Why Restaurant Owners Keep Their Waitstaff Happy
When you’re running a restaurant the quality of your employees can be nearly as important as the quality of your food. At Organic Restaurants, we say that happy servers make for happy customers. If your servers do their jobs well and make more of an effort to enhance a diner’s experience, they’ll keep coming back. If a restaurant owner wants more repeat customers, it pays to think about how you treat your servers.
Good Experiences Keep People Coming Back
The main thing to remember is that good experiences keep people coming back, and that it only takes one bad experience to turn someone off and ensure that they won’t visit your restaurant again. Part of that good experience obviously involves the food, but eating is just part of it. People will remember how the food tastes, they’ll remember how they were treated when they were waiting for a table. They’ll remember if the waiter was able to answer their questions or if they were trying to rush them out and clear the table. They’ll remember if the waiter or waitress was unable to tell them more about the menu options. They’ll probably tell people if their server was short with them and they had a bad experience.
That’s why making sure that your servers, hosts, and hostesses are well-trained, patient, and ready to help your diners with all of their needs. Your customers will remember the good service and they will keep coming back as a result.
A Good Experience Means People Don’t Mind Paying More
One obstacle facing organic restaurants in some markets is the price of ingredients. You pay more for healthier ingredients, so it can cost more to make healthier meals. In some cases, this can mean higher menu prices, which means that you need to convince customers that the food and the dining experience are worth coming back for.
If your servers aren’t enhancing the experience, diners may decide that your food is not worth the expense. If they do not enjoy themselves when they go to your restaurant, why should they spend time and money there? Great servers that improve the dining experience even better can potentially make people choose your restaurant over a competitor’s, even if that competitor is less expensive.
People Who Enjoy Their Jobs Go the Extra Mile
Simply put, a waiter or waitress who does not enjoy their job probably won’t care too much about your establishment. If they are not treated well, compensated, or given any kind of respect, why would they be invested in the welfare of your restaurant?
A server or employee that feels valued is going to go the extra mile. They’ll care about the owner’s goals and the restaurant itself. They want to keep customers happy not just because it makes their jobs a bit less stressful, but because they want this restaurant to stick around and grow. You’ll find that a happy server is a fulfilled employee who will do a better job.
It’s obvious that owners of vegan organic restaurants who want to keep people coming back should focus on treating their servers well. Visit the Organic Restaurants blog for more tips about attracting customers, adding vegan menu items, and more!