FOH Series Continued-Topic #2 eye contact, Genuine Concern

In our continuation on front of the house service our topic is eye contact which is what we call a sub-topic of GENUINE CONCERN (or lack there of).

There has been much noticed and written on the deterioration of service in the retail industry (including restaurants) in the past 15-20 years. I have noticed as times have evolved (I am 47 y.o.), the manners police have joined with the politically correct police to create a very high bar where everyone is a critic!

I can say with good confidence that while you do your retail shopping, you feel a sense of quality and (maybe even) knowledge on your initial, split-second interaction with a customer service rep, cashier, or server.

Isn't it true that the person you are paying your money to, you as a customer expect some sort of connection that says, "I appreciate your business, and you as an individual?"

Case in point: I can't count the retail locations I have gone to where the floor staff or cashier did not make eye contact with me or the people I am with. I have heard or read statements made that a certain picture is worth a thousand looks and others not even one.

Some simple points for staffers:

1) The last statement above pertains to beauty and looking at a picture, not a paying customer. Your customers are paying and deserve to have you create some sort of bond.
2) If you are addressing a table (server or order taker, cashier) of multiple people, it is your job to make a connection with everyone, not just the person you perceive to be paying the bill.
3) One of the simplest actions, aside from the providing of a warm smile is to simply make eye contact with your patrons and make them feel connected to you. The "connection" between customer and staffers is perhaps the most important issue customers think about when evaluating their experience.

New series on FOH service- You guys ready to order?

We are beginning a series on waiter service. The reason to write a series about this, is a result of what I see as small but powerful missteps from FOH staff that can be easily remedied with approaches and understandings.

I had been a professional waiter in many places. I was lucky enough to have been hired by the Hyatt Regency in 1980 to work in the Esplanade restaurant as a waiter in fine dining. Beyond that period I worked in a variety of upscale restaurants during and after hospitality school.

I am just going to jump in with my first topic:

Topic 1) Customers are not "guys."

Unless you work in a wings place, pizza or sub shop it is totally unacceptable to call a table of customers guys unless their are no females present (and I am not even sure you should call customers guys in these instances either, even folks, y'all or you all is more appropriate.).

Case in point; I have gone out more than once to upscale restaurants with my wife where the check average is clearly more than $15-25 per person and we are often asked , "are you guys" ready to order, etc.

Some reasons that is un-acceptable for wait staff to ever address customers as "guys". Some simple thoughts for a wait person to know:

1) If there was ever a romantic thought going on at that table, you just killed it.
2) Some people, however stuffy you as a server may think they are, are customers that have a paying privilege to be addressed accordingly. As the check average rises so should the formality.
3) Just like you as a server cares which side to place the silverware on, so goes this etiquette.
4) Customers are not your friends and family. Even if it's a family style/casual restaurant stick to the formalities. I always prefer to hear and be called either sir, ma'am or ladies and gentlemen.

Curent Restaurant Incubator Index

This month's current RII displays continued growth in emerging chains with less than 200 stores. Data indicates November was the best month for the RII growth in 5 months.

Yes, things are slowing in AUV is many shapes and sizes, but business optimism has not stalled at all. And seemingly, there is sufficient capital for the continued expansion. There is specific growth in the QSR type of locations. Casual/Family style remains flat.

Recent press on small sandwiches, some bets.

Recently we have seen in various trade magazines of some restaurant groups and chains who are focusing on small sandwiches and hamburger sliders. The defining moment is the reality that fast casual and family/casual restaurants are finally seeing the light regarding lower check averages.

In our blog we stated around a year go that we saw this as being the future. If we can pretened to have a crystal ball and look further into the future, we would bet the trend will continue for the next 1-2 years and perhaps longer.

We bet that chains that are of the casual nature will figuratively change their concepts in other ways as well.

We can also state that family casual chain growth has come to a near halt. Some chains are continuing, but the pace is very slow. We see this as a positive as chains work on store level P&L improvements by spending more on staffing, training and employing newer and faster technologies on stores already opened.

To reiterate another way;

This lends itself to the notion that operations is back! We suspect the talented GM's will increase their earning potential. There is and will be less demand in the store replication departments and more demand on store improvements.

The NAFEM show in Atlanta, 2007

I spent two days at the show just walking the floor and networking. Here's what I saw;

Restaurant equipments time has truly come!

We are in a period where, if you could imagine it, it can be done. I saw custom fabrication employed by dozens of companies with the use of microchips and some various applications inside the guts of restaurant equipment with the internet infused at times.

