Where is the Waitperson?

For a restaurant customer, one of the things that is most annoying is the disappearing waitperson.

Wait staff should always come back to the table after the order is delivered. First, they should check if everything is alright, and if the customer needs anything, and then they should return again later in the meal to check if the customer enjoyed the meal and would like to have something else.

This seems like a very simple thing, yet many restaurants I dine at or come across get this wrong every day. The only thing you can do is to train, retrain and observe carefully. This is an easy fix for many restaurants, yet many restaurants still get this wrong.

Every customer should receive a warm greeting when they enter your restaurant.

Every customer should be thanked for coming when they leave.

It is 10 times easier to retain an existing customer than to find a new one – and surveys often show that customers consider service and friendliness more important than food in a restaurant. Then why don’t all restaurants do this?

Your staff should be carefully trained on this skill. Being kind, warm and helpful will go a long way to building a loyal clientele and a successful restaurant.