Why You’re in the Hospitality Industry and Not the Food Industry

Hey there restaurant pros. It’s David Scott Peters and welcome to episode 78 of the restaurant prosperity formula. I’ve been coaching restaurant owners since 2003. And the restaurant prosperity formula is based on what the most successful restaurant owners I’ve worked with do on a daily basis to achieve their success.

The basic premise of the formula centers around achieving prosperity, Freedom your restaurant that financial freedom you deserve. To achieve prosperity, you have to follow a very specific formula made up of leadership systems training, accountability and taking action. Today I want to talk about how I believe that the concept of great hospitality has been absolutely misunderstood in our industry, and share with you what you need to do to create memories for your guests and keep them coming back time and time again. Let’s get started.

What is great hospitality. If I were to ask you what business we’re in, what would you say? If you were to say we’re in the food business, I’d say you’re wrong. Because if you’re in the food business, then you’re competing with a gas station because I can get food at a gas station.

We my friends are in the hospitality business. We have the privilege to create memories for our customers. Memories that they’ll remember all their lives. So what is a great hospitality?

What is great hospitality. I think as an industry, we think about it all wrong. It’s not jazz hands at the table. Look at me.

We’re so fantastic. It’s not the mechanical service things like My name is David. I’ll be your server today. It’s not even how going your team is.

Great hospitality is when you don’t break the connection your guests have with each other while they’re with you. You’re free. Before I break that down for you. I’m going to share with you a few core value definitions I’ve written for my members over the past 20 years.

This is their view on hospitality. You know, for those who don’t know core values, core values are who you are as a person they almost never change. And I talk about in my restaurant transformation intensive group coaching program or in my book, restaurant prosperity formula, what successful restaurant tours do, you can learn the importance of core values, that by documenting your core values, you get your team members to make decisions based off your core values, not their own, which means they’ll never be in trouble. But there may be a coaching opportunity and that it’s the cornerstone to moving your business forward.

Well over the past 20 years, I have written countless core values for my members more so in my old company. I do it very rarely in this company because I just don’t have the time it takes me hours to do so it’s a big deal. Now what I did is over the years, I’ve worked with so many that the word hospitality has been routinely a core value. And I write core values based on three to five even seven words with a definition on it.

That’s the way I like to do it. There’s no wrong way to do it. You could tell a story you can have a sentence you could use one word does not matter. That’s what I do.

So out of those three to seven words. For many, many of my members hospitality is the word that needs to be defined as one of their core values. Because again, I’m trying to teach how I want people to make decisions based off my core values. Not their own.

So here are several hospitality definitions for core values. So this one is we believe that a great dining experience goes far beyond great food and great service. We believe a truly great dining experience is when our guests needs are anticipated and met for them resulting in 100% satisfaction. We strive to make every moment memorable.

Wow. Right think about it. We’re going to make every moment memorable. We want 100% satisfaction.

We’re going to end anticipate our guests needs that they don’t have to think about anything. Now as we go through this you’re going to find out that is probably the most powerful and succinct of the definitions when what we’re trying to figure out is what what is great hospitality. Here’s another restaurant. Again, each one of these will be slightly different because your core values are your core values.

None of these will become yours. You might like some of the things that I’ve used in here, but they’re specific to you. So in this other restaurant, our definition of hospitality is creating long lasting memories. One visit at a time, we strive to create a great dining experience where our food and service are second to our guests being engaged with each other in great conversation.

We do this by training and holding our team members accountable to the following which are traditions, quality standards, and making our guests feel like family. Our goal is good food. Good friends always very similar to the first one very different in how its laid out. And what’s emphasized.

This is why core values are uniquely yours. How about another restaurant for hospitality and say we are committed to creating restaurant concepts that are found founded on the part of the pub culture of Ireland the culture can be best described with a Gaelic word that is spelled C R A IC pronounced crack while the literal translation of the word means fun. In Irish culture crack means lively conversation and good times in the best of company. We do this through developing a culture in all of our restaurants that is based on our core values and supported by team members who have a desire to deliver on that commitment.

Like wow, right. It’s still the experience. It may be a different experience. But notice we’re creating an environment where guests have a good time where they’re engaged with each other.