As a publisher of business data online, there is a notion by many that we are in an if-you-can- think-it, you-can-make-it world on the internet. That notion is advancing more quickly than ever in the operations of restaurants.

Antibacterial everything was a significant theme as well.

In the TV show Kitchen Nightmares, how come you don't see any multi-units portrayed?

How come you don't see any multi-units portrayed in the TV show on FOX called Kitchen Nightmares?

Because Multi-units have what's called Standards of Operations (SOP) or Standard Operating Procedures. As a previous family restaurant operator and a chain GM I learned the difference, clearly.

The TV Show Kitchen Nightmares (for those who have not seen it), has Gordon Ramsay (famous restaurateur) entering into a restaurant that is failing for some reason(s) or another.

Gordon than (correctly and quickly it seems) does a review of the restaurant from the front door to the back. What he finds in each and every mission is a staff that seems oblivious in many facets of restaurant operations.

You would never see so many obvious mishaps in a multi-unit operators store because they have SOP's. A manager or supervisor almost always has a reference as to what to place here, there, and everywhere (for the most part). Then (optimally) how to hire, train, supervise and execute shifts, all with forms of documentation and feedback.

Of course, not all chain stores work this way, but by and large they (the big chains) mostly all have MANUALS.

The restaurant manuals help the operator/owner to stay on some sort of track (including recipes for food served). I am not trying to make it sound easy, because it is certainly not. But if you don't have SOP's how does a staff tell right from wrong in most cases? How you can have accountability without direction?

To sum it up in my opinion, single-unit independents are NOT being swallowed up by chains because of their marketing and ad budgets, but because of no SOP's and therefore poor accountability. It's hard to have pride in hitting the bulls-eye if you don't even have a target.

October's Top Ten Fastest Growing Concepts List

See the just released list of October's Top Ten Fastest Growing Concepts with less than 50 stores.

Four concepts were on previous lists this year. One concept that grew past 50 units had less than 50 at the start of the period. See the current list.

Mistakes in this weeks newsletter

Garlic Jims actually was #6 on our top ten list in July. We stated they were #10.

Also, Flemings increased by 8 units during the period, not 10 as we stated.

Sorry for any confusion.

We will print corrections in next weeks newsletter.

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State of the Industry. New Alerts feature.

1)In all this recent hullabaloo about the economy,

My opinion is reflected due to my organic involvement with the business is that, the industry is going strong.

Due to the (ever so) consistent nature of daily food consumption by customers, the shift is still decidedly quick service. People have not stopped eating, just shifted according to their wallets. Our research has continued to show this to be the case for at least the past two years.

We anticipated this to continue for the foreseeable future. The August RII (will be posted next week) along with our internal capturing of growing concepts (see newsletters) helps to prove the case.

And,

2) Restaurantchains.net is going to issue an alerts feature showing clients which concepts are achieving new unit growth plateaus and benchmarks. This will enable end-users as well as manufacturers see who the newest growth winners are. Stay tuned.

Natural progression of recent RII and other issues

If you have seen the RII in recent months you will notice a last quarters rise of burgeoning companies with less than 200 stores. Please follow the link above to see the recent outputs.

We have begun to syndicate our weekly newsletters. You should be seeing us on www.restaurantnewsresource.com and bluemaumau.org. These are two sites that are PR related. Each has it's own twist on presentation and audience. We expect to be posted on some other major sites shortly.

Julys Top Ten Fastest Growing concepts below 50 units

Top Ten list for July in order of largest percentage growth;

1. Which Wich
2. Tacos Don Chente
3. Homemade Pizza Co.
4. Costa Vida Fresh Mexican Grill
5. Heidi's Brooklyn Deli
6. Garlic Jim's Famous Gourmet Pizza
7. Fat Tuesday
8. Extreme Pizza
9. La Paletera
10. Ted's Montana Grill

Perfecting the figure 8, another 6th sense story

As a newbie manager in the 80's, the main issue for my leaders to get into my head was "awareness."

It was the ability to see what was going on where in the restaurant. Being that restaurants had a front as well as a back of the house in addition to numerous dining areas and entrances there was no real way to see it all once.

So we were taught to make a figurative "figure 8."

In other words to move from area to area, room to room and place to place over and over again throughout the shift. Then, from the perspective gained from floating from point to point you were able to gather the goings on of staffs and customers that often exceed 3 or 400 people, places and things to look at-all within minutes.

