Business cards for waiters?

I went to the Olive Garden this evening with my parents and the waitress left the pictured card. It reads:

"It was my pleasure serving you today"

I think this is a great piece of marketing for the waitstaff. It gives them a tool to help build a personal relationship with clientele. It can help serve as a reminder for guests returning on a regular basis as to who their favorite server was.

The card also facilitates a more professional and personal relationship with the guest, which may result in bigger tips :D and regular guests.

It was brought to my attention that some diners may see these cards as insincere. They may also begin to question the cost of these cards and how it has been rolled into the menu prices. I think the relative cost per guest experience is negligible and that the expense is worthwhile. Even if the effect these cards have is on an unconscious level they are sure to enrich the service experience and at least for the time being serve to differentiate Olive Garden in the marketplace.

This would be an easy tactic to adapt to your organization. Even small businesses can use this strategy to help encourage a higher touch at the customer contact level. I have used OvernightPrints.com in the past to get business cards. For a relatively low cost you could purchase contact cards for your frontline staff to help encourage customers you already have to return, which may have more of a relative impact than advertising to potential customers who may never come in.

DC

Say my name, say my name....

Next time you are interacting with a client, try this simple trick: use their name. It sounds obvious and simple but it can have real impact in a retail/dinning experience.

When I was waiting tables to put myself through college the restaurants I worked for often employed "secret shoppers" in order to insure quality customer service. One of the aspects we were graded on was a warm goodbye. It is hard to overestimate the importance of a fond farewell in the customer service experience.

I was recently at a fast food restaurant drive through (it was a moment of weakness) and I was thanked, as I usually am, by the attendant. The difference was this time it felt like a warm valediction instead of a forced utterance. The part that blew me away was that the employee actually used my last name. This is such a simple trick, but one that I don't think enough people use.

Most of us now pay with credit or bank cards with our names on them. It is so easy to read a name during an interaction. When I was working for tips this is something I would gladly do, as I had read once that it ingratiates yourself to the tipper. To have this done at a fast food restaurant blew me away. I will likely return to this location more often because of the generally more positive impression that I have. Again this is such a simple trick that should be employed more often. The wounds of standing in line could easily be resolved by a pleasant "thank you Mr. So-and-So" at the end of a retail experience. High-end retailers like Nordstrom do this why can't Target and Wal-mart?

So how would you implement a behavior shift like this? I think that you could always employ methods like secret shoppers but the real challenge is to integrate this behavior into your culture. During morning meetings and interactions it is up to the leaders of an organization to set the standard. Develop a script for yourself and stick to it. Try thanking your employees by name more often and in lieu of simple good byes and see if you don't notice a change in how they interact with you, each other, and the clientele.

The Beer Summit

In my opinion few indigestibles have as interesting a history as beer. Beer has been enjoyed by Pharaohs and Kings. Even our founding father's were beer drinkers. George Washington had a brewhouse at Mount Vernon. Many of our Presidents have been beer drinkers right through to Mr. Obama.

Mr. Obama undoubtedly knows that beer can serve as a tool to lubricate uneasy conversations, and as such he invited Harvard Professor Henry Gates and Cambridge, Mass., Police Sgt. James Crowley over during their 15 minutes, for a beer. Mr Gates is the gentleman who you may recall was arrested for apparently breaking into his own house last week. This Beer Summit has sparked a dialogue about race relations in this country. Many questions have arisen regarding racial profiling, police harassment and whether Obama is really our "post racial" president. I'm going to leave those topics to other blogs, my thoughts are focused on the beer.

It was released in advance by the Whitehouse Press Secretary that Gates would enjoy a Red Stripe, Crowley a Blue Moon and Obama a Bud Light (which was originally reported to be a Bud and then changed). These choices in beers have actually resulted in some heated discussions of late. All three beers are products of large foreign brewers. Red Stripe is a product of Jamaica but the parent company is British, Blue Moon despite some tricky labeling is not Belgian it is Canadian. Bud Light however could be thought of as Belgian as it is now the product of InBev.

I'll disregard the choices of Gates and Cowley as largely apolitical but a little inappropriately stereotypical for such an occasion. I am however disappointed in Mr. Obama's choice. I understand that it likely wasn't even his choice, he has handlers and political image artists that probably make the decision for him, but I think it was a poor one.

By choosing a Bud Light, he is appealing to the lowest common denominator. Which I guess is what you do in a democracy. He chose the most popular beer, when he could have opened us up to something new. Something sophisticated. Something truly domestic. He could have elevated our paletes as he has the dialogue in this country. I could see our previous President as a Bud Light man but not Barack. I bet at home, if he drinks beer it is not a Bud Light. I would wager Barack is likely a Hieneken man at times, but sipping from that green bottle in public would be political suicide. Some have joked that TsingTao would have been an appropriate choice as China holds the note to a significant portion of our debt. I could also see Barack drinking some exotic micro-brew which would have sent the press into hysterics.

I personally would have liked Mr. O to choose a Sam Adams. NPR had a great interview with Sam Adam's founder Jim Koch on this subject that is worth a listen. I think by choosing a quintessentially American beer Barack would have been sending a great "buy American" message. Also it could have opened a lot of Bud Light drinkers to a more sophisticated beer drinking experience.

Too often do we suffer mediocrity just because it is common.

DC