Black and Whites Magazine

Finesse

enough. My response was that if people would only stop asking me for things, I would have more time. He laughed, then left his number and an invite on the table. Ick! The bottom line is that I failed. I didn’t anticipate his needs, and he had to ask. I provided good service, but my attitude fell short of excellence.

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new landscapes but in having new eyes.
- Proust

So, what are the extras that will distinguish good from great service? Adding value and making yourself indispensable is the essence of building a business, creating clientele, not customers, and maximizing your earning potential. Great service is interpreting each guest and

anticipating every need, but extraordinary service is going above and beyond the call of duty. Here are a few ideas. I am sure that many of you have more tricks up your sleeves, and I hope that you will share them with me on the forum.

Special Occasions
Being extraordinary requires a little creative thinking and some preparation. For a special occasion table, a memento of the evening is easy. A Polaroid camera is $30, and the film is 50 cents a picture. Another simple idea is to remove the wine label and adhere it to restaurant letterhead. Step by step label removal instructions can be found at winedefinitions.com. I found the best price for 10 labels is 7.95, at winehardware.com, but Amazon also has them and offers free shipping on orders over $25.

Children
Guests with children appreciate coloring materials which many restaurants provide. But school-aged

Finesse

children can be won over by a sheet of crossword and letter puzzles, which can be seasonal or thematic. The internet is loaded with free material. It will only cost you a Google and some paper.

Cards
Business people make use of hand written thank you notes, but when a server takes the time to send a note, it shocks and astounds. Also useful are business cards, and if your restaurant doesn’t provide them, they are an inexpensive investment. Check out www.vistaprint.com, which advertises free cards, you pay only for shipping.
Guests will be more likely to request your service on their next visit if you give them your name on a card and simply ask them.

Cards can be effective tools for all kinds of situations. Last month was Veteran’s Day, and my restaurant gives a free meal to veterans. The night before the event, there was, of course,

lots of moaning about freeloaders and tip percentages. When I got home, I thought about the service that veterans provided and the acknowledgement and appreciation of that service the restaurant was giving back to them. I made up a business card saying thanks in my own way, printed them off and gave one to each veteran I served. My tip percentages for the evening were 23%. My fellow servers, who had not prepared, averaged 12 – 14%. A small gesture of appreciation is a simple thing that paid off big for me that night.

Professional servers employ business strategies. Once you have established regular, repeat guests, sending holiday cards and remembering birthdays will further separate you and build loyalty. Building a data base of dates, addresses, and preferences will take time; however the rewards justify the investment. This is standard in the “real world,” but applied to the hospitality industry, unique and fresh.

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