Ten Minute Manager's Guide to ... Connecting With Customers

This year�s ivy award winners share not only a commitment to serving the highest-quality food, they also agree that cultivating excellence requires close contact with guests. That means different things, from formally soliciting feedback to simply walking the dining room to look, listen, talk and respond.

By Staff, The Editors -- Restaurants & Institutions, 5/1/2007

This year’s ivy award winners share not only a commitment to serving the highest-quality food, they also agree that cultivating excellence requires close contact with guests. That means different things, from formally soliciting feedback to simply walking the dining room to look, listen, talk and respond.

"If someone has a half-full plate and their fork is down, I’ll go up to the table and ask if they’re enjoying their food, if everything’s all right," says Ming Tsai, chef-owner of Blue Ginger in Wellesley, Mass.

"It’s going out there and finding out what your customers really like," says Ken Cardone, associate dining-services director and executive chef at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. The college’s dining staff also solicits input through comment boards, but personal contacts yield good ideas and convey the staff’s interest in understanding and responding to students.

Getting Personal

At Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, "I would be surprised if there’s a [dining services] staff member who doesn’t know each student by name," says Dining Services Director Mary Lou Kennedy. "And they know us extremely well. Students don’t need to make appointments [to talk with us]. They just find us."

Besides the small scale of the school, relationships are helped along by Dining Services staffers and students working together on special meals. A student dining advisory council also plays a part.

"We have the ability to really listen to our customers," says Associate Director-Executive Chef Ken Cardone. "We ask them questions and actively seek feedback. You’d be surprised what you get; they’ll let you know what they want if you ask them."

Cardone and other staffers work closely with students through collaboration on theme meals, getting them involved with recipes and menu planning. "There’s a lot of back and forth with the student groups testing the recipes," Kennedy says. "At times it can be a headache, but then they create these things that students just love."

"Building relationships is incredible," Cardone says. "We find out what different cultures are all about and bring that into the dining room. It’s really a learning experience."

Students also offer basic menu suggestions that staff members frequently follow up on to help personalize not only a specific dish but also the guest relationship.

"If a student says, ‘I’d like to see mac and cheese on the menu,’ we ask them, ‘What’s your favorite? How is it made?’ and we make a batch and compare it to what he or she had at home," says Mark Dickey, unit manager at the larger of Bowdoin’s two dining halls.

Online Outreach

Online and in-person outreach keeps University of California, Berkeley’s (UCB) Cal Dining program connected to the campus community.

"The core customers are always the same, so it’s important to understand what they want," says Kim LaPean, marketing coordinator for residential and student services programs.

At the same time, it’s not always easy to grab the interest of students. "They’re constantly giving part of their attention," LaPean explains.

This means reaching out to students, not through oft-ignored posters and flyers but online. Cal Dining’s Web site, the fifth most popular site hosted by UCB, encourages students to get in touch with staff, fill out online comment cards or send e-mail directly to managers. In addition, LaPean is experimenting with online community Facebook to communicate with students on their cyber turf.

"You have to hit on so many different levels," LaPean says. "Every customer is going to respond to a different form of outreach."

In addition to online initiatives, Cal Dining uses focus groups, comment cards and bi-monthly "hypes and gripes" meetings where student representatives and managers meet to discuss what’s working and what could be improved with menus and service.

Without follow-through, outreach efforts would only be marginally effective, so LaPean ensures that every question or comment gets a response. "The most important thing we say is, ‘Talk to us and we’ll listen.’ Then we back that up to show them we mean it," she says.

The follow-up resonates with students. Cynthia Zhang, a UCB senior, wishes more restaurants would be as responsive as Cal Dining. "Regardless if Cal Dining implements the change or not, they always listen and they always reply," she says.

Table Hopping

Connecting with guests is a nonstop endeavor for Chef-owner Ming Tsai at Blue Ginger, his Asian-influenced bistro in Wellesley, Mass.

"When I’m cooking on the line or expediting, I can basically see 80% of my customers. I can tell by people’s eyes if they need water, if they’re happy or sad, if they dropped a fork," he says. "That’s why I designed an open kitchen."

When he’s not in the kitchen, Tsai walks the floor, visiting tables where guests have requested that he come by and say hello, and sometimes, just looking around to gauge how diners are enjoying their meals.

Guests are sometimes intimidated by his celebrity-chef persona, he says, but once they see him interacting easily with guests, their reserve gives way to relaxed conversation.

The rest of the staff follows Tsai’s example, making it a point to interact with diners as much as possible. Two managers always are on duty during service, with one greeting customers at the door, the other circulating in the dining room.

"We’ll clear tables, deliver drinks, open wine bottles or just stop by and ask how they’re doing," says General Manager Paula Pearson Taylor. "The point of being on the floor is to make eye contact or conversation with every table."

Meet and Greet

A restaurant doesn’t thrive for nearly a century without leadership that understands how to bond with customers. For Brad Rosenstein, president and CEO of Jack’s Oyster House, a 94-year-old, family-owned restaurant in Albany, N.Y., such connections lie at the heart of his business philosophy.

"We try to show genuine appreciation for the fact that guests come here when there are so many other choices," says Rosenstein. "Chain restaurants do an excellent job, but where we independents have an advantage is in being able to give more of the personal touch."

Every guest who walks into Jack’s is greeted not by a harried host but rather a manager or even Rosenstein (below) himself. Top-tier employees who aren’t stationed at the door circulate the floor, visiting tables and making sure meals are progressing smoothly.

All staff members are schooled in the body language of hospitality—smiling and making eye contact—tactics that put guests at ease. For special occasions, servers deliver a complimentary chocolate cake and take a photograph of the celebrants; the photo then is presented in a frame that reads, "A gala occasion at Jack’s."

Two-Way Talk

Once a month, athletes staying at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., are invited to go Behind the Scenes With Team Cuisine. Because the clientele is constantly changing—some athletes visit for a week, others for a year—Terri Moreman, associate director for food and nutrition for the U.S. Olympic Committee, keeps current with guest lists and what foods fit their training regimens and tastes.

"We have an area in the kitchen where the athletes can talk to the executive chef or one of our nutritionists," says Moreman. "It becomes a very social gathering place. But we also test a recipe and see if they want it on the menu or not."

The dining staff also meets with teams to gather feedback and update them on basics of good eating here and abroad. These will increase as the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing near. "You can’t change their eating habits two weeks before an Olympic Games. But they could ruin their career by eating the wrong food and getting sick."

When traveling, Moreman also seeks inspiration. "I take a look and say, ‘We can do something like that.’"