Denny's to charge 5% 'Obamacare surcharge

Denny's to charge 5% 'Obamacare surcharge' and cut employee hours to deal with cost of legislation. Other such as the CEO of popular pizza chain Papa John's says his employees may face reduced hours.

It is amazing that those CEOs bitch about the fact that they have to pay something for the well being of their employees. The restaurant industry is used to having customers or others pay for the income for their employees.

When you think about it; Who pays the majority of income to the servers and others employees working in the front of the house? WE THE CUSTOMERS DO, AS WE LEAVE GRATUITY. Thus restaurants just have to pay them the most meager salary in the U.S; MINIMUM WAGE. WOW! How difficult is that!!!! Challenging isn't it? What an outstanding achievement! Should be in the Guinness book of records.

Oscar winner: THE RESTAURANT INDUSTRY FOR BEING OBLIGED TO PAY MINIMUM WAGE TO THEIR FRONT OF THE HOUSE WORKERS!

And then, those restaurant owners complain that they have to pay them healthcare. Of course they do. They are used to not having to pay their employees, WE THE CUSTOMERS DO. So obviously taking out money from their pocket to pay something for their employees SOUNDS RIDICULOUS AND A JOKE.

 

Andre Plessis

Restaurant & Hospitality Consultant

Are You Selling a Culinary or a Dining Experience?

Zappos.com launched in 1999 with a plan like that of many dot-coms birthed in the tech bubble: to be an online shoe company without ever touching a shoe. Customers would order footwear on its website, it would transmit the orders to vendors, and vendors would ship them from their own warehouses.

“On paper, it was a great idea,” CEO Tony Hsieh says. But in practice, it wasn't. Four years after its launch, Zappos.com wasn’t profitable, it couldn’t raise funding, and retail shoe sales nationwide were only just recovering from the 2001 recession. To survive, Hsieh realized, the company needed to stop selling sneakers and start selling something more valuable: A Customer Service Experience.

It worked. Customers were happier. Workers were happier. And gross merchandise sales grew to $2 billion, driven by repeat customers and word of mouth. “Our customers do the marketing for us,” Hsieh says. And, in November 2009, Amazon.com bought the company in an agreement worth $1.2 billion at closing.

If you keep on selling food as opposed to delivering a memorable dining experience, you are just the same as any other restaurant or hospitality establishment.

Are you secretly failing with your business? Call 310-266-9463 for your FREE CONSULTATION TODAY.


Andre Plessis
restaurant/Hospitality Consultant
Customer Service Expert
tel: 310-266-9463

How to build your restaurant business

For any restaurateur to maintain long-term prosperity and sustain the competition, you'll have to provide more than just food and culinary experience to your guests.

There is no doubt that cooking great food is important, nonetheless it is expected from every diners who spend their hard-earned money. But if you choose to provide great culinary experience to diners you are no different than everyone else.

There are great chefs all around the country that went to great schools and have also learned from the very best. So no matter where diners go, they'll get the same, a great meal. But if your only focus is food, you won't be able to grow and sustain the increasing competition. There is no doubt that you'll be in business for a while and striving. As soon as you open your restaurant the bloggers and the press will rave about your new restaurant, and your chef creative menu. Diners will come and check you out. But is your cuisine enough to impress the guests, so they want to come back?

Keep in mind that after a while other restaurants will open with new ideas, new concepts, new menus, new decors and atmosphere. If you have failed to create customer loyalty, you are simply inviting diners to continue their culinary journey and try various cuisine all around town. When you understand hospitality you know that people need much more than just a great cuisine to be attached to your brand.

So how do you grow your clientele? Your most powerful weapon to sustain the increasing competition, is to hire a fabulous front line staff that will engage the guests with meaningful conversations. When your staff engage with the guests they add to the culinary experience and provide a delightful dining experience.

Only when your staff deliver a memorable dining experience, you have built a defense against the increasing competition, because those guests will become loyal and your advocate. They will in fact speak highly of you. What could be more powerful than their free advertsing and word of mouth?

Professional waiters know perfectly that when they live a restaurant establishment, their loyal customers will leave as well. Those guests won't be taken care of by their favorite waiter, and when they come back to your establishment they will in fact be highly disappointed as their expectations are high.


So what are you doing to sustain the competition? How do you train, educate and retain your best employees who are totally engaged and invested in your business? What benefits do you offer your employees? Do you offer more than a paycheck? How do you compared with your competition when it comes to providing benefits to your employees? Do you treat your workers as just workers or as partners? How do you value, and reward your employees?

If you study the most successful organizations in the country such as Marriott, Disney, Ritz Carlton, Four Seasons etc.. they have achieved their status and have created huge profit because they value their employees, give them great benefits, educate them, and teach them what hospitality is all about. There is no secret; if you want to keep on striving you'll have to do more than just giving a paycheck to your employees.

If your success is not their success, but yours only, employees won't be able to connect with you and it is just a matter of time for you to see your business decline and possibly vanish at some point.