You keep hearing that right we’re gonna go back to that. How about this one hospitality is at the forefront of our operation. We are driven by our passion to create memories, raving fans and become a guest home away from home. We do this by providing our guests a warm, comfortable environment to enjoy each other’s company, incredible music, Southern folk art, and of course our award winning barbecue and Southern cooking.

Now each one of those are very different, yet they’re all the same. It’s providing an environment where your guests create memories anticipating their needs, meeting them want nothing. We want them to be happy. These are just a few examples of the many core values I’ve helped write.

And while yes, I authored I help author all of these and my fingerprint was on them. The true these are true reflection of the restaurant owners I was working with. Core values are uniquely you. Again, I believe that the concept of great hospitality and are often referred to as great service has been absolutely misunderstood in our industry.

Let’s look at it this way. What if you were to ask somebody what their most memorable food memories are? What do you think they they’d say to you? What do you think you’d hear?

Now be very clear. I didn’t say ask them what their best dining experience was. I said food memory. I bet you hear somebody tell a story about an incredible restaurant that they went to probably wrong.

Somebody’s going to do that. The truth of the matter is the vast majority people you ask that question even yourself as you think about your fondest food memory is probably a special memory that’s tied to an emotion. What I mean by that How about this? It might be the hey, I can remember going to my first baseball game as an eight year old with my grandpa.

And I had this hot dog. It was just fantastic. I can still feel the sun on my face. I can hear the crack of the bat, the crowd roaring it was an incredible experience.

Was it the hot dog was the best hot dog that person ever had? Was the memory of going to the ballgame with their grandfather. Maybe it’s somebody goes a Thanksgiving dinner at my aunt’s house and I’m a city slicker and they live out in the countryside and Pennsylvania and we drive up into the mountains. And hear that the sheep in the background that they were farmers and we had an incredible spread of incredible food but I can tell you that my ants cornbread is to die for anything the cornbread was was the thing or the cornbread was tied to the experience of Thanksgiving, the travel the family that outside there’s something that was unusual to them.

Just the beauty of it all. The best food memory How about somebody say oh my mother’s homemade cherry pie. Oh my gosh. What does that mean?

Well, I can tell you personally, I’ll tell you I can remember my birthdays. Because my favorite food my mom makes for me is a poppy seed cake. Like now before you go oh my god Popsy cake you’ve not had my mom’s poppy seed cake it is to die for but that’s birthdays to me. We don’t often have at any other time but once a year.

And so that memory of being cared about celebrated and it’s one of my favorite foods. That’s why it’s a cherished memory. The food memory is the food is tied to an emotional response. These are all food memories that are tied to an emotion.

You understand? Think about it What? What would you say? Is your favorite food memory.

Is that a restaurant now? Could be because you’re a restaurant person. I remember going to Paris and we went to this restaurant, but very much tied to Paris. Or to Vegas or to you know, there’s an experience that goes along with it to that restaurant but I’ll put dollars to donuts nine out of 10 people it’s not a restaurant.

It’s a food that created a motion. I’ll talk about that more in a moment. Tech for those of you who watched the movie, the animated movie Ratatouille, this is the moment remember how that movie ended? Remember that’s the movie where the rat was underneath the chef’s hat and pulling his hair follicles to make him cook because he couldn’t cook a lick but the rat could use the human being as a mechanical tool to make the most incredible dishes.

And the food critic was wanting to blow him up like I can’t believe you had a rat that yet invites him in at the end. of the movie. makes them a meal. If food credit takes a bite and all of a sudden his brain goes all the way back to his mother who’s no longer with them I believe that dish that she made in sitting in the in the in the kitchen with his mom and all of a sudden a tear comes out of his eye.

Was it the dish that made him cry or was the dish calling out a memory? A fun food memory that made him cry. And it’s the memory that’s why I talk about as hospitality professionals we have the privilege of creating memories for our guests. Now, I can tell you that somewhere in the late 80s to early 90s.

I can’t remember where it was there was this service trend where we used to say hey, treat your your guests at the table like guests in your own home. You know what the real trouble with this is? At that time I was in my 20s So I guess the My Home was I’ll leave the front door open come on in and the case that apartment walk on in Hey man, how you doing? Hey, there’s beer in the frigerator help yourself.

Is that how you want to serve your guests? Right? You can’t rely on that. You’ve got people who don’t know what great hospitality is.

