Click here to download the PDF version of the transcript.

---

DSP: Hey there restaurant pros, it's David Scott Peters and welcome to Episode 15 of the Restaurant Prosperity Formula­. I've been coaching Restaurant pros 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 from your restaurant and the 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's topic centers around the principle of project management and great service. Now I want to tell you about our guest today. He has over 30 years of experience in the hospitality industry and has an extensive background as a food and beverage director, executive chef, general manager, restaurant owner, staff trainer, restaurant coach and consultant. He holds the most prestigious certification available to a hospitality professional being a certified Food and Beverage Executive. He is the founder of Service With Style Hospitality Group, a hospitality firm offering secret shopping, restaurant coaching and team training services. We had a great conversation, Darren talked about how you can easily get those projects you need to get done from idea to completion. The added bonus is as an example, he walks us through implementing a great service training. You'll want to listen in on his 10 Steps to a Great Service Training Plan. I want to welcome Darren Denington to the show today.

But first, a word from our sponsor.

This episode is being brought to you by Repeat Returns. If you're a restaurant owner of a medium to high volume independent restaurant multiunit or franchise operator and you're looking for a proven and realistic solution to attract, grow and retain customers, then you need to visit Repeat Returns. Repeat Returns is a modern marketing platform created by a restaurant owner for restaurant owners. It studies each customer's habits and patterns, predicts the most profitable outcome for your restaurant every single day and deploys the marketing to make that happen. You'll never lift a finger. To see if Repeat Returns is right for you visit RepeatReturns.com/DSP.

Darren, I want to I want to welcome today's show, I'm so excited to have you back.

Darren: Well good morning. Thanks for having me. I'm really excited. I love spending some time with you.

DSP: Well, we miss traveling together, right? I mean, it's going to it's going to happen come June. All these shows are opening back up. So, we'll see each other again on the road. But in the meantime, I'm so glad to have you back. I know some of our listeners have heard you in the past on my podcast, and we've done a lot of things together, maybe seen us speak all over the country together, known each other for, gosh, almost 20 years now. I really wanted to come back, bring you back because of the wisdom you share. We often talk a lot about how in theory, at times we're competitors because you do restaurant coaching as well. And I always talk to people and say, if I was to lose business to somebody, I'd lose it to you all day long because you're the real F–ing deal. And one of the things that I find right now is as people have trimmed back their staffs because of covid-19 and we're really on the edge of hopefully bringing people back to work and being open again because they're still states that are having that challenge of remaining open. We've got a lot of shit to get done to put it really, frank. And you've got some really great insights on how people can start down that path to get these projects started, to get them to conclusion, because it's so easy to create that to do list that has 20, 30, 40 items. And we all know that to-do lists almost never gets finished. Talk to me a little bit about how you tell somebody, hey, here's how you get a project started. Here's how you make sure you stay on course and get that done.

Darren: Absolutely, well, and I fully concur, right, yeah, I miss traveling with you, it's been a very unique year and hopefully we're getting through this and you and I have always been on the same page. Right. I think that that's why we've mutually respected and liked each other so much, is because we see the same type of issues and we try to help with the same type of solutions and our own unique way. And I guess 11 months into this now, what I'm really starting to see is a some just good old hard work that restaurant owners and managers, they've been put through the wringer. We all fully understand that. And although everybody still in different shapes, right. People are still closed, and some are open for takeout and some are full and it's everybody's everywhere. But what I'm really seeing is a lot of hard work that they've been renovating and figuring out takeout and rebuilding their staff and changing so many things. So that's really been encouraging. And the piece that I start with every single day. Right. It's the foundation to be able to do any of the extras. And I've always looked at the industry as a 12, 13, 15 little categories with inside your restaurant that have to be really good if you're going to do anything really special. And the three categories, areas, departments, whatever you want to call them, that has to be right before you can do anything. To me, it's always been leadership, systems and staff.

DSP: And this is why you and I get along so well. Right? It's a constant message man.

Darren: It is. It is. Yeah. And those three play such a key factor on what you do next. So, if you've got the leadership, the right people that have bought in that communicate well and you've got the right systems, you've got some clipboards and you're working with David and you've got the right systems, and then you take some time and get the right people, that's the foundation. So, then I look at what's next and that's where I see a lot of places right now. Right. They've been working on the foundation and they've had the opportunity to rebuild their business. So, if the foundations set, let's pick a project. And if you're talking training and systems, well talk to David and he's going to guide you through so many of those. If you're talking service as a project that's what I wanted to talk a little bit about today. So, I kind of thought we'd tackle two topics at once. It's how you implement a project, right? How do you get this little area of service or of inventory or training really buttoned up? A lot of people start the project, and a lot of people have really great intentions and they might do step one through four or five, but it's step eight, nine and ten that is the success.

DSP: And what's.

Darren: That's what I thought we talk through today.