Andre Plessis
Restaurant & Hospitality Consultant
Customer Service Expert
Tel: 310-266-9463

The only way to sustain the competition

There are countless of restaurants opening everywhere. So great cuisine at any restaurant is expected from anyone who dines out. What is not expected, but will make you stand out from all others, is to be a home away from home for every guest that steps into your restaurant.

The only way you can sustain competition and avoid being knocked off is to have your front line employees engage with the guests and build strong relationships. Once you build customer loyalty, it gets very difficult to knock you down.

The guests will come back to you, no matter how many new restaurants open around you. So how efficient is your front line at engaging your clientele with meaningful conversation?

Andre Plessis
Customer Service and Hospitality Consultant
AP Consulting
Tel: 310-266-9463

Who's to blame when the customers don't come back?

While it’s easy to blame the customer for the deteriorating relationship, 85% of the time it’s not their fault.  The business owner can control whether the relationship is solid and grows by being responsive and proactive. No matter what business you're in you must nurture your relationship with your current clientele. Fail to do that and they'll go somewhere else.

When it comes to providing dining services, restaurant employees can either be an order taker, who simply takes the order and gives the customer exactly what he or she requested or it can have a higher agenda, where the diners will get much more than they expected. Being an order taker may be fine, especially in industries where there is little competition, but in order to grow the business, you must have a higher agenda.

Successful businesses are very proactive in agenda setting. They spend enough time with the clients/customers/guests, learn from them and give them more than what they need.

What else will set you apart from your competition?

Andre Plessis
Customer Service & Hospitality Consultant
AP Consulting Los Angeles

Struggling with bad service?

Struggling with bad service? Before you unleash on the next bumbling waiter or clueless salesclerk, hear the words of ANDRE PLESSIS, a customer service and hospitality consultant who has been on a crusade to improve service standards in Los Angeles. Here he tells business owners that delivering memorable service in Los Angeles is uncommon, but is not only possible, it’s easy, as long as you check your attitude at the door.

Andre Plessis

Customer Service & Hospitality Consultant

Tel: 310-266-9463

Customer Service Tip

Clients can tell the difference. They can tell when it wows them and when it is mediocre. And if it doesn't wow them, they won't come back. Too many choices out there. Fail to impress them the very first time, and your life in business will be short lived, TRUST ME.

Andre Plessis
Restaurant/Hospitality onsulting
AP Consulting

Customer Service Quote

"The only certain means of success is to render more and better service than is expected of you, no matter what your task may be."

Og Mandino

How to succeed with your restaurant

If your restaurant/hotel/motel is not a home away from home for the guests you won't survive in this fierce competitive environment. If you do not impress them the first time they step into your establishment, they will most likely not come back any time soon, may be NEVER. Why would they? Consumers these days have to many choices. Why bother with you, if you have not exceeded their expectations?

Andre Plessis

AP Consulting

Best Restaurants in the World

Which are the best restaurants or places to eat in the world?

Which are the best places to eat in the world? I think the one who could best answer that question would be Andrew Zimmern, an American television personality, chef, food writer, and the co-creator, host, and consulting producer of the Travel Channel series Bizarre Foods. His answer would probably be: The best places to eat can be found all across the globe at a home where you will be invited by a loving family with a true sense of hospitality. There you will feel appropriately greeted, welcomed and eat a fabulous meal with generous and caring people. That is the best culinary experience you'll ever have.

Andre Plessis

Restaurant & Hospitality Consultant

AP Consulting

Engaged Employees Create Loyal Customers

Keeping the customers you already have can mean the difference between profit and loss. And as companies battle for loyal customers and repeat business, some have discovered a great weapon, highly engaged employees.

Engaged employees go the extra mile to deliver great customer experience. They provide better experiences for customers, and come up with ideas to improve the services. Engaged employees remain with their employers for longer tenures, which reduces turnover and its related costs. In turn, they deliver an enormous payoff to the business, by creating passionate customers who buy more, stay longer and tell their friends, all of which generates sustainable growth.

Your employees are your asset. Treat them poorly and you'll go out of business.

Those companies who offer the best incentives and benefits will survive and be the most successful. All others will go out of business.

Andre Plessis
AP Consulting
Hospitality Consultant

How to be a Leading Organization in Your Industry

When restaurant owners complain about how low their profit is I remind them how lucky they are. When you are Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, GE, 3M, Johnson & Johnson you cannot pay your employees minimum wage. You have to pay them much more, so you can attract and retain the best in your industry. This is the only way you can sustain the intense competition that can knock you out at anytime. Then those leading organizations have to pay their employees sick days, vacation, health insurance and retirement. I am not even talking about ongoing training and education.

In the restaurant industry, owners just pay THE MINIMUM WAGE, and patrons help them pay their workers by leaving tips. In fact patrons pay restaurant employees more than the owners do. Most restaurant do not pay any benefits to their workers, so when the Supreme Court Supreme Court declared the health care law constitutional, I told my clients that they should not be alarmed by the Obamacare, but instead should be happy that they will finally be able to do something great for their employees, who have been working so hard to make their success happen.

