http://www.restaurantdoctoruk.co.

uk

 2009 Daniel J Franks All rights reserved 1

 Customers are your income!

Without them you have no business

so you must make sure that you
look after them.

Welcome to the restaurantdoctoruk’s customer care

and complaint handling guide.

The aim of this guide is to give you a detailed insight into how
you and your staff treat your customers in a way that ensures
they return time and time again. Plus a handy guide on
complain handling.

For your convenience we have included a fe

few
w items at the
back of this guide, these are:

• A set of test questions for your employees to

complete at the end of the session
• A certificate for you to issue for recognition of
participation.
• A Training Record sheet for you to keep as proof
of training

 2009 Daniel J Franks All rights reserved 2

 CONTENTS.

1. Introduction (Page 4)
2. See Things From A Customer’s Point Of View (Page 5)
3. Defining A Positive Customer Experience (Page 6)
4. First Impressions (pages 7 & 8)
5. Consistency (Pages 9 & 10)
6. Lasting Impressions (Page 11)
7. Staff Attitude & Appearance (Pages 12 & 13)
8. Non-Verbal
Verbal Communication (Page 14)
9. Complaint Handling (Pages 15 & 16)
10. Conclusion (Page 17)
11. Customer Care Questions (Pages 18 & 19)
12. Training Record (Page 20)
13. Certificate (Page 21)

 2009 Daniel J Franks All rights reserved 3

INTRODUCTION.

Whatt is customer care?

Customer care is the way we conduct our business based towards the
customers we have, it reflects in our service style and standards, our
facilities, our decoration, ambience, appearance, and our prices.

There are many more examples w wee could list, but we will discuss them
all in detail later on in this guide.

Why should we care about our customers?

The reason we should care about our customers is because we want

them to come back time and time again, and recommend us to their
friends
s and family so that they all become customers. Reputation is
everything and by taking a bit of time to think about how you care for
your customers will be a very productive factor in building up a very
good reputation for your business.

ust want their dinner?

But don’t they just

No. Your customers don’t just come to your restaurant for their dinner
anymore, they expect, no they demand the very best in service, quality,
courtesy, appearance, price and many more things. Remember that
dining out isn’t just abo
about
ut eating, it is an experience for people, and they
want the right atmosphere as well as good food to enjoy themselves.

So I have to give half of my menu items away for free?

No. Its not about giving customers things for free, its about giving them
what they expect from you, which is quality, value for money and to be
appreciated. You could offer some things for free as a token or a thank
you, but your customers will not begrudge paying for excellent service
and great food.

This guide has been designed to give you a working knowledge of the
steps you need to take to increase your level of customer care, and to
become a magnet for people wanting exceptional service.

 2009 Daniel J Franks All rights reserved 4

 SEE THINGS FROM YOUR CUSTOMERS’ POINT OF VIEW.

In order for you to know what the experience of dining in your restaurant
is like then you must put yourself in the shoes of your customers. You
may be surprised at just how poor your service or quality of food really
is!

When did you last have something to eat in your restaurant?

Surprisingly
urprisingly a lot of managers do not eat in their restaurants, they just
grab a quick something as and when they can.
The first thing you must do to gain an understanding of the level
of customer service you offer is to sit down and have a meal, have a
member
mber of your team serve you as if you were a customer and sit back
and take note of the following;

Does your waiter/ess smile?

Do they ask ‘How are you doing this evening?’

Do they ask if you would like to see the winelist?

Do they say please an

and thank you?

Are you informed of any offers or promotions currently running?

How long does it take to get your food? Is it cooked properly?

How long does it take to get your drinks? Is it served correctly?

Is the restaurant clean?

ure right?
Is the temperature

Is the music the right volume?

Are you comfortable?
When you want something are you able to attract a member of staff?

Do the staff enquire if your food is to your liking or if you require

anything else?

It may be better if you ask a cl

close
ose friend or colleague who are unknown
by your staff to do this, then the results will be more accurate because
they will try to impress you.