We’re not going to treat people like their guests in our own home. That is so different for everyone. Another trend that that appeared and really hasn’t disappeared is that corporate? Hey, I can train somebody to follow these steps of service down to a point where I’m going to train you as soon as you agree to table Hello, my name is Hello, my name is David.

I’ll be your server day. Who cares? Your table does not care that you are my server. I don’t know you.

You’re just one of many people that can be a service. You just got to take care of me. That’s all I care. Just get out of my face.

Right? Nobody cares. The real lesson in great hospitality is that a great guest experience doesn’t come from you and your team. Now, we’ve chased a squirrel and say it does by making sure we have checklists in place that they noticed nothing that everything is clean.

There’s no fingerprints on the door that we are in a position that salt and shakers are the same and we’re going to talk about that. A great dining experience really doesn’t come from you and your team. It comes from creating an environment where your guests stay connected with each other. The details I just went over.

So let me paint the picture. Let’s dive into that deep. Let’s say you’re outside a restaurant. You’re about to meet a friend, a close friend, somebody would give a hug to a handshake a bro hug, don’t care what it is like this is somebody really looking forward to see you’re outside the restaurant at the interest and your friend comes up and it’s the warm embrace whatever you do, to give a great warm embrace because you’re excited to see this person.

Now, as you start talking, how are you how things got it out? You start walking up the entrance? Do you notice that the ground because you’re in a city, a city restaurant, you don’t have a back alley or a place for a truck to come in. All the deliveries are made through your front door so there’s the the hand truck wheel grease, dirt that’s being tracked and out of your restaurant.

So it’s in your cement the walkway, there’s there’s gum, there’s cigarette butts when I get to the door there’s fingerprints.

So what do you think happens? We stop really paying attention to each other and we start noticing all the crap. Start thinking about the restaurant, not the person where see versus it’s all crystal clear. It’s clean.

None of those things are apparent. It’s perfect for our guests to walk in. What do they do? Do they notice that it’s clean?

No, they notice each other. They stay engaged with each other. The moment the Embrace happened, we stay engaged. And we walk in the door.

There’s a greeting now is it that you’re waiting? Waiting, waiting, waiting? And then we stop talking to each other? And I wonder if somebody’s going to come get us.

Have you seen a man who’s like somebody that comes their host? Do we see it ourselves? All sudden, where we break the connection versus being greeted immediately. Hey, thanks for coming in.

We’re so glad you chose here. How many in your party. Like that immediate greeting it’s so important to a point in time where when I was more in a bar atmosphere at a brew pub at lunchtime, we didn’t have a host so if I was seating the guests and as a manager and I was walking the circle and doing somebody walked in the door the moment if I was across the restaurant, I taught something called the mortar shot. And you know when mortar is it’s the two military throws in the the end of the grating a spoof off in the air and boom somewhere else.

Well, it’s a longer distance a longer range thing. So I could be across the restaurant and mortar. Hey, thanks for coming in. We’ll be right with you to settle down my customers brain.

That is somebody ever going to come here and there’s somebody ever going to take care of me? Because the moment I have to do that I break the connection with the person I’m with versus continue the conversation. What about being seated? Do I have the young 16 year old host?

That how many of your party three fantastic two fantastic, whatever it is, grabs the menus and starts running to the frickin table and all of a sudden I’ve got to stop conversating we’re like, you see that? unwritten rule? You see this? And we start walking faster?

And I can tell you man when I go out to dinner with my mom, I think she’s 81 years old now she does not move very quickly. How upsetting is it that your host is running to the table but we as guests, we can’t do that I’m not going to leave my mom. So all of a sudden it’s like we have to break our connection look at each other and go What the hell versus the host staying with us matching our pace. Asking questions is your first time here How’d you learn about us?

How’s your day going? Whatever it may be, whatever is appropriate, judging what our conversations doing if it It’s okay. But even if we’re having conversation with the host, because we’re staying there we’re feeling engaged. We’re not feeling disengaged.

How about in full service restaurant being greeted at the table by the server? Again, is it hi my name is who cares? I don’t care that your name is David. You’re just a server in some restaurant.

You’re a business don’t care. Now, versus one of the brightest hospitality minds that I’ve ever worked with and a good friend of mine Darren Dennington service with style secret shopping company. He’s also a coach and a fantastic speaker and a personal friend of mine. I’ve known him for damn near 20 years now.