Isn't it time some companies give back to their employees? When you understand hospitality and great customer service, which most don't, you realize that you have to give to the guests in order to receive. Employers should be leading and showing their employees HOW TO GIVE TO RECEIVE. There is no other way if you want to survive in a competitive environment that is constantly evolving. How can you retain the best employees in your industry when all you have to offer is a meager paycheck? Anyone can offer a paycheck, nothing challenging or great when all you do is offer the minimum wage to your employees, whom you require to work hard. Do more for your employees, and they'll surpass your expectations. The less you offer them, the less they'll accomplish. The less you care, the less they care. The more you do for them, the more they'll accomplish. It's no secret that the customers will feel the benefit as well.

If you want to be successful, do what the leading organizations do in this country; TAKE CARE OF YOUR EMPLOYEES, AND THEY'LL TAKE CARE OF YOUR CLIENTS. That is exactly what great organizations such as DISNEY do. If you want to understand why Disney makes over $40 billion in annual revenue, just study what they do and how they do it. If you don't, YOU WON'T SURVIVE. Social media will knock you down.

Andre Plessis

Customer Service Expert

How Much Should You Pay Your Best Employees

You can never overpay a remarkable employee. You can only overpay a bad one. How much money have you lost hiring bad employees who have ruined your reputation, done everything to put the rest of your team down and made sure many customers will never come back? How much money have you thrown out of the window paying bad managers who made decision based on their state of mind and not for the benefit of your company?

Great employees are worth a lot more, to your team, to your customers, and to your bottom line, than average or mediocre employees. Remarkable employees are worth dramatically more.

So forget rules and benchmarks. Pay them not just as if you want to keep them but as if you desperately need to keep them. Because you do. And if you do not pay them what they are worth, they will leave you, and all you will be left with, are average or mediocre employees.

Andre Plessis
Restaurant & Hospitality Consultant
Customer Service Expert

Start Empowering Your Employees Now!

TO LEAD IS TO EMPOWER

 

Many of us in business have heard the popular aphorism, “People are your greatest asset.” Some of us may even believe it. But is this sentiment reflected in our business world and the way our leaders lead? For the most part, no—and there’s a reason for that.

Here is a short list of "disempowered phrases" that passive followers use:

• Request permission to . . .
• I would like to . . .
• What should I do about . . .
• Do you think we should . . .
• Could we . . .

Here is a short list of "empowered phrases" that active doers use:

• I intend to . . .
• I plan on . . .
• I will . . .
• We will . . .

Successful leaders and managers today are willing to exercise their leadership in such a way that their people are empowered to make decisions, share information, and try new things. Most employees (future leaders) see the value in finding empowerment and are willing to take on the responsibilities that come with it. If future leaders have the wisdom to learn from the experience of present leaders, and if present leaders have the wisdom to build an environment that empowers people, both will share in the benefits.

Andre Plessis
Hospitality Consultant
andreplessis@att.net

Why You Should Avoid Cheating or Mistreating Your Employees

Burger King Trying to Handle Social Media Crisis

How can three employees, a smart phone and a social website throw a major company into crisis mode? You might want to ask Bryson Thornton, director of global communications for Burger King Company.

Bryson Thornton and his team have been doing damage control since a picture of an employee standing in lettuce went viral. The caption read, "This is the lettuce you eat at Burger King."
The photo was originally posted on the site 4Chan, an imageboard website that allows users to post and comment anonymously. The image outraged enough people on 4Chan that they used the photo's geotagging to identify the store as the Mayfield Heights, Ohio location.

Soon social media was flooded with comments and shares and the franchise with calls from angry customers and inquiring media. By the time Burger King communications could spring into action, the picture had gone viral, and global news outlets were covering the story.

Bad Image
Brand strategists define a brand as the emotional connection you create with your customer and the space that you occupy in their minds. It is impossible to think of how a picture of an employee standing in food about to be served to customers can create anything other than plain disgust. Therefore, the Burger King brand and the emotions created by this image are forever linked in consumers' minds.

Once the photo spread and Burger King corporate became aware of it, they immediately issued a statement, which said:

Burger King Corp. has recently been made aware of a photo that shows a Burger King restaurant employee violating the company's stringent food handling procedures. Food safety is a top priority at all Burger King restaurants and the company maintains a zero-tolerance policy against any violations such as the one in question.

While the statement is well worded, timely and reaffirms Burger King's policy on food safety, it cannot erase the image from customers' minds.

How do you treat your employees
The modern reality is that people share even the most intimate details of their lives. Things that weren't said decades ago are regular conversation on social media today. And the information is being sent via social network sites within minutes and can expose your company unfairness.

An employee that is bitter about his workplace can suddenly become a public relations nightmare. All it took to spawn the Burger King crisis was a simple image shared on one site.

Angry employees, who feel that they are being cheated by their own employer because they are not being paid overtime, do not get breaks, work long hours and are not being compensated, or are being abused, can now go on social media and expose the malpractise of a company.

With the power of social media, I would think twice before I cheat an employee. Employees can not only expose your company's bad practice, but they can also go on social network and bad mouth your company. they can pretend to be just anyone and give a bad review on sites such as Yelp etc...