DSP: What's so awesome about that. Darren what's so awesome about that isn't I mean, to step on you, but is there couldn't be better timing because right now there's this huge burnout. We've got to get re re-energized and get that passion back for our business because we've had our ass kicked for 11 months and we're short staffed and we know that there's this tunnel vision. We can see that, oh my gosh, I'm not going to have enough people that when all these customers come back, how am I going to ramp back up and how important that service level is again, because, you know, a lot of operators I talked to talk about how they had a busy day and they weren't ready for it because we've pulled back on teams, our staff, and we are kind of falling on our heels. And what's crazy is they go; we had our ass kicked and that was what a slow day was a year ago. And now we're feeling that. So, you've got to get that that energy up and we've got to get more done. And after we've pivoted and done all these things. So, getting projects done is something that we've got to do. You're a great leader. You know, as an operator, you've got to be a leader. You've got to have the right people on the team. So, assuming we've got that piece again, let's get shit done. But also, I love it that you're going to pick service because service is critical, like if we have fallen down in some respects because our service has pivoted to to-go and delivery, we we're probably a little rusty on great service and a busy, busy restaurant. So, I'm excited to hear.

Darren: Well, that's exactly why I thought service, because when you reached out and said, let's do a podcast. What's the most pertinent topic? And the last few months has allowed a lot of people to work on their company structure and their inventories and their costing cards and their menus. But I always feel like service gets left behind that we assume because we hired some good people that everything must just be wonderful and it's not, it really isn't, and the challenges that the industry is turning over a lot of employees, you're going to have a lot of new people. And it's the customer perspective. The guest perspective is completely different. So, we've got all these variables. So, I thought if you look at a service program as a project and step one is to put a project leader, get one person to lead this as a little task force, that they work on this through the next few months. Right. If you take on a service project over two months, you will have something in place for the next 12 months that is a solid service program. And so, the first step is to define who's going to lead it and give them a little time to plan it. And now everything that we're talking about, I've got a guide for this, so I'm going to follow up everything on paper and guide them through all these steps. But step one is setting up a project or a service project is get the leader and get the buy in of the management team. Right. Talk about it for 20 or 30 minutes at a manager meeting and kind of define what the project means. Get everybody's buy in and get it set as a priority. So, when the management team understands it, then the project leader goes off and gets two or three people to help them. Right, it's a small committee and the first thing they do is they sit down and now we start going through these 10 steps. And as the project manager, what your goal is, is to run a good committee, right. Few people to get some things done over the next couple of months, and you keep going back and forth to the managers so that they have the buy in. And then ultimately what you want what you want to do is get it to the staff. Right. So, you communicate with the managers and then you train the staff to take a little bit to get going. But if you're ready for the 10 steps, I'm ready to jump in.

DSP: Well, let me ask you real quick. Why is it so important that you get that buy in? What is the negative? What happens? Like, I, I think I know, but tell me what happens when you don't get that buy. And what if I just go, this is the project, let's go like we do ninety nine percent of the time in the industry without getting that, you know, I like I liken it to we run a democratic dictatorship. I want everybody's input, but we're ultimately going to do what the hell I want to do. I may bend, I may, may, may change. But it's I'm going to lead this team and get it done, whether that's the right tact and what you mean. But I want to make sure people understand what's the downside to not taking this step before we get into the ten steps? I mean, to truly set it up for success. What's one of some of the damn downfalls?

Darren: So, for the last four months, I've been working on a nice little side project with one of my clients. And it was a training program. Right. And it's taken us four months to implement a dynamite eighty employee training program. And the buy in from the managers back and forth was a big part of it. Well, they had a brand-new manager right at the end. Right. And he came in with a lot of experience and didn't get the two months’ worth of buy in. And sure enough, he's the one running the shift with the first new training employee and people naturally go to what they know. So, in his mind, he's pulling out the training program that he's used for ten years at his last employer and just changed six or seven small little things that didn't seem to be a big deal as this new employee came through. And when it came to the end of the training program, they realized that this first new employee just got off on the wrong track. So, they changed it just a little bit. No big deal. While the next new employee is going to change just a little bit. And in three months, someone's going to come back to the manager meeting and say, why don't we have a training program? We need one. And it just falls off the rails a little bit. But if everybody buys in and they get that sense of their voice was heard, right. Hey, guys, let's talk about a service plan for twenty minutes at a manager meeting. And I throw in my comments and someone's making notes. And I feel like my voice was heard and they were implemented into some of the programs.

DSP: Right.

Darren: Great. I played a factor into this program. And you feel proud and you want to make it work, so you got to keep it on track.

DSP: Super awesome. Let's get into the ten steps. I appreciate that, because I want people to truly understand that this is not that's not something we glaze over. If you don't get buy in, this is not happening. It's going to be another one of those, I can get my managers to do it. And then that's a leadership piece. That's that first piece you said we need to assume is already in place. So, let's dive in.

Darren: Yeah. So, let's say you got a small committee meeting, one, two, three people, and you're going to now start off this, this program. And again, I've got a small guide for you to work through, but it's hiring, and it starts all the way back. Right. You got to look at your application process and you've got to look at who's doing the hiring. And do you have two managers doing two different interviews on two different days. You've got to set some simple policies and this committee would mark down six or seven of the policies that ultimately would be approved by the managers. But you're going to have your to-do's and you're going to have your files. Right. So, I need an interview scoresheet. I need a new employee, new hire letter and an orientation checklist. So, there's a few files that go with this. So, you build the steps all the way through. But hiring, it's got to be a system and the industry is changing. We're going to have a lot of different people coming into hospitality, a lot of people leaving, and there's going to continue to be more and more turnover. So, you've got to start with getting the right people, and that means how you're recruiting them and how you're onboarding them and getting them into your system. So, hiring's the first piece and the second piece, David, is right up your alley. Right. It's what you've been preaching since the very, very first day I met you 20 years ago, training. So, I thought instead of me talking about training, I put you on the spot like you told me so often. Why don't you tell me what a training program means as part of service? Right. What type of things should everyone be thinking about in training?