When he was talks about when he was a brand new server at Red Lobster and he would crush it sales would be through the roof. One day at a pre shift the manners goes down tell everybody how you’re crushing these these specials. How come you’re selling them and he’d go through the rote? Well, I say the special is and it costs and she goes no, no, no, that’s not what you’re doing.

What she worked from him is that when he goes to a table, he creates a connection. So he saw a baseball hat that is a team of that he loved Hey man, did you see the game last night? Wasn’t that fantastic? Love that team?

If maybe there was a bag a server salt bag that Gucci whatever it is. Where’d you get that bag? Oh, do you just love that bag? I have $3 Rock.

Great the connection. They have kids Oh did you go to the park? I have two kids I love that park dot dot dot and asking questions. Finding something to connect with your guests.

Then, then after I take their orders, and everything’s right, I start to walk away. I pause. I turn back. And I say by the way, my name is David.

If you need anything, I’ll be the one takes care of you. Now all of a sudden I care about David. David’s not a restaurant, David’s not a corporation. David is somebody that is connected with me that oh, by the way, that broken connection with the guest is doesn’t feel so cold and sterile.

I still feel warm is still generated because now I’m connecting with someone else. We don’t want to break the connection now when that food was ordered, by the way, I’m going to tell you about a side note it’s really important that he just walking away even if you did it the way I said turned back and said my name is David I’m going to take care of you. You cannot leave the table without repeating the order back to each one of the guests in order you took it you had the XYZ and the strength dot dot dot. You need to make sure that they believe that when you leave the table you got their order that you are well engaged.

You’re not a bad I wonder I told them what I need. Do you think they wrote that down? I didn’t see him write anything down. I think they got it and now it means that I’ve got to break the connection with the guests I’m with because in the back of my brain I’m playing a completely different recording.

Now I get it some people don’t have an interior internal talking. I’m one of the people that does very few that do not so I’m having a conversation myself while I’m having a conversation with the person I’m with which means I’m not fully engaged. How about the food delivery time? Does the food show up and who’s got the barbecue burger BBQ Burger anybody barbecue barbecue burgers sold who’s got the Fettuccine Alfredo Fettuccine Alfredo was sold.

I call it auctioning food. What the hell? It means I have to stop and listen. And then I have to remember.

Like I’m gonna tell you that. I just came back from a race in England. The Canadian sorry, the Henley masters regatta on the Thames. And I’ll tell you service is very different in England versus here in the United States.

With that said before we went there as a large group, the team 20 plus of us. We pre ordered online exactly what I wanted. My name was attached to it. Every person and when we got there all of a sudden foods started showing up and it was like who’s got the tomato XYZ salad tomato XYZ salad.

I’m like shit I did that weeks ago. I don’t even know. I just stopped the conversation was having go to my cell phone look up my order. Find the email and go oh, that was mine.

Hell that was weeks. I will tell you right now how many of your guests order and don’t remember what the hell they ordered 10 minutes later. And when you’ve got to break that connection, instead, use position numbers. Now I know this position one position to position three that whether it’s a manager a food runner, another server a busser does not matter.

Anybody who delivers the food, I can drop it off to the person I don’t have to ask who has what, because when I make I ask who’s got the who’s got there, I have to break the connection. That’s what we’re trying to avoid. Having the right tools at the table are important. What do I mean by that?

If I order soup, and the soup gets delivered to my table and there’s no soup spoon, what do I do? I go to reach for the soup spoon. It’s not there. I’d say hold on a second.

And I started searching for a server with my eyes and my finger up Can I can I get a soup? Can I get Excuse me? Can I get a soup spoon? If there’s a steak delivered to my table there’s not a steak knife but I got a butter knife and I go and I need a steak like hold on a second hold the conversation.

And he started can I get can I get can I get Can I get a steak knife? I have to break the connection with the guest I’m with versus the term is called marking a table. If I know that the soup has been sold well before the soup ever got it gets delivered. The server marks the table with a soup spoon so when it’s delivered I just reached down it’s there and I don’t break connection with the person I’m with a steak is delivered.