With the significant damage that can be done to a company through social media, there is no getting this genie back into the bottle. It has become the way in which Millennials or Gen Y prefer to communicate. In fact, many manage their lives though social media.

The reality is that companies can't silence employees anymore. In fact employees have enormous power and can greatly damage the reputation of a company that does not abide by the law. Just imagine a lawyer that stumble across an information that expose your company that violates the law. That lawyer could easily contact your workers and easily convince them that they should sue you.

You can bet that Burger King will be considering how they could have avoided this incident. So if you are thinking about making more money by cheating your employees, you may want to consider the consequences if one of them decide to expose his anger to thousands or millions of people. Is that worth it? You decide.

Statistically speaking, your small business has a high likelihood of failure.

Statistically speaking, your small business has a high likelihood of failure. Keep your eye out for the signs of failure and have a plan to throw in the towel promptly and intelligently.

Whether you are a start up or a mature business, there is no guarantee of success. Lack of capital, a shortage of management experience, hiring entry-level or unskilled workers, market conditions, and intense competition are only a few of the challenges you face every day. I also strongly believe that with social media your company has to be ready to embrace it. Ignore it at your own peril.

Also don't mistreat your employees. If you mistreat your employees, it's a sign that you mistreat people, which includes your customers. DUMB!

Lastly don't cheat your employees. If you do, it's a matter of time they get to you one way or another. Through a lawyer and also they'll drag you under the bus using social media. Don't underestimate the power of social media. Now people can talk and voice their opinion freely. Nobody can stop them. Bad news travel fast on the internet and reach out to a lot of people.

So, as an employer use your asset to build your business, because your frontline employees will make or break your business. Not an owner who sits behind a desk nor the investors. They are all busy doing something that does not directly impact the business like frontline employees do.

What Does the Health-Care Reform Law Mean for You?

What Does the Health-Care Reform Law Mean for You?

___________________________

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), otherwise referred to as Obamacare was signed into law in 2010, and upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court last week has made sweeping reforms to health-care coverage in the United States.
Many provisions of the law are already in effect. A number of other provisions are scheduled to take effect in years to come including the requirement that most Americans and legal residents have qualifying health insurance with some exceptions, or pay a penalty in the form of a tax.
The following is a summary of the more important provisions that are already in place, and those that are on their way by 2014.

In effect now

·       Children can no longer be denied insurance coverage because of pre-existing conditions;

·       Payment of $250 rebate to Medicare Part D beneficiaries subject to the coverage gap (beginning January 1, 2010) and gradually reducing the beneficiary coinsurance rate in the coverage gap from 100% to 25% by 2020;

·       Insurers will not be able to impose lifetime caps on insurance coverage;

·       All plans offering dependent coverage will be required to allow children to remain under their parents' plan until age 26;

·       Insurers cannot cancel or deny coverage if you are sick except in cases of fraud;

·       Adults with pre-existing conditions will be able to buy coverage from temporary high-risk pools until 2014, when coverage cannot otherwise be denied for pre-existing conditions.

Key provisions effective on or before January 1, 2014

·       Increasing the medical expense income tax deduction threshold to 10% of adjusted gross income, up from the current 7.5% (January 1, 2013);

·       Increasing the Medicare Part A tax rate by 0.9% on wages over $200,000 for individuals ($250,000 for married couples), and assessing a new 3.8% tax on some or all of the net investment income for these higher-income individuals (January 1, 2013);

·       All Americans must carry health insurance or face a penalty (in the form of a tax) of up to 2.5% of household income on individuals, with exceptions for economic hardship, religious beliefs, and other situations (January 1, 2014);

·       Adults with pre-existing conditions cannot be denied coverage or have their insurance cancelled due to pre-existing conditions (January 1, 2014);

·       A requirement that states establish an American Health Benefit Exchange that facilitates the purchase of qualified health plans and includes an Exchange for small businesses; also requires employers that contribute toward the cost of employee health insurance to provide free choice vouchers to qualified employees for the purchase of qualified health plans through Exchanges (January 1, 2014);

·       Tax credits will be available to qualifying families to offset the cost of health insurance premiums (January 1, 2014);

·       Employers with more than 50 employees must offer health insurance for their employees or be fined per employee (January 1, 2014);

·       Imposing taxes or fees on health insurance providers and drug companies, while doctors and hospitals will receive less compensation from government sources (January 1, 2014).

So You do NOT Want to Tip Them

So you go to a restaurant, hotel, car wash, spa etc... and you do not get the level of service you expects so you decide that you should tip less, very little or no leave no tip at all. Every customer who enters a business should always receive a 5 star treatment, but unfortunately as human being we do not not always feel 100% well, and you as a customer may not feel always great 100% of the time.

Of course, it’s not right for someone to take out their bad day on the employees or business owners, as the root of a customer's problem may not be an issue they are having where they're doing business at. They just happen to be there and they are going to take their frustration out on someone at the business.