DSP: Well, the first thing I tell you when we talk about training is making sure that we understand all the tasks that need to happen and then change those into not just tasks, but what the job is, how to do it, how well that should be done, more importantly by when. When you structure each piece of the lessons that you want done. Again, here's a task. It's let's say, for instance, taking coming to a table and greeting them, you know, you'd say, oh, greet, the table. But there's more to that. Greet the table is greet the table within two minutes. It is to not introduce yourself first. It's to bond with the guest. Find something. Hey, that's a great hat. Oh, I love that. You know, where did you get this? Where are you guys coming from? First time here? Creating a conversation and a little bit of a bond. Running through have you been here before? Let me tell you a little bit about the menu, some suggestions. And it's oh, let me take your drink order. Would you like a little more time on thing and then turning away and coming back and saying, oh, by the way, my name's David. If you need anything, I'm here to help you. Well, that's not just taking the initial drink order or greeting. That is what the job is, how to do it, how well it should be done, more importantly, by when. And those are critical to each one of these steps when you start to put together a training program.

Darren: So, like I mentioned earlier, we were implementing a training program at a sports bar I worked out for a while. So, our last step was to train the trainers. And we had worked through a shadow program and worked through the testing. And the owner wanted to make sure it was a very simple training program. He didn't want a three-hundred-page manual. He wanted something that was going to stick. And when we brought it back to the trainers, so we had nine new trainers that were identified for the right skills. And we put them in the room. And I found it very easy to communicate the simple tasks on what they needed to teach them, they needed to give them orientation of the areas and they needed to show them how to wash their hands and simple things. And when it came down to what their role as a trainer was, what we really felt was they were the person that welcomes this new employee in, and they get them comfortable and they become friends with them and introduce them to the team. And we felt like the training standards were written down and in a manual. And let's go through them and let's test to make sure that they comprehended all this information we passed on to them. But the intangible was the personalities and how you teach them to smile and how you teach them to greet a guest. And it's hard right now when people are wearing masks, you can't smile. And now you got to say hello. So, there's a lot of different things we do. But the training team, the five, six, seven employees that now pass on all your details, get them in a really good place. So, then the next one is right up the alley of what you and I have been preaching for years. Right. It's the simple operational systems as it reflects to service. And what I mean by simple operational systems is it's your checklists, an action list, a responsibilities list, because this cleans up all the garbage, this cleans up all the little, tiny factors that affects me as a guest. The checklist is going to tell the team to wipe the back of the booth. So, I don't see a big stain. They're going to tell them to set the air conditioner control to 72 at the right time so that I'm comfortable as the guest. So, the operational systems keeps your staff really busy and lets them know what their job is. But it cleans up the garbage for service. It cleans up all those little things that, hey, we got to sweep the floor behind the bar. And I see that when I sit at the bar. So, their clipboards, their check checklists, they're simple little, tiny systems that take the fluff off the plate of the managers.

DSP: Yeah, checklists are the foundation of all our systems. If you can't get somebody to follow a checklist. What makes you think you're going to get Chef to wake up on a Sunday morning to take inventory accurately on time and give a shit? I mean, it really matters. And by the way, if anybody wants to take a deep dive on what he just went through, check out Episode 2 of the Restaurant Prosperity Formula where Darren goes into great depth. So, you definitely want to check that out.

Darren: So then then we jump right into another key factor, and it's leadership, it's the right people. But what I'm talking about here is the leadership of service. OK, we talk about strong leaders in restaurants all the time and how they like to get things done and how they can bring on new people. But there's got to be somebody in the building that takes service on as a passion, that they're the one that always has an eye on how the staff is interacting with the guests and how long that table was to get greeted and the service times and the cleanliness. So, if you dub somebody the leader of service, then you've got somebody that's responsible in the small little category and that goes hand in hand with who's implementing this as a project. Right. And the leader's role during the project is to communicate back and forth with the management team and to make sure that the staff has all the information also. Well, it's the same type of leadership program as you go on. So, every time leadership comes up in your weekly manager meeting, well, we turn to Jennifer and get an update on service. So, it's something that allows you to implement this into your everyday routine because service gets forgotten. We just assume that everybody's getting a friendly smile and their lunch in 12 minutes. But no, they're not getting the smile and their lunch took twenty-seven minutes today. So, somebody has to be responsible, dub somebody or your service king or queen and let them take control of it. So, and communicate back to the manager or team on everything service.

DSP: Is. Does this person, just so we're clear, is, is this person have to be a manager type or can they just be a lead employee, somebody who’s really great.

Darren: Usually it's a category that a key employee, shift manager, lead employee is perfect for, because I find that this is a developmental type of project. And if they're helping you implement the project, you're developing them as a stronger manager. And service is something that young managers go towards, right? That's how we typically get into the industry, is I love to serve people and you learn the front of the house and all that piece. And then managers develop into inventory and cost controls and P&L statements. So, I think it's a young manager role.