 2009 Daniel J Franks All rights reserved 5

There are a lot of points to consider aren’t there?
Instead of us listing each one individually, we’re goi
going
ng to put it into a
diagram, which we feel suits the description of customer care very well.

A Positive Customer Experience.

A
GOOD CONSISTENCY
FIRST
IMPRESSION

A
POSITIVE
CUSTOMER
EXPERIENCE

A
GOOD
LASTING
IMPRESSION

SATISFIED
CUSTOMERS
WHO
RECOMMEND
& RETURN

 2009 Daniel J Franks All rights reserved 6

If we now look at each section of the figure in detail we will get a much
clearer picture of the finer points of customer care.

1. FIRST IMPRESSIONS.

You must have been told hundreds of times before about making a good
first impression? Well you’re going to get told one more time!

It is the most important thing you can d do

o when you are dealing with
customers, old and new. The impression you first give your customers
is the one that is most likely to stick with them when they think about
you, so if it is a bad one then when their friends or family ask about you
I’m afraid you’ve
ou’ve lost quite a bit of business because they won’t
recommend you.

How do you make sure you make a good first impression?

impression

There are various ways in which you can make a good first impression
we will go through them individually:

Keep the exterior of your restaurant clean, tidy and well

maintained
maintained. A fresh looking, well cared for exterior says to
customers that the inside is also clean, tidy and well maintained.
This can often be enough to get customers through your doors.

Make sure your interior is well laid out and inviting. If

you arrange your tables so that they are well spaced and neat
then it gives the impression that things behind the scene are
also that way.

Keep your restaurant clean throughout. It is extremely

important to keep all area
areass of your restaurant clean and tidy, not
only is it in the interests of hygiene it is also a major aspect of how
customers perceive how you operate.

Create the right ambience & atmosphere. This concerns the

level of lighting, volume of music and the room temperature.
Obviously different people have different preferences so stick to a
happy medium. Keep the lighting intimate but light enough so

 2009 Daniel J Franks All rights reserved 7

 people can see what they are eating and where they are going.
Keep the volume of music to a background le level
vel so that it can be
heard but not louder than normal voice level so people can enjoy a
conversation while they dine. Also consider the type of music you
play, light, soft music is best as it is neutral to the noise of a busy
restaurant. The temperature o off your dining area should be adjusted
accordingly depending upon the outside temperature. Your diners
do not want to be too hot or too cold, keep the temperature to a
happy medium too.

Staff appearance and attitude. It is of paramount importance

that your staff are clean, tidy and well presented, with an attitude to
match. If you do not already have a uniform for your staff it is time
to introduce one, it doesn’t have to be anything special, plain black
and whites will be enough to create a professional appearance.
ap You
must make sure that when your staff arrive for duty that their
uniforms are clean and ironed, otherwise they will ruin your first
impression with a customer. You must make sure that your staff
are informed tat they must be courteous, friendly and helpful with
your customers at all times. (We will discuss staff attitude in more
detail later on).

How much you charge, and what you offer. This is an

important factor in the first impression you give. If your prices are
reasonable and you offer a g good
ood variety of choice for your
customers they will be impressed as it will feel as if you have
created your menu especially for them. If you charge too much and
have a poor selection of items on your menu your customer will
feel like they are not welcome aand
nd won’t feel comfortable in your
restaurant.

Communication. Is very important because it is the way you deal

with your customers, sell your products and show your own true
feelings to your customers. There are the two types of
communication
communication-VERBAL & NON-VERBAL.
VERBAL. Each type is concerned
with how you express your feelings and will be covered in more
detail later on in this guide.

Creating a good first impression is easy yet vital to your success,

get it right and you’ve cleared the first hurdle. Although this
t is just
the beginning, now you’ve got to keep it goingK

 2009 Daniel J Franks All rights reserved 8

 2. CONSISTENCY

Consistency is the key to keeping your customers impressed with you and the
product you are selling to them. Being consistent means that you are keeping
your good first impression
ssion going throughout the customer’s dining
experience.

How do you keep things consistent for your customers?