Nonetheless when you decide to not tip someone or leave a little tip because a human being was not feeling 100% right that day that will affect him/her financially. There is nothing he/she can do as you have the power to decide how much you pay the service person. Keep in mind that people who receive tips get a meager salary and the bulk of their income is from tips they receive from happy clients.

You are basically their income provider, the same way your employer pays you. So each time someone is not doing their best day and you pay them accordingly to the level of service you receive, you should be thinking of yourself and remember all those days you did not arrive on time, that you were late, you called sick and left your co-workers in limbo and they had to work harder that day to compensate because you did not show up. Maybe your company missed a deadline as a result.

Think about those days you did not feel well and did not produce as much as when you feel great. Remember when you spent too much time at the coffee machine or took longer breaks. Remember when you did not speak to a customer correctly. Remember when you were not nice or courteous or even thankful to a customer. You probably remember that you've had many of those days.

So now imagine each time you've not performed your job correctly if your employer had told you: Today you were not good today, so I am going to pay you 50% of your normal pay". Or how about "Today you were good so I am not paying you at all because a customer complained about you".

Isn't that what you do to service people? If you do it that means you are doing the right thing, thus an employer should be entitled to do the exact same thing.

So now you hopefully realize how lucky you are to be able to get paid the same money by your employer, whether you mess up or not, whether you show up on time or not, whether you call sick or not, whether a customer complain or not, whether you meet a deadline or not, because many people in the service industry get punished by you when they have a bad day and you leave them a small time or nothing.

Unhappiness is the ultimate form of self-indulgence. When you're unhappy, you get to pay a lot of attention to yourself. You get to take yourself oh so very seriously. People want to have indulgence but do not have any indulgence for others.

Please feel free to send me your comments, I'd love to hear about your thoughts.

Andre Plessis
AP Consulting
Restaurant & Hospitality Consulting

Handling Customer Complaints

Handling Customer Complaints: Shut Up and Listen

As simple as it sounds, the first, and most important, step to take when dealing with a complaining customer is to be quiet and listen.
Often customers feel the needs to vent frustration with a product or service before even considering a proactive solution. Acknowledge the customer's emotional state.

Handling Customer Complaints: Don't Take Anything Personally
NEVER argue with a customer

1.     Listen to the guest’s complaint: Treat a complaint as an opportunity, not a confrontation. Make sure to take their complaints seriously. Show that you care about the issue and want to improve the situation as quickly as possible. You want them to know that you care.

2.     Repeat the complaint back: To ensure that you understand what the complaint is and demonstrate that you understand, repeat the complaint back to the guest.

3.     Apologize for the situation: You may have to use this phrase a couple of times, "I'm sorry you're unhappy", at the start of the conversation. And a more meaningful, "I'm sorry we made a mistake", if you find you were at fault.

4.     Acknowledge how the guest feels

5.     Explain what you will do to correct the problem (sometimes a simple apology is enough; other times you must do more to counter a negative experience)

6.     Thank the guest for bringing the problem to your attention.

7.     Ask the customer: “What would you think would be fair?” or "What would be an acceptable solution to you?" or “What can I do to make you happy?”

8.     Admit your errors and solve the problem. Every business makes mistakes. You will, too.

9.     Don't take complaints as personal attacks. Just be determined to get to the root of the problem and make it better for the customer.

10.            One of the most important things you can do: If something is wrong, fix it. Give the customer a refund or replacement.

11.            Consider the potential lifetime value of the customer, not just the one-time transaction. Saving a few dollars but losing a customer or ruining your reputation is penny wise and pound foolish. By handling customer complaints well, you can turn an unhappy customer into a customer for life.

Cheating Others is The New Normal

The misconduct of the financial industry no longer surprises most Americans. Only about one in five has much trust in banks, according to Gallup polls, about half the level in 2007. And it’s not just banks that are frowned upon. Trust in big business overall is declining. Sixty-two percent of Americans believe corruption is widespread across corporate America. According to Transparency International, an anti-corruption watchdog, nearly three in four Americans believe that corruption has increased over the last three years.

We should be alarmed that corporate wrongdoing has come to be seen as such a routine occurrence.  Company executives are paid to maximize profits, not to behave ethically.

When we real estate went crazy, real estate agents and loan officers just thought about their own self-interest, big commissions, big dollars in their own pocket, and they didn't care if they were hurting the people, in fact their own clients. HOW DUMB! HOW CARELESS! HOW SELFISH! HOW DESTRUCTIVE!

If you think about yourself as opposed to others, you have to be a miserable person. You cannot feel any satisfaction for others. You become the center of the world and it's all about you. Unfortunately it should work the other way around. You have to give to receive. If you only take, you won't get much in return. A little but for a while, it won't be forever. If you set a plan plan just for yourself, others people will know and won't identify with you. People have their priorities. Employes have theirs, customers as well. Take care of their priorities as you should, and they will give you back.

When I was working in the restaurant industry, every manager I have ever encountered were backing up the owners' scheme, which is often time to belittle the workers, treat them as dummies, make sure they work as little hours as possible to cut labor cost. The owner wanted to make sure the manager follow their plan. Cut labor cost, kitchen has to keep food cost low, let's not trust anyone and.............. and they all forget to think outside the box and neglect the most important, which is to treat everybody right around, so they treat the customer right and build customer loyalty.