This was never easy, but this practice allows the unit manager to see, touch and feel the operation while being the manager on duty and providing necessary coaching and directing to create a successful shift. I found that this method was sound and enabled myself as well as other managers to obtain the elusive "sixth sense."

In order to graduate from a unit manager to become a GM, this was demanded of me. I believe most operators today strive for the same.

The NRA show in Chicago. Is it worth it to be an exhibitor?

I have been going to the NRA for 7 of the past 10 years and I have noticed some changes relating to how the show works, the attendees that visit and the exhibitors of which I am one of.

Being from outside of the region as an objective observer and a company trying to do business, I think it's fair for the amount of time I've spent at the show to make some reasonable observations.

This is my perspective as an exhibitor for the past three years,

1) The media hypes the show as a big deal. But it is a big deal. 75,000 folks going through Chicago veins is a lot of cash and great for the city.

2) Chicago rolls out the red carpet. Wherever you go the hospitality is felt.

3) There are more than 2,000 exhibitors.

4) The show is a big deal and very costly for the exhibitors as well. The exhibitors foot the bill more than any other sector. Even an 8'x10' booth commands around $2600 plus, electric, tables, chairs, shipping, handling, etc.

There are 8 miles of aisles. Then take into account the hotels, travel, food, entertaining, staffing etc.

All in all, it's a very large sum however you slice it.

5) Attendees have been increasingly local. More and more folks have badges that are of local states. This is the most painful part for the exhibitor after all the financial and emotional expense of putting on their show. Where are the non-regional restaurateurs?

Resulting opinion: By and large the show pays off for the bulk of the exhibitors. The exhibitors are always weighing their bang for the buck. So far the majority is hanging on year after year. But this is a national show and national attendee representation is waning.

Why does everyone in the greater Chicago area know that the NRA, perhaps is not the National Rifle Association and everywhere else, often automatically, believes that it is?

Additional thoughts turn to a marketing message that is not being heard in the national arena.

For the show to continue to thrive in Chicago, the city of Chicago working with the NRA must find a way or the show might lose some luster as a national meeting place for the industry.

Management today, NRA show May 19-22, 2007

From my days in restaurant operations a few things held true. The General Manager was the "key" to the success of any store, and of great importance during busy shifts. It seemed the sixth sense was necessary to run a great store. It still is that way, but we have been seeing from a number of operators the "decentralization of talent."

Corporate offices want to to take away the drudgery and the artfulness. But is it possible? We think it is. We are seeing more and more operations who are working on a simplified system of narrow menu choices, big value to the customer and employee empowerment. Currently all indications are that this trend will continue.


Today's newsletter will be our last until after the NRA show. Exhibit space is sold out and it expects to be busy. See you there. We will be at booth #6365.

Fluidity-let's talk Chipotle

Chipotle, it's restaurant and their stock are on an upswing if you haven't noticed their recent per share price. By the way, I am not a stock holder nor an operative for the company.

Most public chains today are huge due to their massive display of growth in stores and foot traffic. Same store sales of chains can often show an increase congruent to their advertising, promotion and PR department(s) expenditures.

But something feels different at Chipotle. On the customer end, their is a feeling of fluidity from the moment you get in the door through your last bite before exiting. There is an overwhelming part that makes you feel as though you are part of the process, and within this process, you feel valued and important all while spending around $10 and not leaving hungry.

My opinion is that if you can emulate that, you will have a winner on your hands. If you haven't visited a Chipotle, try it- I bet you will feel the same way.

Industry insights- operations and acquisitions

We are always tracking chains that are growing, those that are being acquired and those that are closing units. In addition, where I sit at my desk I typically have CNBC on the TV.

I often wonder while watching the stock channel as well as industry publications regarding buyouts as to what qualifies them to perform this sort of surgery on restaurants. From my perspective some chains and some management groups are suited to certain types of operations. It's almost always a square peg in a round hole and yet it is tried over and over again. However if the goal is to slash and burn by selling off or closing units, or changing trade names and concept operations, and your company is public, this can at times make wall street happy.

As for operators, we have noticed some large multi-concept growth in chains that are not meeting customer standards trying to run different concepts. For example, If their DNA is full service casual without deep formal training in upscale operations, I have found that by and large they simply cannot run them to discriminating levels and visa versa for those who make the addition of quick service to their already casual or upscale concepts.

Industry insights- fast service, cheaper eats

We are reading in the media these days regarding the notion that fast service restaurants are out pacing full service restaurants regarding expansion of locations and unit volume increases versus those with higher check averages. Seems like old news to me.