There are various ways you can keep things consistent; we will go through them
individually:

Your standard of service. Must reflect the positive

ositive greeting your
staff gave the customer, the friendly manner they took their order and
the welcome feeling they influenced upon your customer. Your staff
MUST remain polite and courteous throughout the whole time the
customer is in your restaurant. TThey
hey must have a good knowledge of the
items on the menu and the ingredients they contain, as well as a good
knowledge of the wine you stock. In effect your staff must know the
answers to any questions your customers may ask them.

The quality of your food

food. Must be high to reflect the money your
customer has paid to eat it. Your customer will see paying for the
product you are selling them as an investment, they are spending their
valuable leisure time in your restaurant and expect it to be value for
money, so you must make sure that the quality of your food is high.

Speed of service. This is a hard one to judge at first, as you cannot

tell what your customers expect initially. Some customers will want their
food immediately after you clear the previous course,
cou and others will
want to relax for a while and chat before moving on to the next course. It
is up to you to assess what type of customer you are dealing with as the
meal progresses. This can be determined by the customer’s body
language and the way the they
y talk to you, and in some cases if you are
lucky they will simply tell you outright what they want. It is important to
note that no customers will like waiting for things longer than they have
to, especially if they see members of staff stood about doing nothing.

 2009 Daniel J Franks All rights reserved 9


The atmosphere in your restaurant. Should remain calm, cool and
welcoming in order for your customers to fully enjoy their meal. They
will not mind if your restaurant gets busy, this is good it shows they
have chosen a popular place to eat. What they will mind is if your
structure and organisation goes to pot when the pressure is on. You
must organise your team to be efficient and have enough staff and prep
for busy periods. If you get a full restaurant and it becomes hot and
stuffy you
ou should turn on the air conditioning to keep your customers
comfortable.

Availability of items on the menu or winelist. You should make it

a priority to always have everything you offer in stock, this is because
your customers will set their minds on enenjoying
joying something on your
menu, they will look forward to it, and if they are told they can’t have
what they want then they will feel let down and angryKBANGKthere
angryK
goes your good impression! If you do run out of something then you
must inform customers as tthey
hey sit down of any unavailable items before
they make their mind up, you can offer them a personal
recommendation on another item or if your customer is regular and
feels let down by the lack of their favourite item offer them a
complimentary starter or gglass
lass of wine as an apology. Again this points
to you showing your appreciation for your customer’s loyalty.

Keeping your operation consistent is the only way your customers can
enjoy and fully appreciate the experience you are providing for them.
Remembermber to always put the thoughts and needs of your customers
first, then you can’t go wrong!

Although staying consistently good throughout the course of the meal

is extremely important for building up your customer’s trust in you,
there is one other factor to consider when creating a positive customer
experienceK

 2009 Daniel J Franks All rights reserved 10

 3. A GOOD LASTING IMPRESSION.

Creating a good lasting impression is important because it is the how your

customers feel about you after they have finished their meal and have gone home,
itt is what they tell people about how they regard you restaurant when they enquire
and it is how you will get a boost to your reputation and repeat business.

Creating a good lasting impression is pretty much an extension of how consistent

you were, but we feel it is important to list each point to better show what you
needs to be done:

Quality of Service.

Quality Of Food.

Staff Friendliness & Courtesy.

If the experience was Value For Money.

And most importantly, if the customer was thanked!

If you
u can get all those areas right then you will create positive
experiences for all your customers and they will return time and time
again, and recommend you to their friends and family, and they will do
the same and so on and so on. Although, you must keep up the good
work and ensure that every experience is a good one for your
customers each and every time they come to see you.

 2009 Daniel J Franks All rights reserved 11

STAFF ATTITUDE AND APPEARANCE.

This area is very important in each stage of the positive customer experience so we
believe it needs further investigation and description.

Your staff are your salespeople, they represent your standards and they are the
ones who have the most contact with your customers. If they don’t talk to the
customers correctly, make them feel welco
welcome
me and special or they are not attired
correctly then you can kiss goodbye to your customers having a good impression
of your restaurant.

The table below highlights the standards of appearance you should expect from
your staff:

Area Standard Required.

