Are You Hearing What Consumers Say About You?

As, a business professional it is your job to figure out why consumers connect and how their social conversations influence your business/brand.

According to a study done by Edelman Digital in February 2011, the new generation has an incredibly high level of brand loyalty.

• 70% of Millennials feel that once they find a company or product they like, they will keep coming back
• 58% are willing to share more personal information with trusted brands
• 86% will share their brand preference online
• Nearly 20% of Millennials attended a brand-sponsored event in the last 30 days
• Of those who attended, 65% purchased the featured product

Beyond their growing influence as consumers, they are also assuming the role of  "I am an expert". Well who could blame them, since they are buying your products or services and use them. 47% of Millennials write about their positive experiences with companies and products online (on blogs and social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Yelp etc.). On the flip side, 39% share negative experiences with their social networks as well. No brand or business can afford to disregard this new generation. They have money, they’re influential and they’re making decisions. The technology that is part of their DNA.  They will rave or rant your business. Your business is exposed to the world, and one bad experience from a customer will be put out there within minutes so the world will know about it.

Ignore them at your own peril. Watch your slow demise.

The moral of the story is that when businesses underestimate the power of the "connected consumer", it’s only a matter of time before “the end of your business.” Consumers go online for everything they need today. They review books on Amazon before they purchase, they look at movie reviews, they go on Yelp to see if a restaurant has great reviews or not.


The effects of these shared experiences on social media are extremely powerful. If you do not gather enough good reviews, consumers won't bother spending their hard-earned money. Why throw money out of the window, when you work so hard and that you have so many choices out there?

For example, here’s what one airline executive discovered in an online conversation where customers were talking about his brand:

This airline sucks. When I checked in, I was told, “I’m sorry, there’s nothing we can do about bumping you off this flight or losing your luggage.” Really? Well not only did you just lose a customer, I’m going to go out of my way to ensure that no one I know flies with you again.

 Here is another one about a restaurant:

          No Stars because I am a local who knows better. In fact, I do know better so I don't know why I stopped by today to pick up a few things at their market-deli today. Yet again I watched a client, a Black female client, receive horrid customer service even though she remained so sweet about it. Last time I was there I saw them close the front door on a disabled Black female client to keep her from entering the premises while pretending they didn't know she was there. As if all the customer service abuse isn't enough then the sandwich guy sneezed real hard and wet into his hand, wiped it on his thigh, and kept on serving food to customers. That is when I just left my items at the counter because my Moms always said if food isn't prepared with LOVE don't eat it. . .and I add on to that today: and if its made with BOOGERS, then call the health department please!!!

When such experiences are shared on social networks and everywhere else (both online and offline), they act as guides for other consumers seeking input and direction from peers and experts. Today businesses have a choice. You either ignore your customers or use them to spread the good word that you want more from them. They can be your friends for life, if you can just valid their request for a great product or service that will enhance their lives. Smart companies will engage with consumers and will design products and services through the customer sharing and customer reviews.

If you don't, you'll be heading towards the iceberg. You know what happened to the Titanic. It sank!

Andre Plessis
Restaurant/Hospitality Consultant
AP Consulting

What edge do you have over your competition to win customers for life?

Most restaurants give 'expected' service, the food is good, it's served at the right temperature and get delivered without much delay), restrooms are clean and the bill is correct. The drinks are poured correctly, water gets refilled, service is efficient and there's room to sit down. But they don't give you an edge over everyone else doing the same thing; these are the price of doing business these days. Everyone does them! What edge do you have over your competition to win customers for life?

How To Survive With Your Restaurant

There won’t be too many consequences if you do not serve such great food, deliver decent service, and do not give much in exchange for what your patrons pay you if you are located in a high-traffic area, such as a theme park, sport arena, music center, or mall. But if you do not have a restaurant in such high-traffic location, you’d better serve great food, and deliver unforgettable dining experience, if not younger generations of people with innovative ideas, will be more than happy to push you out of business. New entrepreneurs with new ideas start restaurant businesses everyday while others who thought were invincible go out of business. The only way to survive is by building customer loyalty.

On-Way Relationships Never Last

One-way relationships never last. If you only look at your benefits and ignore other people’s interest you will never go very far. If you fail to consider your partner’s wish and wants, it is just a question of time till he/she gets tired of being neglected, become frustrated and walks away. That will be the end of your relationship.
It is the exact same thing between a business owner and his employees and customers. A one-way business relationship would be an owner who just look at his profit, and ignore his employees’ needs and customers’ expectations. The employees and the customers will soon feel they are being neglected, ignored and can get better somewhere else. Employees have needs too.

