Article

BOOK REVIEW: SETTING THE TABLE

The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business

Danny Meyer

About the Author

In 1985, Danny Meyer entered the restaurant industry at age twenty-seven with very little experience and a deep love for serving others. This passion of hospitality has served him well, as he is now the founder and co-owner of eleven exceptional dining establishments. All of his restaurants, such as Shake Shack, Union Square Café, and Blue Smoke, started in New York. Meyer says his guests expect three specific things from his brand: "culinary excellence, knowledgeable service, and gracious hospitality." It seems to be the recipe for success.

Meyer, his restaurants and chefs have been awarded an unprecedented twenty-eight James Beard Awards. Hospitality does not stop at his restaurants. Meyer's serves on the board of Share Our Strength and has long supported hunger relief initiatives, such as City Harvest. In his New York Times bestseller, Setting the Table, Meyer reflects on how important hospitality is in any restaurant or business. He then goes a step further and educates the reader on how to attain a consistent hospitable environment in your own restaurant.

Key Concepts

• Secrets to Achieving Genuine Hospitality
• How to Hire
• Hospitality Killers
• Formula for Success
• Application

Review

Danny Meyer credits the success of his numerous restaurants to one simple concept: hospitality is everything. Hospitality turns out to be a powerful component in getting repeat business and building a stellar reputation within the community. Every guest walks through your door craving something more than food, even if they don't know it. There are dozens of restaurants around your city that potential diners can choose from. You need to provide guests with a memorable experience to keep them walking through your doors.

"Hospitality is the sum of all the thoughtful, caring, gracious things our staff does to make you feel we are on your side when you are dining with us."
- Danny Meyer

A big part of a guest's experience is based on their interaction with your staff and how well they are cared for. You need to provide your guests with an environment of hospitality. If you treat your customers with respect and foster a hospitality focused culture at your restaurant, you can bet that those guests will be back! Hospitality outweighs anything else you can provide to your guests. Danny Meyer teaches you exactly how to grow a culture of hospitality in "Setting the Table."

What is Hospitality

Everyone in the restaurant industry knows what service is (all the technical stuff): customers walk in, the hostess seats them, server takes their order, food is delivered, guests leave, the end. Unfortunately, that is a narrow-minded approach that inhibits your restaurant's potential.

Hospitality is the key ingredient in tapping into that potential. It is often overlooked or deemed unimportant because it cannot be measured. Hospitality includes the service part, but focuses on the people rather than the task. It is all about how you make your guests feel. Do your guests feel like you are going through the motions or actively engaging with them? Your answer is directly linked to your restaurant's success.

Shared Ownership

Something magical happens when you and your staff members take a genuine interest in those you are serving. You begin to form relationships with diners, who then become regulars because they know that they can go to your place for great food served by people who care. If you don't think this is important then think again. When was the last time you returned to a restaurant where the staff treated you disrespectfully?

Meyer's says that the result of this bond between your staff members and guests is a feeling of "shared ownership." "Shared ownership" is when a guest feels so accepted and appreciated by a restaurant that he or she naturally starts talking about the restaurant as if it is their own. Just think of the power this bond has.

Those guests will become your brand's representatives who will naturally share their experiences at your restaurant with others. Never forget that word-of-mouth is significantly more powerful than advertisements. Make people feel heard, acknowledged, and well taken care of and they will share their memorable dining experience with others the first chance they get.

The feeling of "shared ownership" does not happen the first time a guest dines with you. It happens over time. If you want to have regulars, your dining experience must be consistent. You have to train your staff to take a genuine interest in every customer they interact with, every day. Hospitality should be ingrained into the very DNA of your restaurant's culture. Guests will see right through your charade if you are only playing a part. Hospitality is guest focused and must be genuine.

Barrier or Bridge

Your job is to educate your employees to be able to detect and meet the needs of your guests. They also need your trust and the freedom to problem solve for themselves. Not every situation has a by-the-book solution.

Hospitality starts with how guests perceive your staff. You need to educate and empower employees to "bridge the gap" between themselves and guests, so that they can effectively meet guests' needs. Hospitality starts with your guests feeling that you are on their side.

"Policies are nothing more than guidelines to be broken for the benefit of our guests. We're here to give the guests what they want, period."
- Danny Meyer

Unfortunately, and even unintentionally, many managers create a "them" versus "us" mentality. Employees can often become so bogged down with policies and procedures that they may be uncomfortable in meeting a guest's need if it is not covered in a handbook.

This potential "barrier" strips employees of an opportunity to be creative and create a wow moment for their guests. Policies are important, but sometimes it's okay to break a rule or two as long as it is in the name of hospitality. Empower employees to get creative in creating an incredible experience for guests.

Hospitality Killers

A hospitable environment is created by a series of individual actions performed consistently. Just one wrong move and your hospitable environment can come to a screeching halt. It is imperative that you educate employees about the dialogue of hospitality because it needs to be delivered genuinely and not as a one-man act.

Here is the number one way to achieve a hospitable environment according to Meyer: "instruct staff members to figure out whatever it takes to make the guests feel welcomed and understand that we are in their corner." Since hospitality flows from a dialogue and not a monologue, the language you use to interact with guests is very important.

Empty questions get empty answers. Avoid asking, "How is everything?" Asking this question almost guarantees an answer along the lines of, "fine, good, or great." Instead, tell your employees to ask questions that encourage a full, and meaningful answer. This is the perfect time to get guest feedback.

"No problem" is a problem. Always answer a "Thank you" with "You are welcome." Never answer with "no problem." It comes off as sounding as though you thought their request caused you to go out your way. That is definitely a hospitality killer.