Shirt/Blouse/T-Shirt Always clean, ironed, in good state and tucked in.

Trousers/Skirt Always clean, ironed and in a good state.

Should be appropriate for work

Shoes
(Not high heels or trainers) and clean and polished.

Long hair should be neatly

tly tied back and away
Hair
from the face.

Facial Hair Should be neat and tidy, or clean-shaven.

clean

Make-Up Should be kept to a minimum, and neutral colours.

Preferably none as it affects the taste of food, but if

Perfume
worn it should be kept to a minimum.
minim

Should not be excessive. Preferably studs and

Jewellery
wedding ring only.

Tie (if worn) Should be clean, in good repair and worn correctly.

Should be exemplary anyway, but your staff should

Personal Hygiene
preferably wash!!!

 2009 Daniel J Franks All rights reserved 12

Now we move on to how your staff should talk to your customers, below is a list of
points to consider about talking to customers;

It is your duty to make your customers feel like they are

wanted and welcome.

Smile when you get eye contact with customers.

customers

Offer
fer your customers a friendly verbal greeting when you
meet them.

Ask your customers how they are, and mean it? Ask what sort
of day they have had, show interest in them and reply
positively to their response.

Listen when they are talking

talking, show you are paying attention
and interested.

Always say please and thank you.

DO NOT ARGUE WITH A CUSTOMER.

NEVER BE RUDE TO A CUSTOMER.

Always acknowledge a customer, especially if they are
waiting for you. If they see you acknowledge them they know
you are going to get to them as soon as you can.

DO NOT IGNORE CUSTOMERS. If you are doing something
for another customer and another requires you politely say
you’ll be with them in a moment.

DO NOT INTERRUPT A CUSTOMER.

Maintain eye contact when you are talking to your customers,
and when they are talking to you.

Don’t pre--judge your customers. Don’t assume you know
what they want and how they want it, ask questions, and offer
them extras or drinks. It is up to them to say no thanks not
you.

As long as you remembe

rememberr to respect your customers and put their
needs first, treat them as though they are the most important person in
the world and always welcome, you’ll do just fine.

 2009 Daniel J Franks All rights reserved 13

 VERBAL COMMUNICATION.
NON-VERBAL

It is very useful to know about non

non-verbal communication as you may already know
that ‘Actions speak louder than words’
words’. What you do while you are talking to
people, and your facial expression speak volumes and can easily show someone
what you are actually thinking without you even saying a word.
word SO BE CAREFUL!

Below are some useful pointers on non

non-verbal
verbal communication to make sure you
don’t give the wrong impression to a customer;

• Nodding when you listen to someone shows you are paying attention.

• Smiling shows you are happy.

• Slouching says that you are no

not interested in what you are doing, and you
would rather be somewhere else.

• Frowning shows you are annoyed.

• Putting your hands in your pockets shows you are not interested in what you
are doing and are bored.

• Folding your arms shows that you are being d

defensive
efensive and it is
unwelcoming.

• Fidgeting when someone is talking to you shows that you are not interested
in what they are saying.

• Walking away from someone while they are talking to you is just plain rude!!!

If you remember that your customers are a always

lways watching your actions
then you should make it a priority to show positive, professional body
language. Stand up straight, be alert and concentrate on what people
are saying when they talk to you.

 2009 Daniel J Franks All rights reserved 14

What if something goes wrong?
COMPLAINT HANDLING.
NDLING.
Unfortunately, sometimes even though we have done our best to look after our
customers, something goes wrong and they feel the need to complain about
something.

REMEMBER: Its nothing personal! The customer isn’t actually having a go at YOU,
you’re
e just the first available person they can tell their problem to.

What you need to appreciate when dealing with a complaint is that your
product or service has NOT met the customer’s expectation and they
are disappointed. They were looking forward to their
thei meal tonight and it
has not been as good as they thought it would be.

Don’t worry though, all is not lost. Now is your time to restore faith in the
customer’s impression of you and your restaurant.

HOW??? They’re complaining

complaining-we’ve failed!

