I think everyone should work in some form of hospitality at least once in their lives to get a taste of dealing with people in a service environment. For me, the chance came when our first child was born and we needed extra money to pay off medical bills. Waiting tables became the most viable option as a second job because the shifts started after I got off from my day job and still allowed me to pick up enough hours to earn real money.
At the time, I thought waiting tables was merely a means to an end. But as the years have passed, I have found that the lessons I learned have helped me navigate all kinds of relationships and business engagements.
Eight Timeless Lessons:
Greet your guests quickly and sincerely. I was taught to acknowledge guests in person and at their table within the first 45 seconds of them entering the restaurant. There are three parts to this: quickly; in-person and; where they are. We all want to be acknowledged and for others to recognize who we are. We don’t want to be yelled at from across the room, and we don’t want to be generally passed over. This applies to any engagement with people, personal or professional.
Get on the level of your audience. The chain I worked for taught us to kneel or crouch by the tables so we were at eye level with our customers, not towering above them and looking down. This seems like a mindless point, but it has stood out to me over time. When talking to children, get on your knees so they see you eye to eye. If wearing sunglasses and talking with someone, take them off so they see your eyes. Make the other person comfortable and make it easy for them to communicate with you.
Get the big things right, but pay attention to the little things. When you place your order at a restaurant, you have every right to expect your order to be correct and delivered in a timely fashion. That’s the big thing. But your experience at the restaurant is made up of dozens of small details that can make or break your time there, from getting drinks right and refilled without you asking, to silverware, napkins, condiments, bread, chips and salsa … all coming and going in a seamless choreography. Business is this way, too. Customers expect the big things to get done. But it’s the hundreds of small details and levels of service that make the experience worth repeating.
Your attitude makes a difference. Ever had a waiter show up to your table with a bad attitude and act like it was somehow your fault they were working that shift? It happens in business, too. When waiting tables you get immediate feedback about whether you did well or not in the form of tips (not always true, but let’s stay positive here). You learn very quickly that a positive attitude can influence your performance and thereby impact how much money you make in a shift. In business, people bring their bad attitudes to work with them and drag down their teammates, their clients, and their companies. The feedback loop is longer, so it may take a while to see the damage, but the damage will show itself eventually.
Consolidate and look out for others. In food service, this means leaving the kitchen with full hands taking things out to your table or helping a teammate, and coming back in with full hands as you grab dirty items off tables you pass by so the restaurant can turn the tables faster. In a well-run restaurant, the tables turn very fast because everyone is working together. In business, the best teams move seamlessly and have ideas going to the customer while bringing new challenges back from each visit. They are problem solvers always searching for ways to surprise and delight others. When business groups act as individuals and not as a team, the company is sluggish, inefficient, and likely to struggle with the details.
Suggestive sell with an eye on delighting your customers. When you have a great waiter, you are guided through your dining experience with timely suggestions, hints, and tastes of options you might like—and you likely have no idea you’re on a journey. That’s what great service is like across most platforms. The sales coach, Zig Ziglar, said “people love to buy, they just hate to be sold”. When done well, the user experience is so delightful that customers want to return for more.
Deal with issues quickly and directly. Ever had your order show up undercooked or overdone and then either have to search for your waiter or listen to him or her ramble on about how someone in the back was having a bad day and just couldn’t get it right tonight? It’s infuriating. Business is like that, too. When things are off or poorly delivered it’s best to address them quickly, acknowledge the miss, and map out the solution asap. No extra words or additional promises. Just fix the original issue and keep moving. But make sure you don’t screw up things again with that customer because you already burned through your grace period.
Worry about what you can control and not about what you can’t. This lesson shows up across a lot of platforms for me. In hospitality it was the reminder that sometimes you can do everything right and things can still go wrong, the kitchen could burn the food, someone could spill a drink on your customers, your customers could have a fight with each other and scream at the staff or run from the building. All of those things are beyond your control. Business is a lot like that, too. You can do everything right and still have things end badly. It happens. Take a deep breath, shake off the dust, and move on. Your other customers still deserve your best.
Every job, every role, every company has lessons to teach if you’re willing to learn. These are my top lessons from food service. I’d love to hear about other experiences that have stuck with you.
Feel free to add them in the comments section below.