A person can’t just go to work in exchange for a meager paycheck. They need to fulfill their lives and be happy at work. If this is all an employer has to offer and nothing else, not only the employee won’t be motivated to do a great job, but your customers will suffer from that. Offering a paycheck in exchange for work is easy to do. Don’t expect employees to go out of their way to delight a customer when all you do is giving them a paycheck.

It is basically the same thing between a business owner and his customers. If you cannot satisfy your employees, you won’t be able to satisfy your customers. You haven’t learned to give and be generous to others. You sole interest is your pocket book. You see relationships one-way, YOUR WAY. You are a taker, not a giver. It’s easy to figure out, your employees do and customers as well.

If you want to succeed in any relationship you must put other people's interest before yours. If you don’t, your success will only be “ephemere”. Once you learn how to take care of your employees and you truly care about their well being, then everybody around you will do the same. You lead by example. The employees will go out of their way to delight the customers.
The customers will feel great about doing business with you, and will come back. They will talk about how amazing you are to their family, friends and co-workers. That is the only way you can create customer loyalty.

I have learned that your attitude remains the same. You are who you are. If you are cheap to your employees, you are cheap to your customers. If you mistreat your employees and fail to make them happy, you do the same to your customers. If you believe you will succeed with that type of mentality, you live in “lala land”. There is no way you can survive in your industry in such a competitive environment.

With the power of social media people go to their Facebook, Twitter, Yelp accounts can rave and rant about their experiences. Customers will come once, but if you do not WOW them, they will find a better place where they feel they are valued, respected, treasured, loved, and where they get more for their money.

Restaurant tip pooling rules

What about Tip Pooling?
By definition tip pooling is simple: all tip earnings of the service employees are intermingled and then redistributed.  By application it is a more complicated process.   Briefly, here are some of the ground rules: to be acceptable under law, a tip pool “must be completely voluntary, initiated by the employees themselves with or without the knowledge of management, and not made part of the terms of hire or conditions of continuing employment.”  This means that an employer may not be involved in a tip pool - other than that of a “ministerial” or administrative function of “distributing tips charged on credit cards according to a formula devised solely by the affected employees.”  I can hear the questions now.  No, a restaurant owner cannot determine whether or not he wants to be a “pooled house” - it is up to the employees only.

The DOL has  advised restaurant owners that if employees having decided to pool tips, and further agreed that the employer should play a part in the collection and/or distribution of the pooled tips, the DOL has found it reasonable for the owner - if it chose to participate - to demand that the terms of the tip pool agreement be reduced to writing.  The employees should put the terms of the pool in writing and give it to the owner with a list of participating employees.  If the employees refuse to put it in writing, the employer could refuse to participate in the collection/distribution. This is an essential defense for employers and should be implemented where tip pools are in place.

Complications certainly arise with tip pooling, and employers need to be aware of some ways they can become ensnared.  First, neither management nor the employees can make new hires participate in the tip pool.  Any employee can opt-out at any time - certainly an administrative nightmare - however, there are exceptions in rare occasions, including service teams, which will not be addressed in this column.  Second, when employees initially consent to the formation and implementation of a tip-pool, 100% of the wait staff do not need to consent -any one can opt-out and keep his/her own tips subject to any tip sharing that the employer may require.

How to Turn a First Time Customer into a Lifetime Customer

In a competitive environment your customers have a lot of choices. They have a lot of choices. If they have a bad experience with your business they will go somewhere else without hesitation. They will leave, and vow to never come back. They will also share with others their inconvenience, and bad experience. News will travel very fast. 


According to Harris Interactive, 86% of people say they've stopped doing business with a company because of just one bad customer service experience (up from 69% in 2007). And, perhaps more stunningly, 91% of those unhappy customers will not willingly do business with your organization again...ever. 


More than ever your company must take the right step to train your employees as you only have one chance to make a first great impression when new clients show up at the door. If you fail to impress them the first time, you give them the choice to do business with your competition. You must give them reasons to be loyal to your brand. Your employees, front line staff, customer service must be trained to delight the customer, and to go above and beyond clients’ expectations. How many of your first time remember how you made them feel?

How to Brand Your Business

The numbers (clients, fans, followers, traffic, sign-ups, sales) will always fail as long as we fail to connect to what the customer cares the most about: clothes that makes a difference, a travel experience that makes flying fun, great music,great food and great customer service.

How do You Know if a Restaurant Manager or Consultant is Great?

How do you know if a restaurant general manager, manager or consultant is great?

You look at his/her resume.