No you haven’t’t failed you’ve just not met that customer’s individual requirements,
but you can show them they are still the most important person in the world and
get them to come back again.

The first thing you must do when somebody wants to complain is:

1. BE POLITE
TE AND LISTEN TO THE CUSTOMER. Show that you are
interested in the problem the customer has, do not interrupt them while
they are talking and stay calm.

2. EMPATHISE WITH THE CUSTOMER. See things from the point of

view of your customer; show you are genui
genuinely
nely concerned with their
complaint. Don’ pass blame to somebody else.

3. TAKE RESPONSIBILITY. Now is the time to admit your customer is

right and offer a solution to the problem. Don’t just give them a full
discount, some customers just try it on, start small like a free glass of
wine, then if need be increase your offer until the complaint is resolved.

 2009 Daniel J Franks All rights reserved 15

4. THANK THE CUSTOMER. This is very important because it puts the
customer in the frame of mind that the situation is resolved and they
are still
ll a valued customer. It shows that you are ending the complaint
in a positive manner and the customer is still valued and welcome.

Something to point out here is the temptation to offer the customer

more than what they actually deserve as a means to win
w them back.
You don’t need to do this because if you resolved the complaint
efficiently then that should be enough.

If you offer the customer a discount on their next meal or a freebie next
time then the danger is that word will spread that you are a soft
so touch
and people will come to you just to complain and get loads of free stuff,
then your profit margin will suffer badly and your reputation won’t be
the one you actually want.

If the majority of the experience was a positive one and you resolved
the compliant in a way, which was acceptable to the customer, then
chances are they’ll come back and they will remember what you did for
them. You treated them as if they were important, you took the time to
listen to their problem and you solved it for them.

It may sound strange but you gave that customer a good

lasting impression of your restaurant to take away with them.

 2009 Daniel J Franks All rights reserved 16

CONCLUSION.

This guide has provided you with all the information you need to give
your customers the service they ex
expect
pect and deserve in an atmosphere
they will feel comfortable and welcome in, and to deal with complaints
confidently and efficiently.

Most of all this guide has given you the information you need to make
sure your customers keep coming back to your restaurant
restau time and
time again and recommend you to their friends and family.

This guide can be used as a training guide for your staff to ensure they
are well prepared for giving your customers the best service they can.

For more useful guides and manual

manuals please visit:

 2009 Daniel J Franks All rights reserved 17

Test Your Customer Care Knowledge.

Answer the following questions using the information you have been
told here today.

01. What is the first thing you should do when you greet a
customer?

02. What should you do when a c

customer
ustomer is complaining?

03. List 3 things you can do to make a good first impression.

04. List 3 things you should never do when dealing with customers.

05. How do you create the right atmosphere in your restaurant?

06. What does it show you are feeling when you fidget?

07. How should you dress for work?

08. Why should you not offer complaining customers freebies?

 2009 Daniel J Franks All rights reserved 18

 09. How can you create a lasting impression?

10. What does it show when you have your arms folded?

11. How do customers expect to be treated?

12. What
hat type of shoes should you not wear for work?

13. Why is keeping your workplace clean so important?

14. Why should you not take complaints personally?

15. What should you say to end a complaint?

16. How can you make a lasting impression?

17. How should you never treat a customer?

18. Why is acknowledging a customer so important?

19. Why is having a good knowledge of your products important?

20. Why should you not pre

pre-judge a customer?

 2009 Daniel J Franks All rights reserved 19

 INDIVIDUAL TRAINING RECORD.

Name: Date:

Job Title: Trainer:

Area Signature Trainer’s Signature

Making a good first impression

Keeping the standards consistent

Making a good lasting impression

Communicating with customers

Standards and appearance

Complaint Handling

Product Knowledge (Food)

Product Knowledge (Drink)

Body Language

You must sign to say you have received this customer care
training.

Keep the original copy for employee personnel records.

 2009 Daniel J Franks All rights reserved 20

 This is to certify that

Has successfully completed

our in house training course

On;

Signed by:

In association with

 2009 Daniel J Franks All rights reserved 21