There’s a steak knife. It’s already there. So a lot of these things can be trained to make sure the guest wants for nothing looks for nothing notices nothing but the person they’re with

now refills. This is kind of a wishy washy one in the sense that if you sell premium sodas, you’re going to sell each bottle a different story. But let’s say it’s an endless soda from the fountain. It’s endless iced tea endless coffee.

Well, do I want my server to cup Do you want another drink? Or do I just want it brought to me? Like think about it? Why?

Why do I need to ask and oh by the way on a side note if it if a soda is half full. It’s really only two sips away from being empty. Like I should be on it well before that half full mark. But with that said, if I if you take my drinks away from the table, I have to think am I gonna get my drink back?

Case in point when my son was a preteen and he had braces. We went to an Italian restaurant he had Fettuccine Alfredo. How do I know it was on the end? It was straw because with braces he could not class the straw perfectly to suck up his soda.

So there always be food particles on the end of his straw. Server came over, took our glasses, went away, came back, put them down. They were the same beverage. I had his drink.

How did I know? Because there’s food on the end of the straw. When you take my drink away from my table. I have to be thinking how do I know I’m getting my drink back.

Instead just bring me another one. Take the half full one away. Who cares? Don’t make me think about it.

But if it’s a cocktail or a beer or whatever, about halfway make sure you aren’t asking How about checking on the table meals in process? I cannot stand when somebody comes up everything good Everything okay. We should think about okay, are you okay? Things okay.

Did you spend all the money building your restaurant and deciding what’s on the walls and the music in the background and the uniforms and and the training and all the food that goes into it the quality and all these things to produce okay? It’s everything okay? Replace that with this. It’s everything suck because when I answer everything’s okay.

It’s okay. Sucks. Instead, make sure that when you’re coming to the table, you’re asking leading questions, specific questions. Was your steak cooked to your liking?

Was that jalapeno fried rice to die for? Was that recommendation of the of that drink? Unbelievable. Find out specifics that if I’m going to break the connection for a moment, that it’s with purpose, and that I can recall the things that I liked.

How about dropping the check? We get to a point this is often a place where tips are made or broken. I dropped the check disappear and if you disappear as a server and I’m trying to get out quickly and I’m waiting and I’m waiting and I’m waiting, and then you have to go if you’ve seen a server, we break the connection if you’ve seen the server, even if it’s pick it up, don’t come back quick enough versus staying attentive and that you can drop a check early. Let’s say on a you’re in a lunch business area, this area that somebody’s going to lunch, I’m going to drop the check early.

I’m going to go oh by the way, here’s your check. I’m not trying to you can stay as long as you want and I’m going to go back to check on you. But just in case you’re in a hurry. I’ve put it here that I can take care of you quickly but do know that you need anything else I’ll just add it to the ticket.

Right? It’s there. Because if I’m at a business launch and I gotta get out quickly and I got to start thinking oh my can I get out of your fast enough? I start to break the connection because I’m playing the inner voice I’m having a different conversation than the one being engaged with the person in front of me.

So you need to stay attentive. You need to make sure that we are truly looking at everything that’s going on in that business to make sure that why that I’m not wanting for anything. So even if I drop off the ticket at the table at dinner, then I’m going to make sure that what I’m checking back on the table soon enough that we’re not thinking are they going to are they ever come back Are they ever coming back? Are they ever come back when you watch your tip just actually dive about exiting the building is just gonna let people walk out like these people had a choice.

They could go to another restaurant, and maybe they will go back to another restaurant. The bottom line is they walked in to your business and hopefully you gave them a great experience and you didn’t break that connection. How about instead when they walk out your host, your manager, your someone? Thanks.

Hey, thanks for coming in. We hope we’d love to see you back. And all of a sudden, you are completing the process that you care about them. It’s not enough of a jarring thing to make them think stop thinking case in point.

You know at most corporate restaurants, you know they’re gonna open the door for you, you know they’re gonna blurt the thanks for coming in because they were trained to do so. But if you ever hit your hand on the front door and they didn’t, and all of a sudden you thought screw you understand it’s a no win situation. Now there is one additional element to great hospitality and that’s something called Wild customer service. Many years ago, I interviewed an author and customer service expert John Julius about his book Secret Service.