Very few restaurants and businesses can last with that type of thinking.Think little and you'll achieve little. Think outside the box, see" la vie en grand" and you'll outlast your competition. The number of businesses that come and go and infinite. Few last and if they do it's because they do something right. Not sure what you think you do better than others.

Strangely managers were agreeing to an owner's plan even though it was to break the law. Meaning not paying over time to workers or even not even paying labor. One owner I worked for was stealing the waiter's tips to pay the managers. HOW LUDICROUS! Restaurant managers used to be waiters, but a majority of them turn against employees once they get appointed by a boss.

Those who constantly hurt others should see the consequences of depriving others of what's their due. If you do not pay overtime to your employees, will they have to work more hours to pay their bills? Does that mean they cannot see their spouse and kids as they are entitled to? Will they have to work 365 days a year and not go on vacation? If they were born in another country will they be deprived of going back and visit their family members because you do not pay what you owe them?

You can't cheat the public for long. - Tennessee Ernie Ford

When real estate agents and mortgage brokers were cheating homeowners what happened to those families? Some got kicked out of their home? Families and kids were in the street? Cats and dogs were abandoned. Some people killed themselves. Others killed others because they were desperate. Why can't people think beyond their own self-interest and see how much misery they will spread out because of their greed? Are real estate agents, mortgage brokers better off today? CERTAINLY NOT. Most are out of the business. Their home has lost value, as well as their retirement. They probably have a lot less in their bank account as well. They can no longer make a great income, and all their past customers will never go back to them. So what have they built? Nothing. They went back to zero.

There are very honest people who do not think that they have had a bargain unless they have cheated a merchant. - Anatole France.

We live in a society where we hear all day long that people cheat, betray, steal, and mistreat others. This has  become the norm in our society. Courtesy, kindness, appreciation, gratitude and priority to others is no longer the norm. So if people see you being kind, courteous, or appreciative they will notice it because it is such a rare thing nowadays. Those values have disappeared and if you display them, you will be rewarded by customers and people all around you.

You can cheat the laws of the Unites States all day long (until you get caught), but you cannot cheat the laws of nature. Whatever you put out there, will come back to you. You cannot cheat that laws. The truth is that those who deliberately act in a negative way towards others are miserable and they want others to feel the same. They have to bring down other people to their own level. The problem is that it will never make them feel better and nothing will ever make them happy.


I would prefer even to fail with honor than to win by cheating. - Sophocles.

A Superior Customer Service Organization

Truth is, we are all competing for the same consumer dollar and today’s consumers have limited discretionary spending, a lot of awareness, are very sophisticated, more and more demanding, want the most value for their dollar and they have a more choices. There are a lot of great companies they can spend their money with.

So, find out what you need to do to engage your consumers, and focus on being the best in your industry. Consumers will reward you for as long as you give them the most and they can't get the same anywhere else. The Secret to achieve just that: A Superior Customer Service Organization.

Are You Over-Accommodating People?

Part of your goal as a person in life should be to be successful and have a happy family and enjoy your golden years. You must establish a set of rules and policies with whoever you come in contact with; clients, managers, co-workers and boss.  That will help you produce the best result for your family goals and will set you up for success. However, some clients, co-workers or bosses don’t care who you want, what you want, what you need, how you feel and how you do business.

All they want, are things done their way, on their time, on their budget, thank you very much.

Be prepared to move on to better relationships if:

• You are not treated well,
• You are not earning what you're worth,
• You are living paycheck to paycheck,
• You're being taken advantage of,
• You are being cheated,
• You are losing on a business transaction

You don’t have to get in the trap of accepting all business/offer/employment/income that comes your way, and in fact, you shouldn’t. In the long run, you or your business will be better off if you stay focused on the right client/business/work relationships and steer clear of the wrong ones.

Andre Plessis
Restaurant & Hospitality Consultant
AP Consulting

How to be Successful with a Restaurant

To be successful with a restaurant you need a lot of ingredients. If the food is very good, you have 50% of a successful restaurant. The taste of food is only part of an experience.  

 
After that you need the decor, the warm welcome, the ambiance, the friendly service, a superior customer service organization, and the fond farewell. Keep in mind that a flashy decor and fancy dishes will only bring people once. Flashy things are superficial, and people need substance when they spend money. You do not impress people with superficial things. 


People need that little special; the human touch. That's the magic!


People will come for the food the first time, and for the service the second time. Keep in mind that in the end the guests we will only remember how you made them feel. So how do you make them feel when they come to your restaurant or hotel? 

Take a second to think about the clients you impressed.

Who did you go the extra mile for? Who has been telling their friends about what a good job you did?

Happy clients are usually glad to provide recommendations, and with their endorsements, next week should be easier than this week. If you really want the guests to come back, you will have to touch them, impress them, make them feel great. And that requires a lot of human skills, that are hard to teach.