DSP: Yeah, I often like it. Those line supervisors and whatever. Literally those special projects allow us to audition our next managers. They don't know they're auditioning for a job because if they don't do a good job, we can say thanks for help with the project. They do a great job. We go, have you ever thought about becoming? And so, I love that tack all day long. They get to shine in something you do really well. And I guess another piece I want to make sure people understand is we talk about that person who's great with service. That's what's wonderful about building a great management team from the ground up, is you surround yourself with people with different skill sets. Not everybody is so great at service and eyeballing it. We can teach people steps of service and make it a trainable system. But there are people that are gifted and often they can really spearhead this and make it just really fantastic.

Darren: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So, moving right along, step number five is employee morale and six is customer standards. So, what I recommend here is a simple committee meeting, two or three people to sit down. And let's first talk about employee morale while number one, you want to identify it. Is it in the toilet? Is it fantastic? Can we work on it a little bit so if you understand where your employee morale is because it's the feeling, this is the intangible. This is where service really explodes to something special. If you can find this, it's that genuine smile. It's the person that is truly happy to be there and wants to go and do the extras. This is one of those that you can give OK service and get by and everything's fine. Right. Or you can get the people that have that spark, have that little magic. And you go to Chick-fil-A right there. This is built into the culture. This is what they teach every day. It's my pleasure. And how a chicken sandwich has turned to a customer service company is fantastic. So, you got to have that type of passion. So, you identify where the employee morale is and then you gauge and see how you can impact morale. Right. Can we do a team meeting? Maybe it's a team outing. Maybe it's just some simple one on ones and you work on employee morale and then the customer standards are the service standards is easy to identify. But there's eight or ten things that you need to know. Right. You need to know what your standard is on your greet times and your drink delivery times and your entrees and your desserts and your checks and how fast you want to bus tables, so there's little things that you can identify. And I find that from an industry that a lot of times if you have 70 or 80 people working in a restaurant, you probably have experience from a hundred different restaurants coming into one building. And because service standards aren't really talked about enough or they're not truly identified, then they're just ballpark goals to hit. But if your goal for lunch is entrees between 10- and 12-minutes post it in the kitchen, let everybody know. Have a way to track that and talk about it, check on it every once in a while. So, if you identify your morale and your service standards in a simple little meeting, then I find that eight or 10 actionable steps come from that, whether it's hold a team meeting or let's go mini putting as a team, whatever it is.

DSP: Right.

Darren: It's done through committee. And those are a couple of easy ones just to sit and walk through.

DSP: And there there's no better time than right now because we know that morale in many restaurants is low because the employees that decided to stay with you and we're talking about right now, we're still in covid, right? We're in February of 2021. We're at the tail end of this covid thing. And we've got those employees who stuck it out with you that aren't staying at home making more money, depending on the state you're in on unemployment. And they'd rather be doing nothing and collecting the dole. And so, these people have been worked really hard and they're struggling just like you because they're also taking the cue on you. If you if you're down, if you're like, oh, my God, can I have one more month of covid? What am I going to do? Well, that translates down as a leader. And so, it's a great time to identify, hey, we're coming out of this tunnel. There's light there. Let's rev back up and get energized. I think that's fantastic. There couldn't be any better timing on that step in this process. And then obviously, again, the steps of service, what you want, what we're really identifying is we all know those tasks. It's like we talked about in training. It's the by, when and how well that really needs to be communicated more than anything. Right. That is that is truly the magic on getting these things developed and in place.

Darren: And the reason why I put these on the 10 steps was we're seeing a really big trend in our secret shopping reports. That early on when the pandemic happened, we saw a lot of service almost being overlooked. You were willing to give someone the benefit of the doubt. If I had to wait three or four minutes or they're shorthanded. And because of two factors, right. We're still in the pandemic and because of where we are in the economy, its service is critical. So, they're judging you every single time in. And we're seeing a lot of fatigue that servers and staff just in general are tired. It's been a really, really hard year on them. And the guest feels that. So early on, the guest was able to look past that because we understood what everybody was going through. But now because where a lot of the economy is, they need value for their dollars. So, they want that really good service and that the standards and the employee morale just plays such a huge factor. And so, does the seven step here right. It's the customer connection. How do you connect with the guests? And it's been truly, truly different. And the masks are a big part of it. Social distancing is a big part of it. The labor costs are a big part of it because everyone's running as efficiently as we can. So, part of Steps To Great Service is identifying how you connect with the guest. How do you go beyond hello? How do you still interact with them and how do you teach your staff to get to know them still from a distance? So, it is still absolutely possible, right? There's no qualms about it, but it's extra effort right now to connect and everybody's going through a tough time. So, there's a little bit of sympathy that comes into the connections, but it's identifying that I've got an opportunity because I've got a guest in front of me and I can put a smile on their face somehow, some way. And it's got to be part of your regular conversations in the restaurants. You got to be part of your shift meetings in the morning. It's got to be part of your focus from the manager meetings. It's got to be part of your training. It's embedded into what you do every day. So, the customer connection is critical.

