STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE

MODULE 4 (BHCT 457)

1. WELCOMING THE GUEST

OBJECTIVE: To ensure our guests have a positive first experience.

POLICY:

 All guest to receive a warm and friendly welcome

 Acknowledge regular guests

 Ensure guest satisfaction is maximized.

PROCEDURE:

 Welcome the guest(s) with a polite and friendly manner

 When guests arrive, welcome them with the local greeting.

 Use positive body language - eye contact, friendly smile, stand up straight.

 Address them with the appropriate greeting for the time “Good Morning/Good Afternoon/ Good
Evening”.

 Try to call the guest by her/his name: e.g., “Good morning Mr. XXX, how are you?”

 If the guest is a regular guest or VIP, greet by name (if known).

 Check for any reservation.

 Politely ask if they have a reservation. If yes, ask for the guest’s name and guide her/him to the reserved table.

 Guide the guest to her/his table.

 Do not walk too fast when showing the way to the guest. Say to the guest: “This way, Madam/Sir” with palms
open.

 Once at the table, ask if the table is to the guests’ satisfaction.

 Pull the chair out (ladies first).

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 Pull the chair out to ease access to the table and push the chair back when the guest is sitting.

 If the guests have a lot of belongings with them, offer to have them stored
 Once guests are seated, introduce yourself and advise that you will be looking after them or if it is another
staff member introduce them to the guest.

 Explain the dining options available in the restaurant and present each guest with an open menu (food and
beverage), preferably by standing to the right of the guests. It is recommended that ladies are given
menus first, then other guests and finally the host.

 Advise guests of any specials and items that are unavailable.

 Offer still or sparkling water (lunch/dinner service) / tea or coffee (breakfast service).

 If guests are dining alone for breakfast, offer them a newspaper or magazine.

KEY POINTS:

 Guests must always be acknowledged, recognized and welcomed as soon as they enter our restaurants.

 Initial greeting should be within 10 seconds.

 Seek and use the guests’ name.

 If employees are engaged with another guest, waiting guests are still to be acknowledged - never leave
guests unattended.

 Positive body language to be used at all times - eye contact, friendly smile and stand up straight (no
leaning).

 Always offer to escort our Guests rather than direct them.

 Acknowledge the guests’ special occasions eg. birthday, anniversary.

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2. HANDLING FOOD DELAYS

OBJECTIVE:

To ensure that food delays are handled in a proper manner keeping all standard operating
procedures in mind.

POLICY:

All F&B service employees are to be trained on the following procedure when faced with food order delays. Following
this SOP assists in giving guidelines in setting up appropriate communication channels between the guest and the staff
service staff and the kitchen.

PROCEDURE:

Taking a food order

 When taking the food order, the steward is responsible for informing the guest about specific timings required for
the preparation of certain dishes i.e. meat dishes, veg dishes, desserts etc.

Food order delay

 Each F&B employee must pay close attention to their guests needs. In the case of a delay, if possible, the
Captain or the Manager/Assistant Manager should approach the guest first and inform them that there is a
delay in getting food.

 If the guest shows dissatisfaction because they are waiting, the Captain or the Manager/Assistant Manager
must act immediately to find out the cause of the delay and find out from the kitchen the estimated time the
food can be served to the guest.

 The Manager or Head Waiter or Captain on duty must be informed of the delay and are to approach the
guests table to apologize for the delay. At no time must any employee be rude or impatient with the
guest. Ensure that the guests do not feel that they are being neglected and that their complaint will be
rectified.
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Group order food delay

 In case of a group order where one food item in the whole order is delayed, ask if the guests prefer all the
food to be served together or if they wish to proceed with the rest of the order. Communicate the same to
the kitchen.

Service of food

 Once the food has been served, check back with the guest if the food is to their satisfaction and if there is
anything else he/she requires.
 For the remainder of the meal, attention must be paid, in ensuring that no further delays occur, without
neglecting the other guests.
 The delayed food item, additional offered dish/beverage may be offered complimentary at the discretion of the
Manager or Assistant Manager, depending on the severity of the complaint and the overall satisfaction of the
member.
 All relevant parties must be informed of the delay, the reason for it and how it was responded to.

