Education at PreShift/Rally/LineUp/Huddle
Jan 15, 2011 Beer & Food, Education & Training, Something To Think About
Whatever you call it, the time when restaurants collect all the service staff together before letting them loose on the floor is a perfect and precious opportunity for education.
It should be succinct, to the point and…well, watch this video about the importance of rally here.
The educational time invested with staff when done consistently and in a focused manner will make a difference.
WEB helped a brewpub redevelop their pre-shift last year. The first thing WEB did was to rename it rally. Why? Such a seemingly small thing to some. Consider that the entire operation was included and therefore the people who had been working for a few hours already would hardly consider it “pre-shift” – they’ve already been on shift.
A few other things to consider for successful rallies:
- Do you need to conduct it bilingually? Respecting everyone and ensuring the message gets across clearly is foundational.
- Set a timer to stay on track and simple props can be helpful. Use notes to help move it along and to track the topics you covered.
- Redundancy is good. Repetition allows opportunity to make mistakes and be successful, improve and afford discussion.
- Utilize staffers to help you give rallies. Tap into the various talents you’ve got in the operation. People like to be highlighted for what they’re good at.
Not doing rally yet? Can you afford to go another day without a consistent message delivered and executed by everyone for success?
Jim Sullivan is one of the best resources available for customer service in the service industry.
Tags: consistent message, preshift, rally, Sullivision, teaching opportunity
How Important is Training?
Aug 17, 2010 Education & Training
Jim Sullivan has it dead on in his newsletter this month:
“Diminishing returns: When times get tough the first thing inept operators do is penalize the customer by cutting labor or training. If you’re “saving money” by not training and then seeing your sales shrink, remember that it’s not what you pay people, it’s what they cost you.”
Training your people - from the CEO to the floor sweeper (sometimes one and the same!) – is critical to the success of you and your consumer. When you don’t invest, you don’t get the return. And they certainly get way less than they want and what you (hopefully) want to deliver.
Train your people (you too)
Yes, some investments take longer, have a slower upward trajectory and take a while. Regardless, when you’re training, you’re moving forward. A long term investment is the one that will yield the best results.
The message you send as a company to your people and to your consumers is powerful. It tells them “we want to be successful through our people.” Not “we’re too stingy so the same old crappy service will be here for you indefinitely.”
If you were the consumer, which kind of place would you pick? Always remember to put your selves in consumer shoes when making impactful consumer decisions. You are not the consumer.
Start your training plan today. If you have one, reexamine it and refresh it for relevancy and accuracy and appropriateness. Bring in a fresh perspective to help by hiring a knowledgeable consultant, inviting other members of the industry you respect to review your program or help develop one, tapping into your professional industry organizations, and asking your consumers.
Consumer science is what we’re talking about, not rocket science. Frankly rocket science is way simpler – rockets don’t have opinions and thoughts. And consumer science is sitting right in front of you, waiting for engagement.
Consumers want to buy from engaged businesses - from their beer to their widgets to their socks. Give them a reason to patronize you and they’ll reward you over and over and over. Train your people.
Now, back to that training program review…
Tags: customer experience, success, Sullivision, training
Tools
Jul 27, 2010 Education & Training, Something To Think About
What tools are in your tool box?
Adage from Sullivision: Tools left in the toolbox never built anything.
And, adding to that, unless you pick up the tools to build something new or repair something in need of attention, you’re never going to get anywhere.
For those of you in the beer business community – breweries, restaurants, vendors, suppliers, retailers, distributors – you’ll never go one step farther earning female market share unless you pick up the right tool to genuinely garner the female beer consumers’ attention. You don’t deserve it if you don’t use the right tools and you’ll certainly pay for it if you use the wrong tools.
How do you know which tools to use?
Ask women what they want, gather data from them, apply it properly. As a specialist, I can tell you that there are so many ill fated attempts to market to women because the lens is all wrong.
The lens has to be from the woman’s perspective; not from yours, no matter how smart you think you are (or actually are). And regardless of if you’re a women in the industry – being of the industry is different than being the consumer.
You’re not the woman, she is. Ask her, act on that information and you’ll both come out ahead.
Like Marti Barletta says, the first rule of marketing is to understand your market. The second? Understand your consumer.
Here, here!
Tags: earning female market share, Marti Barletta, proper marketing, Sullivision