Andre Plessis

Restaurant & Hospitality Consultant

AP Consulting

What type of business owner are you?

What type of boss are you?

 

I can only agree if as a business owner you try to save money and shop around between vendors to see who can give you the best deal. That is assuming you are not comparing apples to oranges. You'll always have to pay for good quality. Obviously the cheaper you can get a product, the more saving you can do and the more savings you can pass on to your customers.

Keep in mind as well that if you perceive your business as a commodity you are not making yourself a favor. Apple, Microsoft, Sony or any other amazing company are not in business to charge the least for their products or services, BUT THE MOST. And they do that because they have AMAZING SERVICE. People perceive their brand as companies with great products and services. Thus those amazing brands can charge as much as possible.

You should aim at doing the same. Get the most for your product or service. Obviously you have to justify pricing by delivering  SUPERIOR product or service. Excellent service won't cost you much more, all you have to do is train your staff to deliver unparalleled customer service experience. People don't mind paying for something that has great value.

Where it gets a little more complicated and dangerous is when an employer is trying to save on the back of his/her employees by cheating them. Employees are the backbone of any business. You remove your employees and you have no more business. So no matter what you may think, your employees are your ultimate asset.

I have seen businesses not paying overtime to to employees. THAT IS LUDICROUS! What do you expect about your own employees when you do not give them what YOU OWE THEM BY LAW? Do you think they will deliver the Ultimate Customer Experience? DO you think they are going to care about your business and your customers? They won't! Ultimately you will penalize yourself first because customers won't have any reason to come back and do business with you if you don't do your utmost to bring back the clientele in such fierce competitive environment.

Don't expect your employees to fight for you if you cheat them. By fighting against your employees, you are going against your business long-term goals as well as the customers best interest. I cannot see a business being highly successful when your mind is to be as cheap as possible with your own employees.

I have seen restaurants violating all kinds of laws. From not paying over time to stealing the waitstaff tips to pay for managers. That is not a healthy environment and employees won't feel very happy. They wont give the best service and guests will always be able to find better service at a competitive restaurant where employees feel happier and more rewarded.

It is up to you to figure how long you want to stay in business. In the age of social media where the people have power, employees and customers are free to share their comments and experience with the rest of the world. Thus if you turn against your employees and customers, your demise will be sooner thanlater.

Andre Plessis
Restaurant/Hospitality Consultant

The power of referrals

If you’re wondering why I talk so much about customer service, it’s simply because word-of-mouth referrals are your best and cheapest resource for getting new customers. Conversely, no amount of marketing can fully reverse the harmful effects of bad-mouthing your restaurant on social media for the world to see. One bad review on Yelp alone can significantly decrease your referrals and cost considerable time and effort reversing the trend.

• Just how much does customer satisfaction help referrals? 
• How many of your customers are sent via referral?

You can learn from these experiences by surveying our own customers. How many were referred by someone? How good is their experience now? Would they refer a friend? The answers can help you set benchmarks for improvement and increase your word-of-mouth referrals. Who couldn’t use free advertising and excited new customers?

Once you are able to bring new customers, the next phase starts, building customer loyalty. That is another topic, which I discuss often time. Check back this blog a often as you can.

Andre Plessis
Restaurant & Hospitality Consultant

How is Your Customer Service?

Customer service across the board needs serious improvement. We live in an era where people have a serious lack of courtesy to others. There is such a lack of care and respect for the consumer. Business owners need to realize that any time someone walks in your door and opens their wallet they need to be given great product/service and a great experience. Wherever you shop are either ignored or treated as an annoyance instead of someone who is increasing sales and helping the business.

Restaurants Say Paying For Obamacare Will 'Threaten Their Very Business'

The Supreme Court upheld Obamacare today, and the restaurant business is "troubled" over the decision because they doubt they'll be able to afford the new regulations.
The restaurant industry is notoriously low-margin to begin with, and having to pay for employees' healthcare will be a "burden," the National Restaurant Association said today.

Here's what CEO Dawn Sweeney had to say in a release:

“Today’s ruling by the Supreme Court is troubling for restaurant operators and business owners across the country. We encourage Congress to continue efforts to repeal the law, since the Court’s decision leaves the employer requirements in place, provisions which impact restaurant operators’ ability to grow and create jobs.

“This unworkable law cannot stand as is. We need reform that addresses the increasing costs our members are faced with each year. Restaurant owners are looking for solutions that will allow them to provide better health care coverage options for their team members, but they cannot be saddled with excessive costs and regulatory burdens that threaten their very business. We ask members of Congress to take action that helps the restaurant industry continue to help create jobs and grow the national economy.”

What I find so strange is that the restaurant industry never really pay high hourly wage to waitstaff as they are getting paid by the customers as they receive gratuities. Since the diners pay tips to the waitstaff, they have less burden in that area.

The restaurant industry is also notoriously known to not pay any benefits to their workers. Very few restaurants pay health insurance, sick days, 401K or vacation time.Once again they keep their employee cost low by avoiding to pay any benefits.