It's been apparent with the ultra high cost of running full service locations and the squeeze put upon the broad mass of the population in the past 1-3 years, there isn't much choice if you are frequent diner who may go out to eat 5 plus times per week. Can an average person (let alone a family) really afford more than $15 per person for a meal multiple times per week, every week? I suppose some can. But new chain developments and those that are growing are decidedly quick/fast service, and have been.

April's top ten

Aprils Top Ten list of fastest growing concepts is now out. The winner, Nemos Seafood has a quick service seafood concept that more than doubled it's number of units within 4 months. Companies with less than 50 units and more than 3 are used for this study.

The Top Ten are:

1) Nemos Seafood
2) Shane's Rib Shack
3) Let's Dish!
4) Oceanaire Seafood Room
5) Hurricane Grill & Wings
6) Granite City Food & Brewery
7) Ohana Hawaiian BBQ
8) Jim 'N Nick's BAR-B-Q
9) Stevi B's Pizza
10) Crispers Fresh Salads and Such

Watch next week for our RCO2000 press release along with March's Restaurant Incubator Index results.

NY Restaurant show

In this years walk and talk of the NY restaurant show we saw the following compared to previous years (By the way, we walk the entire show at least twice) :

1) Lots and lots of Bakery items. Similar to last year as far as the number of cookies, croissants, cakes and specialty sweets. The move towards individual high taste desserts has not changed at all.

2) This year, spirits and beer sections were interspersed vs. last year when they were in one section. It seemed like a lot more fun last year, but perhaps for the vendor it made more sense to diminish the party atmosphere helping them to speak with serious buyers. I think last year they were overwhelmed with dispensing.

3) We always see new vendors and entrepreneurs at trade shows who tell us, "we just started with this show." There seem to be many this year. Innovation never ends.

However we often scratch our heads with wonder as to why any person or company would begin sales, their first days, with a trade show. I suppose it works now and then, but we have seen less than 1% of these efforts ever succeed to come back in subsequent years. It seems that new trade show exhibitors expect too much. I have to imagine it might work this way in other industries, but not ours.

4) The show was rocking busy! Once again, the exposition company got the people there.

New information for users (and future clients)

We have just completed a migration to a more robust database. Speed and use issues have been resolved by the move to SQL server . In addition it's now easier to look up by key contact name.

In the very near future the export tool will allow you to choose the exact fields to export as well as the type of layout vs. the current limited allowance of two export models with fixed layouts.

Coming next week you will see a launch of our new free service for Chain operators called, "restaurant trademark watch."

Expect some surprises by the Spring, including a release of the data that's behind the Restaurant Incubator Index. It's been about a year, we have tailored our tracking to produce "never seen before" statistics of the restaurant chains we follow in our universe.

Included will be future forecasting of industry types. Please stay tuned!

Alerts Newsletter Pro

Today begins the start of a more enhanced newsletter that includes more detailed information than our typical Restaurantchains.net Alerts Newsletter.

The reason for the change and the enhancement is as follows:

*Readers wanted more information than we were offering.
*Internally we found we required additional income to make a more sophisticated newsletter.
*Non-subscribers were deluging companies in the Alerts Newsletter with too many prospecting phone calls. We believe the free aspect of the newsletter did not help sales personnel to be as discreet as they typically are.

So, starting today we are going to limit the amount of stories for no charge and provide the extra information we had not previously offered. The cost is around $7.50 per week.

Paid subscribers (and Restaurantchains.net Pro clients-the enhanced newsletter will be included with their company subscription) will be receiving a larger newsletter with contact folks, emails and all company particulars in MS Word and MS Excel formats.

Announcing January 07 list of TopTen Growing Concepts

Announcing our quarterly list of the top 10 growers. As a result of our every four month re-verification in combination with our Restaurant Chain Incubator Index we have put together a top 10 list of growing concepts. A new list will be published every calendar quarter.

They are in this order.

Top 10

1. Papaya King
2. Starwich Salads and Sandwiches
3. Bearclaw coffee
4. Fish City Grill
5. Spicy Pickle Sub Shop
6. Bajio Grill
7. Rumbi Island Grill
8. Heidi's Brooklyn Deli
9. Doubledave's Pizza Works
10. Jreck Subs

Our criteria and methods are posted on the RestaurantChains.net website. Click to see

Clients can view the details of each company, now many units, AUV, annual sales, contact personnel, square footage, seats, average check, etc.