It is not about you. The wants and needs of your guests always come first. It is your job to anticipate what those are. Read their body language. Do they look like they are having a deep conversation? If so, now is not the time to engage them in unnecessary conversation. Drop the food off and go. Is there a lull in the conversation and they are just looking around at the scenery? This is a great time to engage them in a conversation and maybe even share an interesting fact about the restaurant.

Slow down speed racer. Isn't it annoying when a hostess races you to your table? Tell your front-of-the- house employees to slow down enough to match the pace of their guests. For example, employees would instinctively know to treat an elderly couple different then a rambunctious group of teens. Similarly, each party that walks through your doors has a pace. Your job is simply to find and match that pace. This applies to servers as well.

Table for One. Your staff should treat a table of one the same as a table of four. Someone who has decided to dine alone should be seen paying a compliment to your restaurant. The person could have eaten anywhere else, including at home. Keep in mind that today's table of one could be tomorrows party of eight. Hospitality should never be dependent on the amount of people at a table.

How to Hire

An environment that fosters hospitality is created by every single employee. You must hire well. Your restaurants success depends on it. You need to have a great training program that helps solidify the importance of hospitality and how an employee can create that.

The concept of hospitality applied in the restaurant industry might be new to some individuals. First things first, let's dive into Meyer's excellent insights into how you can spot a winner in your hiring process. Remember, the people you hire have a greater impact on the guest experience than anything else, including you.

Paper versus Person

A resume cannot show you the potential someone has. It doesn't reveal their attitude, values, or how well they work in a team. A list of their impressive accomplishments doesn't mean they are a right fit for your restaurant. A resume is simply a starting point. It tells you their past, not their future. Treat face-to-face interviews as a more reliable source. Here are a few pointers for going into an interview:

• If you have already read their resume, don't spend time going over it with them. Unless you have questions specifically regarding something on that piece of paper, move on.
• Ask them about how they work in a team setting. Let them give you an example of how they overcame an obstacle within a group setting.
• Ask them about their values. It will give you an insight into their character.
• Good people like working with good people. Would you want to work alongside this person?
• Look for the "excellence reflex." The excellence reflex is a natural reaction to fix something that isn't right, or to improve something that could be better.

51% Solution

In theory, if the perfect candidate were to score perfect marks on a suitability test, "his or her potential for technical excellence would count for 49% and innate emotional skills for hospitality would count for 51%." Meyer doesn't just ask if a candidate can perform the job. He focuses on their ability to relate to others on a personal level. Having staff members who have natural people skills makes your job much easier in creating a hospitable environment.

"The excellence reflex is a natural reaction to fix something that isn't right, or to improve something that could be better. Either it's there or it isn't so we need to train how to hire for it."
- Danny Meyer

Meyer looks for five core emotional skills: "optimistic warmth, intelligence, work ethic, empathy, and integrity." You can teach anyone how to serve someone (mechanics), but you can't teach someone to care about the person they are serving. You want a team who is highly motivated in giving your guests a memorable experience from the moment they walk in. Strive to hire only 51%'ers.

Tips to Consider

Before you go out to recruit managers, look within your own team. It is very beneficial to promote from within. As an owner, you already know the person, which saves time in the interview process and takes a lot of guess work out of the equation. You already know how this person operates. It also encourages your staff to work hard so they can move up the ladder. Hiring from within saves you stress and gives your team an incentive to work harder.

Application: Get to the Point

(RO.com Insights)

Hire for Emotional Skill. Review your hiring process. Does it focus on a resume or the character of the person? Be sure to educate your managers on how to pick 51%'ers. Come up with a list of questions in advance to help you determine emotion skill in the hiring process.

Train Employees. Communicate with your employees that they need to build bridges with guests, not barriers. You are always on the guests' side. The language you choose to use matters. Avoid the hospitality killers list mentioned earlier.

A Word to Managers. An effective leader has a vision set for their team, holds each person to high standards, and keeps a constant pulse on the restaurant's culture. The leader regularly communicates with their team members and guides them back to the restaurant's vision if they veer off course. Always value hospitality over service.

Employees are looking at your actions to see if you really believe that people come first. If any employee threatens the morale of your team, get rid of them right away. Good people like working with good people. Continuously challenge and teach new skills to employees. It will create engagement. A mundane work environment is a hospitality killer.

Speak with a Purpose. Your words carry weight to those who are following you. Avoid giving them a reason to question you. As a leader, you need to lead, but you also need to listen. Communication goes both ways. Think of yourself as a coach. You know the end game, or vision, and how each person will help the team get there, but they may not.

Give them a clear path to follow and provide them with an environment that will foster their success. A team's culture starts with you. You need to decide the rules, or values, they are going to play by. Team members who don't play by the rules are out. One person is not going to destroy your winning streak.

There is power in accountability. Genuine hospitality is first achieved internally among your staff and then externally to your guests. Communicate your values so effectively within your team that it becomes their own values. They are no longer doing it just to get by. They are living it. They naturally call out teammates who are slacking and encourage them to adjust their attitude for the sake of the team. If your staff can say they feel like a team, then you are headed in the right direction.

As a leader it is your job to clearly define the vision you have for your team, communicate the values and behaviors they are to uphold, and then hold each person accountable for it. As you coach, never neglect to encourage them, praise their performance, and listen to them.

Communication is so important and is critical in building a strong culture. There is always a great leader behind a restaurant that is known for its hospitable environment. Hospitality starts with you.

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