DSP: That's the magic. I can tell you; I just was on the phone with my daughter, took a roommate out to a birthday dinner, went to a chain type restaurant. But they had the most wonderful time. My daughter talked about this server and now she's grown up in a service family. So, we talk about, oh, my God, how bad is service? Oh, my Lord. You know, the manager came around, said, is everything OK? You know, they took my drink, brought it back with the straw, like, oh, my gosh. Right. So, they know all this stuff, my kids. But she goes, David, Dave, dad. Dad, you would have loved this guy. He was funny. Da-da-da. Engaging like we're going back. We found out when he works, we're going back. That's the bottom line. She found a server. Wasn't the restaurant, it was the server because the service was so wonderful, they were going to go back. And that's really critical when you think about it. We've got to bring back creating memories because that's what this server did. He created a memory.

Darren: And you've heard me talk about this piece for a lot of years. Right. I love the secret shopping scores and that tells us where they're at and we've changed it over to that score represents what the guest does. And ultimately, what I figured out over the years of studying these numbers is that if you provide me a memorable experience, right, for us, it's a 90 percent and above something fantastic. Right. It was just a great experience. If you provide that to me three times in a row now, I trust you. And as soon as I trust you, I'd like to comment about you or refer you when it's possible. And absolutely, positively, I like to come back to you more often because I know that the 70 dollars, I'm going to spend is going to get me a fantastic, memorable experience. So, they trust the dollars. But three experiences in a row says that this is you consistently right. You prove to me that you've got some fantastic service.

DSP: Well, we look we look at two of you two different examples. One time we were speakers at the Atlanta Food Show. They gave us a free, free meal or something.

Darren: It was three fifty-dollar gift certificates. Yes.

DSP: To a local restaurant. The three of us, as speakers and close friends go out. We're going to go dine at this restaurant. This fifty dollars for each one of us. One hundred dollars. We're going to translate into five hundred dollars because we are going to order wine and we're going to order we're going to have a great time. And we get in there and we simply order drinks, and we get ignored, ignored, ignored. And I think it was I ordered a bourbon on the rocks, something really, really hard to do. And I believe almost 15, 20 minutes went by and I finally looked at all of us and said, we're leaving. We had gift certificates. We were gonna spend a ton of money. We left. And then you juxtapose that to an old member of mine and still a client of yours, Okeechobee Steakhouse in West Palm Beach, Florida. You and I, you know, you and I went there together multiple times and it's my favorite restaurant. But every time we go, it's phenomenal. And they are clearly a 90 plus on your service all the time. And during the pandemic and all these things, you know, sales increase, all these things, they're just phenomenal. And that's parting with one hundred and fifty dollars a person. And we would go back over and over again because the experience is. Wow. And all of their reports with you, if I'm not mistaken, are nineties and above like high 90s, which is unheard of. But that's how they really blossom and grow every single year. Right.

Darren: And I remember both very well. Right. We stood at the door for ten or twelve minutes at the restaurant in Atlanta waiting to be acknowledged. And you walk into Okeechobee Steakhouse and you get the warmest greeting from someone friendly, professional looking. It's just a wonderful first impression. And both those first impressions play through to what the culture of both those restaurants are in my eyes. And from there it just goes to complete different experiences. And right. This is years later how many times have we dined at Okeechobee since then and how many times have, we went back to the Atlanta? I don't even remember the restaurant name in Atlanta.

DSP: Zero to whenever I'm within two hours of Okeechobee Steakhouse in West Palm Beach, Florida. We are finding a way. We're renting a car. We're going if we're at show or whatever it is, you know, I love them as people, but there's truly is an amazing dining experience. If anybody listening is ever in West Palm Beach, Florida, you want to see how service should be done. I would I'd absolutely get there. And again, you want to see what 90 plus scores are on a routine basis, like, do they ever score under ninety? I mean, ever?

Darren: I'm sure that there's always things that they're working on to get better. And we're obviously there to look for the details. But they we've awarded them a couple of times for like some of the highest scores that we see in our system. So, yeah, every restaurant we work with has their ups and downs.

DSP: A bad day down.

Darren: But constantly they nailed it. Yeah.

DSP: Yeah. All right. So, what are the next steps?

Darren: So and it goes to honestly, one thing that I think they do very well, it's their communication that they. You don't just stop from the manager meeting talking about how we improve things and how we talk about things. The communication system inside a restaurant passes on critical details. And when it reflects to service, there are so many simple, basic, little tiny details that servers and bartenders in front of the house staff need to know that managers just don't pass on to them in a coordinated effort and it may not seem like a big deal that the hostess didn't realize that you had a new specials for Valentine's Day, but when I picked up the phone and made reservations and she told me it was one and I got there, all little things play a factor. So, the communication means that every little, tiny detail gets passed on to your team. And the bigger part of communication is the weekly manager meetings, the project part of the service piece we've been talking about today on communications is the leader of the project going back and forth to the managers to make sure that over this two-month period they're up to date on what your project is. And the daily communication is talking to your staff. And if you're not having shift meetings, then at least their 30 second one on ones with every employee to pass them on the details. So, communication affects me is the customer absolutely, positively. And there seems to be a barrier that it's not a big deal in restaurants. So, I think we need to focus on the little details.

DSP: I'm pinging in my head right now because there's two things I want people to really listen and not glaze over. One you said we're going to have manager meetings, how often?