Now they are concerned because of Obamacare. God forbid they have to give a little bit to their employees. For so long they could avoid giving anything, now that they have to give a little they are concerned.

They probably have never heard of "YOU HAVE TO GIVE TO RECEIVE". No wonder why there are so many restaurants that go out of business. No wonder why the rate of attrition is so high in the restaurant industry. So many people get into the restaurant business but have no passion for it. They have no clue on how to run a restaurant. They do not understand is that it's not about food, it's about a dining experience. 

Restaurants will NEVER compete on food. There are too many great restaurants, too many cuisines and people can dine anywhere they want. What restaurants DON'T GET, is that they compete ON SERVICE. People go out to a restaurant for the food the first time, but the second time for the service.

This business is about HOW HOSPITABLE YOU ARE TO OTHERS.

Richie Jackson, CEO of the Texas Restaurant Association, explained to the Dallas Business Journal why restaurants are so deeply impacted by Obamacare. The cost of health care "closely equates" to the bottom line of a restaurant.

“We have a very high labor cost and very low profit margin and very little to cover that health care cost with that.

“What it really means is that menu pricing will have to go up. The concern there is, in the struggling economy and when people are seeking value to their dollar because you don’t have to go out and eat, raised prices will reduce the number of meals served. It has that kind of spiraling effect to continue to erode profitability.”

Yeah right, you pay high labor? How much do you think it cost Microsoft, Facebook, Google or other tech companies when they hire a programmer? $8 or 10 per hour like you currently pay a cook or server to whom you do not offer any benefit? 

Just imagine how much more it cost the tech companies when they hire an employee? And you complain? Sure you know why you complain? Because those people who work in the restaurant industry do not know how to run a business. That is why so many fail in the restaurant industry.

And Mr Richie Jackson do you know how you can go up in pricing for your menu??? I give you the solution: ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS TO RAISE THE SERVICE STANDARD OF A RESTAURANT. It is obvious that if your service is bad, you cannot justify an increase in menu pricing. If your offer is bad, your pricing will be too high. The only way you can ask for a higher price for yor food, is IF YOU RAISE YOUR SERVICE STANDARD, WHICH IS HOW YOU JUSTIFY YOUR PRICING.

Why do you think Apple, SONY, Disney, Microsoft, Rolls Royce, Ferrari, Mercedes, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus or any other amazing company can justify their high price? They offer a fantastic service, and amazing products. And people don't mind paying high price if they have a better value for their money. And they do. YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR. Americans love to get great value for their dollar. And more than EVER, they seek the best value for their dollar.

Obviously the restaurant industry doesn't get it.They believe that they are in the commodity market where they compete on price. If they could only understand that they compete on service, they would be able to ask for higher price.

So it appears that the restaurant industry is annoyed because they may have to give a little to their employees. It could be the first time in centuries that some restaurants may finally have to give a little bit to their workers who have been working so hard for nothing.

Last thought. The restaurant industry is notoriously known to cheat its workers, by not paying overtime, stealing tips of the servers to pay managers,or other. Does that mean that more are going to cheat their workers? Could be great news for lawyers as they will be able to sue more restaurants. Maybe one day only the best restaurant companies will be in existence. That would not be a bad thing. After all only the good ones will be left, those who have passion for the hospitality industry. Will get rid of all the bad apples.

I have a word for the restaurant industry; Take care of your employees, they'll take care of your customers and the money will take care of itself. If you want to succeed, follow the footsteps of other successful American companies and you will go much farther than you've ever imagined.

One thing for you, you need to hire talents. You must surround yourself with people who are passionate about the hospitality industry, and not a bunch of managers who act as cops in the dining room, who treats employees like if they are a bunch of dummies or kids. And by the way, who hired those employees that all day long are treated as kids and dummies?

How can you think of being successful is if you refuse to pay for talent? It doesn't add up, neither mathematically, nor if you apply the laws of nature. It's a losing equation. Nobody can say when, but we can certainly say that YOU WILL END UP CLOSING THE DOORS IN THE FUTURE. That is a certainty. The Ritz Carlton won't. Disney won't. But you will. That's because they think very differently than you do. They have a vision, and you don't.

Your management team should have diploma in hospitality and a management degree. Stop hiring just anyone to work at your business. Start hiring people with skills. Do you honestly think that the tech companies in Silicon Valley, just hire anyone? Why do you think they are more profitable than you? Why do you think they pay benefits? Because they have a different mentality than cheap people. Because they believe that if they can take care of their employees, they will in turn take care of business.

It amazes me to see restaurants hiring just ANYONE, ABSOLUTELY ANYONE. Anybody in the street could come and they would hire them. How foolish! I would never hire anyone to serve my customers. I would hire like high tech companies do. People that are highly skilled, because the service industry needs highly skilled people as well.

No wonder you struggle, and your profit margin is so low And you complain about paying health care to your employees. Stop nagging and start thinking outside the box, so you can contribute a little bit more to this society. Start doing something good to others. And if you think you can't pay healthcare, then you will never be able to do it.

What ever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.  Napoleon Hill

  The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. Eleanor Roosevelt

START BELIEVING!