Have You Tasted Your Own Pie

For a family birthday recently, we decided to pick up a specialty cake from a well-known chain of Coffee shops. Gradually they are gaining currency for their fare and we decided to give them a try. We selected a sinful looking type with a heart of butter scotch and caramel, dark chocolate exterior that was topped with more dark chocolate lattices. With three of our favourite ingredients we couldn’t have gone wrong, yet we wanted affirmation from the Cafe staff about the perfectness of our choice. I asked the teller and then the Outlet Manager what they thought about it and they said it was a good pick. I then asked them if they had tried it. The teller drew a blank and the Manager tried to hide behind a non-committal nod leaving my query unanswered.

Then there have been servers working in establishments ranging from a seasoned American pizzeria franchise to the newbie French Patisserie & Boulangerie, who have failed to deliver the perfect order or provide correct information about the ingredients that have gone into making a particular dish.

We were staying at a mountain resort a few months ago and asked the F&B Manager for his recommendation. While there were a couple of things he could suggest, the rest of the menu he was clueless about. Yes, it was the F&B Manager and he had not had the chance or taken the trouble to test the entire menu out. His lack of first-hand knowledge about the wares of his hotel led us to have one bad meal at the place, coercing us to give a mental black mark to the resort in an otherwise wonderful stay.

The Joys of Knowing Your Own Product
This may or should not happen with larger chains with their big strategies and immaculate planning. I have been witness to elaborate menu tasting sessions where all related folk – from General Manager to the Kitchens and F&B Brigade – spend delirious and divine afternoons testing the restaurant menu changes tasting dish after dish in a state of gastronomic debauchery. Sometimes, our warriors in white have been generous enough to invite the Excom to combine work with pleasure in a benthamitic exercise, getting us to become wiser about what our restaurants offer on the whole, share our opinion and along the way become more informed brand ambassadors.

Yet, I’ve had mushrooms raise their heads in my risotto in spite of telling the order taker that they are anathema to me. I’ve been agreed with for a service in the suite and then have the Front Office Assistant sheepishly backtrack because he didn’t know better. Don’t you recall the times when you went ahead to expect a certain feature tom-tommed by the greeting Concierge only to have the Guest Relations Manager issue an apology on the non-occurrence of it! There have been times in all our hotel interfaces when the General Manager has had to give an explanation just because the ill-experienced PR Assistant had up-sold some facets which we had come to expect but were still a long way off from the Brand’s reach or plan.

Price to Pay
From a Pizza Hut to a star hotel, there have been innumerable times when we have been served up the wrong fare only because the maître d’hôtel or the man of the moment was ill-advised and inexperienced. In fact, at a competition hotel once, an Editor friend’s husband was presented with a platter of the crucifying crustacean even after the hotel had been informed about the gentleman’s specific food allergy causing him to have a swollen tongue, choking bout and severe reaction. It cost the hotel its reputation and brought upon both, harsh backlash and a bad review. That was a small price to pay; because severe food allergies in some cases can also prove fatal.

It’s not just food. It goes over to the other products that your brand / hotel sells – for instance the incomparable range of beverages, that fantastic tea menu with those exotic names on the list, definitely the rooms & suites, of course the spa or specialty merchandise showcased in your boutique shop.

Ways to Ensure Staff Are Familiar with Offerings
When one of the hotels I used to work for was unveiling its world-class new rooms and suites with all the mod-cons and trappings that any top brand could offer – from French linen and bath amenities, Danish television sets, rich Indian weave throws, crystal vases, Lalique lights, original art on the walls and remarkably super-luxe routine of services covering turndown, in-room and entertainment – the astute VP & GM worked out a roster along with the Rooms Division Head for all the key Executive Committee members and Department Heads to try the rooms & suites out for a night with their respective spouses. We were supposed to try out ALL the services during our stay, the spouse lending the outside eye into the exercise and fill out an exhaustive feedback form on both the hard and soft aspects of facilities and service. I think that was a fantastic way to have staff learn about the new facets, internalize them and then stand on confident ground to sell, promote, up-sell or cross-sell the product, as the case may have been.

My soul child recounted a similar exposure at a Pizza chain she worked with during one of her summer holidays. For every up-sell or for exceeding the target, the trainee would get a free Sundae or Gourmet Pizza. This way, the management not only offered a neat, happy incentive but also ensured that the entire menu had been tried by the front-of-the-line sales staff.

Hotels are in the business of selling experience. Guests come and live in the rooms, eat at the restaurants, relax by the pool or in the Spa, shop in the arcades. These experiences are partaken of by all the five senses. Hotels have a much longer shelf life and recall value. Guests keep returning to places they have had a fantastic stay in. It is a people-centric business, created by people and plattered out to people. So, it really does make sense for the team to have experienced firsthand the product they are employed to serve up and showcase.

What Ignorance Looks Like
Staff who have not experienced their own product cut a sorry figure in front of guests – from close at home quarters or distant shores – who can come up with just about any query – what’s the best soup on the menu, what on earth is oolong tea and what does it taste like, which masseuse has the most magical hands at the health club, which aromatherapy oil works like a miraculous antidote to jet lag, how far is the next-door golf club really, is the award-winning entrée we read about on Tripadvisor still served at the Hotel’s Michelin-starred restaurant and what does it really contain?

“Is it” is an easy question to answer. It can be learned from manuals or in training sessions and repeated ad verbatim. It is “how” that can cause all the trouble. Sample this – “Is the mattress good?” asks the guest. The Lobby Manager showing the room or the Executive Housekeeper welcoming the guest or the Chambermaid providing the turndown are all tutored to respond with a standard – “yes, it is one of the best. It is made with medium to firm innerspring coil or is exclusively of fine foam to ensure excellent support and a comfortable night’s sleep.” But wait till the guest hits you with the next barrage of questions – “How firm is it? Will it be easy on my back? Will I be able to get a good, uninterrupted shut-eye? I quite hate the ones I have used at Brand X. I hope yours are not the same?” A cookie-cutter ‘yes’ to all and a standard parrot-like response will quickly sift the chaff from the informed, experienced grain that knows his product like the back of his hand and can help the guest feel confident and comfortable with the product.

Source: http://www.hospitalitynet.org/

Filed Under: F&B

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