Competitive Service Starts with Training

To maintain a competitive edge over other restaurants, operators need servers who do more than just take the order and deliver the food. Servers need to guide customers through the entire dining experience while keeping them content and wanting more. This doesn`t just happen. Restaurants who want to successfully compete must invest in wait staff training.

Think of your servers as professional sales associates. Successful companies invest in training programs to educate their sales force about the products, the company, and anything else that will help them to sell. More than likely, their training is ongoing because product information is always changing. Why should training deviate from proven strategies if the sales associates are servers?

A good training program must be comprehensive. To determine training time, consider the number of products listed on your food and beverage menus and carefully consider how long it will take the average person to retain this information.

While there are many components to effective training, keeping your staff current with monthly or seasonal ongoing training will help to ensure the operation remains competitive.

• Training should be mandatory for all staff, and staff should be compensated for attending. Make sure your trainers are experts who follow house policy if they originate from within your organization. You may also want to consider having trainers attend a seminar on training to ensure they teach in an effective and politically correct manner.
• Training programs that span a few days to a week should be kept interactive and upbeat. Make sure you`ve enlisted several trainers to lead different sessions. The more interesting you can keep it the better.
• The property size, style, and locale will give insights into how frequently training programs should be implemented. For example, a supper club that changes wines and bar lists on a monthly basis will require monthly meetings. Let the staff taste new items. If the bar is substantial in types of scotch, bourbon, gin, vodka, and other liquors, it is very helpful to allow new staff a small sample so that they can describe the unique subtleties to customers.
• It is imperative that all staff understand how each item should look on the plate and what the different menu items look like. Even bartenders should be cross-trained. After menu review and orientation with new employees, have them assist a manager in setting up trays on the line.
• Look at your menu carefully. Can servers explain each menu item in detail? Do you change menus often or offer cheese plates, unique salad dishes, seasonal soups, meats, fresh fish, or side dishes? If the answer is yes, servers should be able to offer appealing, in-depth descriptions of each item and ingredient.
• Make sure your wait staff is informed about other aspects of your operation. For example, who designed the restaurant? Where did the paintings and other decorative items come from? Who made them? Who`s your florist? These are questions all front-of-the-house staff should be able to answer.