering positive emotions and memorable experiences, you will not have a long lasting business. Outside of food, drink, seating, video, and decor – properly engineered sound (music) can enhance those much needed feelings that guests’ ever so often, desire.

Music has the authority to deliver the right ambiance based on one’s brand and based on one’s target demographic while increasing overall profits. No matter the concept, guests are known to enjoy their food, drink, and inner-circle company more so when music is playing; which ultimately makes them stay longer and of course, spend more of their hard earned dollars at one’s venue.

We sat down with our friends at Playdio Inc., a new platform labelled ‘handcrafted radio for your business’ to ask them a few key questions regarding the importance of sound engineering in bars today. Here’s what they had to say!

Bar Start-Ups

If you’re in the start-up phase of your food & beverage business, don’t overlook the importance of music and sound. As Mat Lunnen of Playdio tells us “a new bar is like a luxury cruise liner – it’s not a speed boat. Erratic music creates erratic guest behaviour. Changes in your music should be subtle turns like a large ship, not swerving in and out of the water like a jet ski.”

To accomplish this is no easy task. It takes the correct sound system, the correct speakers, the correct speaker placement, and the correct level of sound paired with sound management (song choices and playlists) to make it work like the noted luxury cruise liner.

“You’ve taken the time to surround yourself with professionals in your business. From designers and architects, to bookkeepers and chef/bar consultants, you rely on experts to craft these parts of your business. Music is equally as important and cannot be overlooked.”

Working with a sound or music professional “allows you to dive deeper into understanding your day parts and demographics while creating memorable and meaningful experiences for all your customers.”

In summary, make the right choice and invest in proper sound engineering and sound management, right from the start.

Psychology of Day-Parts

Whether it’s pre-game drinks at a bar, or a fine dining experience at a restaurant, crafting the perfect playlist is an art form. “Using professionals can help increase customer engagement, and impact customer behaviour & spending patterns, while allowing you to focus on the more pressing day to day issues of your business.”

Mat’s advice “is to take a good look at your day parts, understand them and who is in your business at that time, and create appropriate playlists for each day part”.

For example, during lunch hour, consider upping the tempo and energy of the music being played to encourage guests to eat their food faster, opening up tables for additional customers.  Analyze each hour of the day and the type of guests you’re typically serving. Subtle tweaks to music selection can play a large part in duration of stay, money spent, and guest satisfaction.

Four-Walls Marketing

Marketing events through sound & music is also an excellent way to drive emotion and memorable experiences. Does your bar show the hockey game every Saturday night? It would be ideal then to “play stadium songs that we would normally hear at the hockey arena, as if we were really there, to get your customers in the mood”. Don’t want guests heading to the exits after the game? Consider “crafting a high energy, familiar playlist and then crank the volume to keep the party going” which is a great option to pair with late night food & drink menus.

———-

When you “take songs that are connected to our memories and times in our lives where music and sound had more of an impact on us – we increase social experiences, social activity, and often connect those feelings back to a specific venue where the song was played”.

Music builds brand perception, creates an atmosphere, influences guest behaviour, attracts & prolongs guest visits, increases staff productivity, and boosts staff morale. Who wouldn’t want all of that!?

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