Corrective action
 Depending on what the reason of the delay was, the responsible parties need to brief all employees and discuss
and determine how a repetition can be avoided.
 Should the issue be serious/ significant in nature and the guest is very dissatisfied, the company’s' complaint
handling procedure must be followed.

KEY POINTS:

 KNOW YOUR PRODUCTS –

All employees working in an F&B outlet must know the main ingredients and cooking technique of the dishes
so that one can be descriptive when suggesting the item.

 USE PHRASES WITH IMPACT –

It is important to remember that there is a certain way and certain things that can be said to persuade the
customer into buying the product that you are trying to sell. ‘May I suggest?’, ‘I can recommend’, ‘Perhaps
you would like to try?’ can be used to recommend dishes to the guest.
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3. ORDER TAKING (BEVERAGE)

OBJECTIVE:

To ensure guests’ food and beverage orders are received politely and as per their requests

POLICY:

All guests’ orders are taken in a timely, polite and accurate manner, following a set of steps to ensure logical,
standardized sequence.

PROCEDURE:

 Approach table with a smile and warm salutation:

o Have pen/order pad ready.
o Inquire if guests are ready to order.

 Write down the table number, your initials and guest number of guests on each order.

 Take the ladies' orders first, going clockwise around the table. Take host’s order last.

 Write the order down according to position number:

o The seat whose back is toward the restaurant's entrance is position one.
o Each seat going clockwise is position 2, 3, 4, etc.

 Write all orders with position number after each item.

 Circle all female position numbers on order pad.

 Make suggestions to compliment guest's meal (i.e., aperitif, wine, digestive, coffee/tea).

 Up sell house specialty drinks.

 Repeat the order back and clarify all special requests.

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KEY POINTS:

 Eye contact, smile and correct posture maintained.

 Server speaks clearly.

 Suggestive upselling techniques used.

 All servers to have the following knowledge :

 All available brands
 Signature drinks
 Wines by the glass
 Bottled wines
 Correct glassware

 Ladies orders first, host last.

 All orders written neatly and legibly using standard abbreviations.

 All orders note position numbers after each item ordered.

 All orders repeated before departing.

 All orders to contain:

o Table number
o Number of covers
o Server number

 Service should be smooth, efficient and fast.

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4. FAREWELL TO THE GUEST

OBJECTIVE:

All guests to leave with a positive feeling of being a valued guest and having had a pleasant
experience.

POLICY:

 All guests to receive a warm and friendly farewell from the Restaurant employees.
 Ensure guest satisfaction is maximized.

PROCEDURE:

 When the guest has paid the bill and prepares to leave the restaurant, the F & B personnel
should stand nearby.

 The staff should pullback the chair of the guest and help her/him whenever necessary.
 Check if the guest has taken all his/her belongings. If not, discreetly attract the attention of
the guest to the forgotten item.
 Escort all guests out of the restaurant after their dining experience If guests are not escorted
from the restaurant, the host/cashier is available to personally farewell the guest as they
leave the restaurant.

 Thank the guests for coming and politely request if the guests were happy with
everything and /or had any feedback.
 If guests were happy, respond with “Thank you very much. We look forward to seeing
you again”.
 If there is any negative feedback, thank the guests for his/her comments and
action accordingly.

If there is any feedback, make a note in the Outlet Log Book and if relevant, in the
guest’s history database. At the end of service, hand over all information relevant to
management for immediate follow up.

 Thank the guest politely for coming and bid the guest farewell and ‘We hope to see
you again’.
  Eye contact and a warm smile to be used at all times.

KEY POINTS:

 Positive body language to be used at all times - eye contact, friendly smile and stand up
straight (no leaning)

 Bid farewell with a friendly smile, a handshake or a wave, a nod of the head, eye contact

 Always offer to escort our guests rather than direct them.

 In case the guest leaves without settling the bill then Inform the security and your
manager immediately.