You then see how the restaurants he/she worked at, are doing. If the restaurant he is currently working at is not doing so good, that means, he/she is not such a great manager.

You also look at the restaurant reviews online. If the reviews are not so great, once again that means that he/she is not doing so great.

Look if the restaurants he/she worked at ARE STILL IN BUSINESS. If he/she worked at a restaurant recently that closed down, that is also a sign of a BAD MANAGER. After all he/she is supposed to make great choices, and manage not just any restaurant, but GREAT RESTAURANTS AND HELP THEM GROW.

A manager is supposed to MANAGE A BUSINESS. As a manager he/she is supposed to make sure everything is run smoothly and the business is THRIVING. If it is not, then he has something to do with the failure.

Why would you want to hire someone who DOES NOT HAVE A PROVEN TRACK RECORD?

You could also go to the restaurant he/she works(ed) at and ask questions to the employees.

The process of hiring a restaurant general manager, manager or even consultant is the same.

Look at what the restaurant consultant has done in the past, and see if the restaurants are doing well. If they are not, that tells you a lot about the consultant.

Restaurant owners and HR departments, NEVER HIRE based on TRACK RECORD. They hire based on what they see on a piece of paper. A piece of paper does not mean anything at all. It does not tell you about work ethic, competence, professionalism, skills, communication level, character of the person, absenteeism, business skills, or PASSION FOR THE HOSPITALITY. IT DOES NOT TELL YOU ANYTHING AT ALL.

Nevertheless in the 21st century, restaurant owners, corporations and HR departments still GET IT WRONG, most of the time. They do not know how to hire the right people. It is just a guessing game, and they hope they'll get it right.

As a business owner, that is not the path I would choose. The guessing game is well too dangerous.

Andre Plessis

AP Consultant

tel: 310-266-9463

How do You Hire a Restaurant General Manager or Manager?

How do you know if a restaurant general manager, manager or consultant is great?

You look at his/her resume.
You then see how the restaurants he/she worked at, are doing. If the restaurant he is currently working at is not doing so good, that means, he/she is not such a great manager.
You also look at the restaurant reviews online. If the reviews are not so great, once again that means that he/she is not doing so great.
Look if the restaurants he/she worked at ARE STILL IN BUSINESS. If he/she worked at a restaurant recently that closed down, that is also a sign of a BAD MANAGER. After all he/she is supposed to make great choices, and manage not just any restaurant, but GREAT RESTAURANTS AND HELP THEM GROW.

A manager is supposed to MANAGE A BUSINESS. As a manager he/she is supposed to make sure everything is run smoothly and the business is THRIVING. If it is not, then he has something to do with the failure.

Why would you want to hire someone who DOES NOT HAVE A PROVEN TRACK RECORD.

You could also go to the restaurant he/she works at and ask questions to the employees.

The process of hiring a restaurant general manager, manager or even consultant is the same.

Look at what the restaurant consultant has done in the past, and see if the restaurants are doing well. If they are not, that tells you a lot about the consultant.

Andre Plessis
AP Consultant
tel: 310-266-9463

Do you communicate regularly with current clients?

Do you communicate regularly with current clients?

Always stay in touch with your current customers. Make sure that existing clients know about all of your products and services. Remind them periodically that you’re around. When you launch something, they should be the first to know, and why not give them a deal on it?

AP Consulting

Tel: 310-266-9463

How to Succeed With Your Restaurant

A bad or mediocre meal is more than just an unpleasant taste, it is an unnecessary negation of one of life’s pleasures, a wasted chance to refine our palates, learn about the world, and share a rewarding experience. You must keep in mind that if you decide to put all your emphasis on the food, you won’t go very far. There are a lot of restaurants in town that serve great food as well. 

If you want the guests to come back you must deliver much more than a great meal. If you want to stay in business for the long-term, you must also create customer loyalty. If you don’t, it is just a question of time before your restaurant become obsolete, and you get knocked off by the competition. 

In order for any restaurant to succeed, it must emphasize on the quality of service delivered to each guest. The staff must be genuinely interested in delivering an indelible experience to the guests, and carry meaningful conversations with them. People will mostly remember how you made them feel. People buy from people they like.

Do you have a superior customer service organization?

According to a study conducted by the Rockefeller Corporation of Pittsburgh, 68% of customers stop doing business with a company because of an attitude of indifference by an owner, manager or an employee. The statistic does not say “some employees.” It’s just one. That could mean, an employee, a manager or the owner. To the customer, just one employee IS the company. And that one employee will cost your business big. Always remember that your employees will make or break your business. There is nothing more important for ANY business to create and sustain a superior customer service organization.