Think It's Crazy?

By: T.J. Schier
Submitted: 2007-01-17 15:15:08
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Think many of our jobs can't be replaced by technology? Think again. Automated payment systems, drive-thru menuboard enhancements, and POS systems with the ability to customize and up-sell have already replaced (and in most cases enhanced) some cashier functions and provide a better guest experience. If your cashiers and drive-thru personnel simply go through a series of steps to take orders, they soon might be obsolete.

However, if you are training (and the employees are delivering) ‘hospitality,' guests won't allow those functions to go away. Guests today are demanding and like to be in control. If your cashiers or drive-thru attendants are simply spouting robotic, scripted phrases and pushing buttons on a register, many guests would simply prefer to do those functions themselves. Think it's crazy?

Walk into most grocery stores today, and certainly nearly all gas stations, and you can scan your own groceries and pay for them without ever having to interact with a cashier. People don't want to wait in line—they like control of their time. Self-service gas pumps and checkout lines allow that to happen, and the stores to save money.

It would take a short while for guests to become comfortable with ringing up their own transactions at a drive-thru or kiosk, but once they learn, watch out! No longer are cashiers needed. Think it's crazy? A short 6-8 years ago, hardly anyone purchased airline tickets online and now travel agents have nearly been replaced by technology.

Technology has replaced many of the mundane tasks that took us away the guests—inventory, ordering, tracking and so on. What are you doing with that extra time? If you don't want your cashiers and drive-thru attendants replaced by technology, ensure they are adding to the experience of the guest.

Hospitality is the emotional side of the service transaction. It's rare today. Make it a competitive advantage of yours. People pay for value. They want to be pampered and treated fantastic, even if it's a short 30-second transaction at the counter or in the drive-thru lane.

Where do guests still demand human interaction? SERVICE! Many people hate the phone systems where you can never talk to a real person or sending an email to ‘customer service' in hopes of getting a response. Customers still like to talk and interact with real people, whether face-to-face or through a speaker box as long as the person is adding value to the transaction.

Technology is a great thing if it's embraced and properly used. POS and menuboard enhancements allow us to serve more guests than ever. Keeping the human touch is even more important now; it's dwindling both in and out of our industry. Using technology wisely allows us to focus human interaction to key parts of the guest experience. Embrace technology and allow it to make your job simpler. Doing so ensures you can spend more time on the parts of your business that matter most—the employees and guests. Leverage technology so you can be out with your guests more frequently, as well as spend more time training employees on the critical sizzle points of the guests' experiences. Why would they go anywhere else?

Replace old, tired phrases with these and watch as guests frequent your restaurant:

FIZZLE

• ‘Any questions?'
• ‘Have you decided yet?'
• ‘Ready to order?'
• ‘For here or to-go?'
• ‘No problem' ‘My pleasure.'
• ‘Anything else?'
• ‘You don't want to upsize that, do you?'

SIZZLE

• ‘May I make a few suggestions?'
• ‘If you can't decide, I'd recommend the…'
• ‘Our most popular combo is the…'
• ‘Welcome back—great to see you again!'
• ‘We are featuring two great specials…'
• ‘We have two sizes of value meals, which do you prefer?

Other Sizzle points':

• Checking back on the meal
• Offering drink refills
• Pre-bus the table (and suggest dessert)

Article source: Expert Articles