Managing a restaurant (part 4)

Like I have said that managing a newly opened restaurant can be a little tedious but it is very worth every sweat and tears. I remember when we had to open some restaurants, I really had a lot of tasks. From securing some permits, checking the status in the store (if everything is all done), receiving deliveries, following up on some items and updating my area manager and the owners or franchisees. There was even a time that I was talking in my sleep and it was work related. LOL. Or I would wake up asking about the permit or following up on an order only to find out that I was in my bedroom still thinking about work even when I was sleeping. Managing a business is really fun but let's exclude the guest complaints. 

We can actually limit the number of guest complaints if we would always be attentive to their needs. Give them the an excellent service with a cheerful personality so that they will feel that they are welcome in your restaurant. I forget to mention this when I talked about order taking. After the server has repeat all of the guest's orders and requests, he/she should say how long it would take before the food arrives. Usually drinks and soups should be out within 8 minutes or less. Then salad and appetizers within 10 minutes or less. Main entrees should take about 10-15 minutes. That is if it isn't peak hour. If you are already full house, the server should be aware how long would be the waiting time is. He/she should be aware if there are still pending orders in the kitchen so that he/she can estimate the time. 

Remember that you are in a restaurant and you are not in a fast food type of restaurant so guests will be understanding if it takes around 10-15 minutes. Although there are really some that wants their order to be out in 5 minutes. I think they wanted us to do some magic tricks to have their food ready in a span of short time. LOL. 

Probably you have noticed that in most restaurants they have SOPs (standard operating procedures) like when a guest enters the restaurant, all of the staff would greet them. Have you ever noticed that? It is actually one way to make your guests feel welcomed. And of course if you welcomed them, you would also have to thank them when they leave. 

It is also good to audit your people every now and then. In some restaurants they have monthly audit done by a quality auditor (QA) and a mystery guest. This was my favorite part when I was still working before. Why? Because it makes everyone productive and everyone will be doing the right SOPs. From the quality of the products to service to cleanliness of the store up to the hositality of the people. You don't know who the mystery guest is and you don't know when the QA will visit the store. Sometimes even your area manager will be rating you without you knowing it. You will just be surprise when he/she hands you his/her visit/audit report and you will see a lot of remarks. 

But we shouldn't forget to also audit the sales and cashier's fund from time to time. We call it spot check and it is done randomly. You will have to ask your cashier to count the money in that cash register or POS and then you will tally it with the current sales. Cashiers can also ask their managers to do a spot check when he/she is doubtful. There are times that you think you have given the wrong change to the guest and you just want to check if you are over or short. Different restaurants, different policies with cash handling. But overage and shortage should always be reported or reflected in the cashier's report regardless of the amount. Of course this is charge to the cashier. So you need to be watchful if your cashier has a lot of shortages or overages. 

Let's move on to giving complimentary desserts and privileged discounts. It is with the discretion of the manager or the owners who and when to give complimentary dishes or desserts. I am sure you have experienced receiving complimentary desserts in some restaurants during your birthday month. Don't get sad if there are some restaurants who doesn't give something to you during your birthday because most probably they don't have a go signal from the upper management or the owners with regards to complimentary. However during soft openings, please allot some complimentary appetizers, desserts or token to your guests especially your service still needs a lot of improvement. They would really appreciate your gesture. 

In one of the restaurants that I have worked with, we give a scoop of ice cream to the birthday celebrants (if we are informed beforehand) and for celebrities. That time vloggers are not yet popular but I am sure they will add them to their complimentary lists. Maybe you would also want to do it in your restaurant. 

We all know that privileged discounts are really mandatory in food establishments. But also know that there are those who would abuse their privileges. Discounts are to be applied only for the concerned people and not for the entire bill. I have experienced before that there was only 1 senior citizen in a group of 5!and they were asking to deduct the discount as a whole. Unfair right? Even if I have already explained that it only applies to the person with the ID but they kept on insisting and they are even saying that they wouldn't eat there again if I wouldn't allow it. To stop the discussion, I finally allowed it but I told them that it was only for 1 time deal. There are also those who would claim that they are already a senior citizen but they couldn't show any proof. We cannot always give in to their demands because it is already considered a loss.