Darren: Weekly.

DSP: Oh, son of a weekly.

Darren: Every single week.

DSP: Every week with an agenda and 60 to 90 minutes long, you are crystal clear. And what's being covered? You're bringing people in these the your committee, they're bring in what tell us about your thing. You're not telling them. Like, how often do you, Darren, run across these owners who go, well, I don't need a meeting. I meet with my managers on a daily basis. That's not communication, is it?

Darren: Right.

DSP: Right.

Darren: It's the, you got the daily communications, which is operational. Right. We want to talk about what we're out of today and what employees are late and what party of 12 is coming in. And then you've got the directional communication where the companies going in that weekly manager meeting is when you pause the button on operations and say, let's solve some problems and figure this out. So just because you talk every single day, that's wonderful. But that's the operational piece. You got to get to the directional piece of the company, which is the weekly manager meetings. With an agenda, with the meeting leader, with meeting notes and with an actionable steps from that.

DSP: It's your game plan. It is your it is your plan for success for that week. And then there was another thing that was pinging in my brain and you glazed over it because I don't want people to glaze over it. If you do Pre-shift Meetings. No! You've got to communicate with your team on a daily basis. And when there's this service thing, as we're focusing on, you're focusing on that for every single day of the week because you've got part timers who show up two days a week. You've got those full timers may hear that message five, seven times in the week, but that's how you reinforce that this is what's going to happen, right? I mean, if it were you, is there any opportunity not to have a pre shift? And even if you're staggered starting, we put that pre shift notes on the alley and they've got to read them. So, we're communicating every single day what that what that change is going to be and why it's so important.

Darren: Just five simple meetings, right? Nobody sits down, you huddle up. And I always used to look at it as a ongoing training program. Right. I'm not just passing on what the soup is today in the party at twelve, but I'm picking a point every single day and some of them I would harp on for three or four days, but you'd pick a point every single day and it's a mini training day. And how I look at it as a restaurant owner, my weekly manager meetings are manager development. It's not just that we're communicating on some good things, but this is my opportunity to continue to pass on details to them and develop them more and more. So, they're really helpful. They are.

DSP: And it's brilliant. I'm smiling because, again, this is why we get along so well. I know I kind of derailed us and took us down a path, but I think those are so important. Again, it's to make sure that these this project you're putting together, the using a service as an example is successful. These are the little pieces that truly make you a better leader, too, in your business, making sure they're all going down the same path. All right. Move on. What we got next?

Darren: Oh, yeah. You're taking us down the rabbit hole. I'll keep bringing this back. Don't worry. So, step number nine is all about sales, selling, sales, sales, sales. And when you reflect on service, yes, people are selling you that extra drink or the extra appetizer. But when you have the type of experience that is memorable, typically the financial piece of it falls aside because you went to the emotional side of it and the emotional side of it is usually brought forth by the enhancement of the experience. So, you're out for a nice Valentine's Day dinner and the servers suggest a nice, simple bottle of wine and you weren't going to go with wine with that wine now made it that memorable experience. So, the twenty two dollars for the bottle of wine is no big deal, but it's now we had a magical, memorable experience. The selling enhances it. So, yes, you've got to have some structure into your selling plan. Right. You've got to have some guidance on your staff. They need to know what entrees you want them to sell, what drinks you need them to sell. There should be sales scripts so that they understand how to approach a table, again, all in this little manual that I'll get to all the listeners today. But once that's set, then it takes the server or the person to enhance it. And that's where if you've already connected with the guest and they've already comfortable and they trust you as a server, now you can guide them through this experience. And sometimes that experience just means an extra order of fried mozzarella sticks. And sometimes it means that extra glass of wine or sometimes it turns into let's sell you a party of 12 for your mother's fiftieth birthday. And the selling is always on, but it's got to be done in a managed way. Just because I can sell, I shouldn't be selling the chicken wings because they're forty two percent food cost. My manager needs to harp on selling the shepherd's pie at 19 percent. So, I've got to have some guidance. I've got to have some knowledge and they've got to entice me a little bit. If I'm a true salesperson at heart, I like the competition. So, dangle a bottle of wine in front of me, throw up a twenty dollar bill every once in a while, for selling contests and build sales into your service model. It's part of how you provide a better experience.

DSP: And well, I think I want to kind of as we go down that rabbit hole, we talk about this. What comes to mind is, number one, when you sell, when you truly are selling, you're not trying to just rip money out of somebody's back pocket. Often servers think, oh, we're screwing the guest. If you truly sell that that incredible product, you are going to make a better memorable experience. For instance, hey, we're here. Oh, have you had we have the best X, Y, Z appetizer. I'm telling you right now it's to die for. I would highly recommend you add it. If I go, if I'm wrong, man, I'll buy that thing back. I'm telling you, it's that damn good. And when they go, oh my gosh, thanks so much for the recommendation is unbelievable. Well, you just upped your ticket. So, the other side is you're also teaching them how to make more money for themselves by giving the guest a better experience, by guiding them to these perfect products. You're creating memories. You're also driving your ticket up. You're going to make more money. So, it's like a double win, a triple win, because now we're also making money. As you said, we know what's profitable. We know it's great. We know what brings our customers back. And that's a part, again, part of training instead of just letting it blindly happen. And that's all this communication through all this. My biggest takeaway that I come from this is you've planned it, you're communicating, you're leading it. This whole process requires somebody to say we're going forward, and this is the direction we're going.

