WELCOME BACK TO SOUPFLY!
I just returned from a 4 day seminar entitled-High Performance Academy by speaker, author, trainer-Brendon Burchard. If you are unfamiliar with him, I highly recommend that you get introduced to him and his work, as it truly is cutting edge stuff. You can find him on YouTube here:https://www.youtube.com/channels?q=brendon+burchard
I would absolutely recommend that you get yourself a copy of any of his books, The Charge, Life’s Golden Ticket, The Millionaire Messenger, The Motivation Manifesto.
You can find them all here: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_0_8?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=brendon+burchard&sprefix=brendon+%2Caps%2C493
Since having just spent 4 days in training, I am inspired to share with you about the value and importance of training. I am not going to share all the secrets of High Performance which Brendon shared at that Amazing event but I will talk about how and why training is so vital in our industry as Service Professionals.
So let’s jump right in. I am a learner. I have always been a person who strives to know more, learn more and better myself in all areas of my life. I learned long ago that “Learners are earners” and “Readers are leaders”. I don’t remember who said it, but I know that that is absolutely true. If one desires to succeed in life or in business, one must continually be learning and growing. If you are not learning and growing then you are doing the opposite-you are not thriving-you, my friend, are dying. If you are a person who believes in and seeks out opportunities for growth and development both personally and professionally, then what I’m going to share here will resonate with you.
We Must Change Our Mindset about Training
In the Service and Hospitality arena it seems that the idea of ongoing education is often a foreign concept. Let me explain what I mean by that. In almost every other industry there are a myriad of opportunities for one to attend workshops, seminars, trainings, etc. For example, my wife is a nurse, she is required to keep up to date on best practices for her industry. In addition, seminars and workshops are always being offered either by the hospital, a pharmaceutical company or other industry related association. While it is not required that she attend each and every training that is offered, there is a desire and mindset by most in her profession to keep current and to continually learn. If a nurse says she is attending a seminar, training or workshop her peers do not look quizzically at her. The same is true for professionals that work in real estate, IT, education, manufacturing, engineering etc. Other professionals, such as those in HR, have advanced certification levels they can aspire to and once reaching such certification-they must maintain it thru on-going education. This simply is not the case in the Service and Hospitality field. Training and on-going training is not the norm. And that is unfortunate.
If we, as Service Professionals do not value training we will not invest in it. Restaurant owners and managers wonder why business is slow or why their establishment is not getting positive reviews. One of the answers is that you are not training your staff to excel in Service and Hospitality. Ask yourself if your team is truly delivering WOW! Service and Hospitality to your guests? If you don’t believe that training is important; if you don’t really believe that training has a direct impact on your bottom line, then you will not schedule it, budget for it and you certainly will not hire an outsider to come in and train your team.
Training affects the level of Service and Hospitality that your team delivers to your guests which ultimately determines the level of your business’ success or failure.
Most often, an owner/operator whose restaurant or establishment is failing or not doing great will view training as “a cost they can’t afford right now”. Owners will say things like, “We have other things we have to take care of/fix first.” Or “We need to get the right people on the team first before we can think about training.” And when I hear that, I think that’s too bad for their customers. It’s as if they think they have to get every other area fixed first before training their team becomes a priority. So, they’ll spend money on advertising because business is slow. They’ll spend money on bringing in entertainment, putting on special events-all of which can contribute to increasing business. But if the Service and Hospitality is not on point-that’s a lot of carts being put ahead of the horse. Meanwhile the Service & Hospitality that the team is delivering is sub-par or certainly below what is possible and as a result the customers suffer.
Most restaurants do have some system of training new employees. So, it’s not that they don’t have training at all. It’s just that it’s only at that time-for new hires. And that training is often-only on the menu. In that case the Service Staff may be very well versed on the menu but they have no clue on the simplest of things, like how to properly present, open and pour wine. Or on how to greet and treat the guest. Or how to respond to complaints or how to answer the phone properly. Or any of a myriad of other things. For an establishment to grow the business, create a positive reputation for itself and to thrive in this highly competetive market, they must not only train new hires but they must have on-going training for all their front of house staff. Sometimes if the establishment has an ongoing training program it is not inclusive for all Front of House Staff. Even if they bring in an outside professional trainer, they only involve the servers and bartenders, to the exclusion of the host/hostess staff, bussers, and food runners. Whenever you implement any front of the house training program, everyone that works front of the house should be included-even management.
The Value of Training-Why Training is Important
- It keeps your staff sharp, current & up to date and on the cutting edge. They’ll be more knowledgeable & professional.
- It raises standards. You can’t expect what you don’t inspect. You can’t expect what’s not been taught, trained.
- Shows staff that you are serious and that you care. If you aren’t willing to invest in them-you’ll get what you get.
- Creates synchronicity and a Team Mentality
- Shows your customers that you care. They deserve great service-Training will help ensure that
- It will differentiate you from the competition. The restaurants down the street aren’t training their people
- You will attract better quality candidates when hiring. Set standards of excellence- that’s who you’ll attract
- Your Team will perform better because they feel engaged
- Your Team will be motivated to do well
- It will dramatically affect the business in positive ways-Increased Morale + Increased Energy+ Increased Expectations + Elevated Level of Service & Hospitality= Increase in Business, Revenue and Positive Reviews
Those of you who do have an ongoing training program, who bring in experts in wine, hospitality, sales, communication, to educate and train your team, you already know the benefits of training. I congratulate you and thank you. Yours are the establishments that we love to go to because we know that we will have a great experience there. It’s not that everything is always perfect there but if a Soupfly arises, your staff and management are well equipped to turn it around and they’ve already started out on the right foot by setting the tone in a positive way. I encourage all Service & Hospitality professionals to be learners and readers. Have a desire to better yourself. Strive for more knowledge. Find and create opportunities for your team to learn. Take a few minutes each day to teach your team something. Hire an outside expert to come in and do a special session or series for your team. The benefits far outweigh the cost. In fact, it’s really an investment in the success of your team and your business. Personally, every time I have attended a training, a seminar, a workshop on any topic, whether I paid for it myself or the company I was working for did, I always came away with actionable items to implement, a renewed commitment to personal and professional excellence and it always resulted in some positive change/result in my work and my life.
Isn’t that what you desire for your business and team-positive outcome? A dramatically different and better result? Quantifiable improved results? You’ll never get to WOW! Service and Hospitality without a plan and a strategy that includes training for your team. Make a decision today to make training a priority, You will be grateful for the improvements in your team’s morale, knowledge, skill and the overall level of service and hospitality. As well as the positive benefits to your business and the peaceful feeling it will instill in you, knowing that your business is thriving.
We are still offering my book at a Special Discounted price in honor of National Customer Service Week-(last week) for ONLY $15.00 plus Shipping!! For a limited time only. Regular price on Amazon is $28.95.
Go here to order your copy today!!
If you are outside the United States, I encourage you to order on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Getting-WOW-Everybody-WINS-Service/dp/0692359192/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1444764261&sr=8-1&keywords=Christoff+J.+Weihman
Thank you so much for reading! I am so grateful for all my readers from 108 countries around the world. Please help share the message of Soupfly by sharing on Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter! I encourage you to Like our Facebook Page here:
https://www.facebook.com/SoupFly-1438615929733655/timeline/
Elevating Service & Hospitality,
Christoff J. Weihman
ASPIRE Enterprises
Las Vegas, NV
725 777 9900
Soupfly 