Our 2019 year is almost closed out and if you are like most hospitality managers, you are probably wishing you could have made a few different decisions along the way that would have helped improve customer service scores and/or employee morale.

Well, it being the end of the year, a great New Year’s resolution is to be a better listener because if you actually take the time to listen, you will be better able to identify problems and address them in a manner that everyone feels as though they come out with a win.

Just as important is the fact you may prevent a similar problem from ever happening again.

Listen to Your Staff Part 1

Service workers have a tendency to complain… a lot. Having said that, there is some truth in their complaints. After all, your staff did not start complaining for no reason at all. It might start with something small, like a coffee urn that never gets fixed. When they see that problem ignored, they start to look for things to complain about. As the complaints happen more frequently, managers will sometimes tune out their staff and not even hear what they are saying.

If you allow these small issues to fester, they become big issues and morale tanks. Additionally, these complaints will often impact customer service. For instance, let’s look at that coffee urn situation. If that is the big urn and you are left brewing single pots, how can you possibly serve larger groups effectively? Listen to the problems and when possible, address them immediately. Regardless, address them!

Listen to Your Staff Part 2

In most cases, your line workers are going to have far more interaction with guests than a manager will. As such, they are going to hear the everyday complaints of guests. When I learned the most about potential problems for guests was not during crew meetings but rather simply listening to the staff throughout the day. When they were chatting on the back dock or while they were setting up, there was a bevy of information being discussed about how their customers were getting on their “nerves” because we did not have this or that.

Many times, the employees don’t even realize it is something that should have been brought to the manager. They take it as a whiny guest, but it is often the same complaint they here over and over again. Encourage your staff to bring these issues to you and hold regular rap sessions to go over these issues and you will be amazed how much those guest scores go up.

Ask Your Customers

Yes, it really is as simple as asking your guest. Make it a point to address each customer at check out or for banquets, during the check signing, “What could we have done better?” Give them a chance to tell you about the little things, things that are often never discussed or mentioned because overall, they were happy with the function. Stay on top of these “little” things, and your operation WILL improve.

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