Darren: Well, and my step 10 ties right into nine, and we've talked about it, we've hinted on it all the way through, but it's a memorable experience. And why I tie that into the sales is for me personally, the memorable dining experiences are usually the ones that you go in to celebrate. And you think more about the experience than you do about the financial side of it. Right? We eat all the time. And sure, there's times we just want to be a valuable priced entree. That's all we're looking for. But when we're looking for a service experience, the selling really enhances that. And I guess where I learned that was that we've worked on the secret shopping side with Sandals, Caribbean resorts for years. Right, 20, 21 years. And they used to be luxury or sorry, they used to be all inclusive. And 10, 12, 15 years ago, they changed over to luxury included. And everything that used to be included was still included. But what they did was they opened up a different level of products. Right. If I wanted the house wine, of course, that was still included with any meal. But if I wanted to order a nicer bottle and it was available because they realized that that enhance the experience, that we weren't always worried about the financial side, that we just wanted the nice experience. So that memorable experience comes from selling, but it comes from the people, the people are who makes it memorable. And the server, that jokes with your daughter and the one that brings me the Diet Coke before I even knew that I needed another one and the one that identifies that I'm in a hurry and they're going to customize their dining experience to me so that I can get out quickly. Those are memorable experiences in their own way. So, the friendliness of the staff starts it off, right. That's how we make the memorable experience. But then they customize the service to what I'm looking for. Right. It's not just about what you want to provide to me, but it's the type of service and experience that I really want. And that's where the servers and bartenders in front of the house have the power to identify what I'm looking for. So, to close, it's not just a Valentine's Day dinner with a bottle of wine and of dim light and the right music to make it a memorable experience. A memorable experience says that this is what I really wanted from this establishment at this time, and they fully delivered it to me. And the people are the only way to customize that and really pull some information from me to deliver on that.

DSP: You know, I think of all the places we've gone where, again, we've traveled all over the country together for almost two decades now. I mean, it's crazy. We're getting o-l-d, dude. There's a there's a bar in New York City. When we go to the New York show, there was one time that we had the most magical experience at the bar just laughing our asses off and we keep going back there hoping to get it again. I don't think we've ever had it again.

Darren: Every year. Yup.

DSP: Right. But we go back because that memory was so visceral for us. Like, you have an opportunity to create a memory that brings somebody back. And we and it's an annual jaunt. There's so many great bars and restaurants in New York City. But yet we go back to the same one, like searching for that that first time experience. It was just so magical. Now, we've had some good experiences. We had OK, we've never had that again. But, man, that just drives us back. And so, this in my brain drives the point home how important it is that we put our ducks in a row to create the best experience possible. It's not just a throwaway.

Darren: No. So, in closing now, as the project manager of the service project, well, again, it's not about step one through five. It's about eight, nine and ten to really implement it. So, you're in and out of the manager meeting. You're doing the work on the side and you're keeping them posted and you're doing the work on the side and keeping them posted and chip away at it over a couple of months. And what you're ultimately trying to do is embed this into your culture for the next year. Right. And that's where we love the secret shopping program. That's the one trigger that every month says, yeah, we got to talk about service. And when you drop one of those reports in front of a manager meeting and we talk about it, it forces us to talk about service. And if you've went through service as a project, then that maintenance is easy and you're always talking about maintenance, just like you're always talking. Sorry you're always talking about maintenance of service, just like you're always talking about your staff. So, implement it into your normal process. But whoever you pick to lead this project there, there's some steps to go through.

DSP: So, let. I want to I want to take. Whether you want to or not, I'm gonna take you down to that to that service report because you and I again known each other a long, long time. We're close personal friends. Anybody who has ever seen us, but I've had thousands at this point of my members from my old company today, literally thousands of members at this point have used your services. And I'm going to say that the vast majority become repeat users of your service, because when it comes to service levels, cleanliness, all the things the guest experience, we often don't have a report card. We think a comment card is going to do it. How many people actually fill out a comment card or Yelp or those things? And it's usually the vocal negative things that pop up. It's a rarity we get all the little details and some of the good and some of the critical little things that we may be doing wrong. Instead of the blow-up experience. You've got your company Service With Style as a secret shopping or a shopping service, meaning service, shopping. Really does an incredible job of understanding every step of service, the tangible and the intangible, and I always recommend to all my members to use you because it gives you your report card. It gives you that that matrix, if you will, measurement to go, hey, we're doing a good job, or here's areas we could improve and how you can use it as a training tool, as a as a measurement of knowing why your sales are going up or why your sales are going down. Can you talk a little bit about the report and why what I'm saying I get so excited about is truly a game changer for a restaurant?