It’s a must read for any restaurant professional I’ve had I’ve been selling that book from stage for 20 years now. One of the main takeaways from that book that I really love is that with well customer service you make pricey relevant. On his website, John describes service as follows. Services delivering the product or service as requested.

We expect to be on time accurate professional as promised. It’s it is reacting to a customer’s request. It must be delivered, not optional. It’s what the customer is paying for and is the bare minimum.

A service by itself is not unique everyone else is doing it which makes it a commodity. A service is not memorable unless parts are done wrong or admitted. It’s a transaction and unmemorable. The moment service is complete.

The customer will never think about it again. Now John goes on on his on his page to talk about what makes service and experience and experience conjures up so many different things. Experience evokes the real reaction, a feeling it’s unique uncustomary and sparks the emotional senses experiences by design anticipatory and as distinct experiences entertaining, leaves an impression is memorable and creates a need to have it repeated. He goes on to say the Oxford dictionary definition of an experience is an event slash occurrence which leaves an impression on someone.

Ultimately, in this book, Secret Service, John teaches you the importance of the little things that make a dining experience memorable. I recall one of the restaurant examples in his book now it’s customer service for any business. In fact, he’s a hair salon customer expert. That’s how its customer service expert.

That’s how it started. But now he has huge seminars and multiple books and like he is the guru on customer service. I can remember in his book he there was a restaurant specific example that talked about how a guest a regular would come in all the time and orders the same why such a great regular that with simple Avery labels you know the printer labels that you get at an Office Max at a staples would any office supply store you print off labels that said from the private stock of and put the customer’s name there. Then when the customer had come in wanting show off for guests and what have you like these, my new friends is my favorite restaurant thought.

What can I get you Mr. Smith, whatever it may be orders the wine. When they go get the wine they also get a label and put it on there. And it comes to the table from the private stock of Mr.

Smith. We’re all the people that table like home while you have your own private stock. It’s those little intangible things that anticipate somebody’s desire we take care of their need. We make it Wow.

Case in point he talks about in his book as well as something as simple as a hotel room. He talked about the service versus being something it’s an emotional experience. You could go to say a Holiday Inn and have a hotel room. It’s got a bed.

It’s got clean sheets and blankets and pillows. It’s got all the toiletries I need. It’s got towels. It’s got a lock on the door.

It’s got a TV, it’s got power strips, it’s got what I need. Or I go to the Ritz Carlton and he talks about the difference between the two. One is I’m gonna get a hotel, but at the Ritz Carlton he says you get off the you get out of the airport saying into the limo that’s going to take you there. They know your name.

By the way, the limo driver has Radiohead to the doorman with your name. By the way, what’s the one thing most people love to hear their name? At the front desk not only do they know the name when you get there, they have a database of all the things. Mr.

Peters we have your favorite slippers in there. The the bathrobe you like we’ve changed the pillows to the ones that you like we’ve made your dinner reservation if you if you’d like at our restaurant, dot dot dot like holy shit. anticipate the needs of the guest meet them because I have all these little facts about the person I can wow them

these are all the little things that just make Wow. So I’m going to tell you you need to get that book. With that said if you don’t do basic hospitality right in the first place, there’s no need to get the book there’s no need to start thinking about wild customer service. Your priority at this point is to ensure your guests remain engaged with each other.

Make putting all the systems in place the training in place the management and supervision in place to make sure your guests get a great experience by staying engaged with each other that the details are met. They want for nothing, they noticed nothing but each other. In summary, great hospitality is when your guests notice nothing but each other. great hospitality is when you anticipate the need for your guests and provide for them.

Great hospitality is when you have allowed your guests to create a memory. And if you’ve ever wanted a good reason to upgrade your training program, I just gave it to you because a great hospitality experience and wild customer service experience. Well they’re trainable. But you got to start today.

Hey, that was an awesome episode. I want to thank you for taking the time to take action on building a better more prosperous restaurant. Before you go. I want to give you these three thoughts.

One by combining leadership and taking action with systems and training being checked by accountability. You are on your way to creating prosperity for you and your restaurant to buy something I need from you. Please leave a review on Apple podcasts Spotify or wherever you happen to listen to podcasts. By leaving us a review other restaurant pros seeking out this information are able to find it.

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Be passionate about what you’re doing. Be persistent, but more importantly become better and help everyone around you become better and your restaurant is going to kick some ass.