Darren: I certainly appreciate that, and we spent a lot of time dissecting all the critical pieces that go into the guest experience and put it in a format that it's not a comment card. Right. It's a typical report sometimes is six, seven, eight, nine pages from a standard restaurant observation. And we're looking at everything in a different perspective. Managers keep their eyes on this absolutely. But there's so many gaps that the reports are what provides you with the information. So, we let you know exactly what the hostess said and that the drink took seven minutes and forty-two seconds to arrive at the table and that the food was really good, but it was lukewarm. And it's an eyes open approach to a different perspective showing you everything. And but because it scores it in graphs it, it puts it in a way that's really tangible. It gives you easy things to work on. If you read a shopping report, you're going to pick out five or six simple little things that you. Oh, let's work on that. Let's work on that. I need to talk to Cindy. We don't want this to happen again. So, it becomes an ongoing training program on service.

DSP: Yeah, and what do you see as a benefit, are you seeing the people using it that their scores start to go up when they pay attention to it? Do you see people who just get the report and don't do anything and know what's going on? Talk about what do I do? Can I see measurable results when I start to pay attention to it?

Darren: So, it's like anything, right, we work with a lot of clients that take this incredibly serious and put it into part of their culture and pick those few things every month that they're always working on. And we I'll be honest, we don't have a lot of clients that don't act on the shopping report because it is so, so detailed and so pertinent. So, I guess a lot of our long-term clients are extremely consistent and that's what they're looking for. And some are extremely happy to be consistent at 80 percent. That's what their model goes for and that's what works. And some just continue to strive to get better and better and better and better. And I think it's the one-on-one conversations that I've always liked the best after the report. And if I'm a manager of a restaurant, I just got the shopping report from the day before or two days before. And I sit down with an employee and I review it. I love to go through the positive. Thank you. This is exactly what we're looking for. You're wonderful. And then a few things maybe weren't sure. Let's review our policy and it's a little training session. And then every once in a while, something comes up that you never want to see this again. And this has provided you details to have a stronger meeting with an employee to correct some issues. And it's all over the board for all types of clients.

DSP: Well, so how would I learn more about how I could, if I'm an operator, get you to start doing secret shops for me? You know, especially if I've never done a secret shopping. I understand what the process is. How would I would I would one of my listeners, anybody listening to us right now contact you and learn more?

Darren: Well, I think the easiest thing is anybody that wants to contact us, let me give them a link, because we're going to offer them a discount. So, anybody that clicks on the link through you gets a ten percent discount for anything that they like to do with us. So, make sure you claim that first. Right. And you go to servicewithstyle.com/DSP, David Scott Peters. So servicewithstyle.com/DSP. And there's two things that you can do through there. So, you'll get the discount and then you'll get to the website. And the first thing you'll see on the website is Ten Steps to Great Service. So that's the manual that I referred to several times today. And if you just click on that, we'll email you the manual version so that you have a starting point.

DSP: That's awesome, man. So servicewithstyle.com/DSP for David Scott Peters. That's the way we identify that you're a listener to my podcast. That's an awesome offer. And I want to make sure people take advantage of opting-in on your website to get the get the ten steps, because now while we may have gone through this in the podcast and you may have greater detail and want a piece that you can give to your managers to start the process, I highly recommend you go download that and get to Service With Style, go to the home page, find that opt-in and request that email. Darren is there anything else you want to share with people before we conclude?

Darren: Just if anybody wants to take a deeper on our site. They can just schedule a phone call with us, and we'll review all the details because every single program we do is completely customized to any operation. Right? Our reports are we have thousands and thousands of them in the system because everyone is unique to that particular. So, we customize anything, and we can easily go over all the personal details. And you can schedule a call through the website.

DSP: Fantastic.

Darren: And David before you close, I just want to say thank you. I love doing this. You're pumping out a lot of great information to operators and entrepreneurs and managers and you've been helping them a lot. So, if this is your first podcast, make sure you're doubling back and checking out along with David. He's tons of content out there and I just hear it all the time for people that I know. Oh, I watched this video on David, and it was a fantastic tip that you had here. And yeah, he's really got me working on costing cards. So, there's service is just one small part of it.

DSP: It's a big part. I don't know about small, but it's a big part. I appreciate the kind words, my friend. Hey, man, is there anything else you want to throw at people? Piece of advice, words of wisdom, anything before we leave?

Darren: Keep your head down. Keep working. A lot of people are tired and fatigued but try to find what you had alluded to earlier that that new energy, that fresh new spirit and a great exercise for any business owner is take a day off with a pad of paper and just write down your thoughts and your notes and do a little brainstorming of where you want to take the business. And even if you did it six months ago and a year ago, sit down on the couch for an hour and just think about anything that you want to affect in your business. And then that usually turns into projects and a directional plan for your business. Take a little time and look at it differently.

DSP: That's awesome, man. Thanks so much, Darren. Greatly appreciate you. I hope everybody takes advantage of the offer. Go to servicewithstyle.com/DSP, take advantage that go to servicewithstyle.com and download that that 10 steps and get on a phone call with them. Learn how they can customize your report to what's important to you as well as staples of things that they know can truly make a difference and need to be measured in your restaurant. Thank you, my friend. Greatly appreciate you.

Darren: Thank you.

DSP: 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. Two, I have something I need from you. Please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you happen to listen to podcast. By leaving us a review other restaurant pros seeking out this information are able to find it. I read the reviews and hearing how this information has benefited you does wonders for me. And three, if you find any of the discussions helpful, share them. The more restaurant pros who have access to them, the better we become as an industry. For more restaurant resources or to get in contact with me, connect with me at DavidScottPeters.com. 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.