Points of Profit News-the
newsletter that promotes service excellence, leadership building and enhanced
profits in the restaurant and hospitality industry. This monthly resource
provides quick tips, tools and solutions you can use right away to instill a
passion for service in your business, build real and lasting profits and help
develop your managers into leaders.
February 19, 2001 Issue 13
Ron Yudd, Editor, www.ronyudd.com
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Welcome to Points of
Profit News. I hope you had an opportunity to reflect on last year’s
accomplishments and set new goals for this year. Remember, it’s all about step-by-step,
building brick-by-brick. Success comes to those that have laser beam focus,
perseverance and believe they will succeed.
Remember last month’s tip on the three things that every
customer wants? All customers really want is to be acknowledged,
treated with genuine concern and enjoy a hassle free experience. How
can we really implement these in our businesses? One of the truly effective
ways to teach these concepts is to have the learner experience the opposite. Think
about how a guest feels when they are not recognized, encounter a fake or
“plastic” greeting and anything they ask for is “hassle city”. Have fun setting
this type of scene up in your brief line up meetings. Have you managers and
supervisors “get” the treatment in a role-play and then ask the service staff
how to turn things around.
Take Home Tip On Service- Begin a journal of all
the “roadblocks” to service excellence in your operation and then as the leader
take on the role of breaking down the roadblocks one by one. Many of the
roadblocks to service excellence can be found in what is creating a hassle for
your guests and your staff.
Remember last month’s discussion of “cooking” with the Three
C’s of Leadership? Well these were the foundation for building leadership
skills within your organization. Communication, Coaching and
Cheerleading were our jumping off point for establishing an environment
where leadership skills could flourish. Communication means that there are no
secrets in a successful business---everyone understands the mission and is
working from the same page. Coaching means that the fundamentals are being
taught and practiced everyday in the operation. Cheerleading simply means that
when individuals and teams succeed that their accomplishments are being
celebrated loudly and publicly.
These are really the key to building leaders within the
organization. Next month we will begin to explore each of the twelve
ingredients of the successful leader.
As promised this issue kicks off our feature---Points of
Profit. We will explore one point of profit each month to help you enhance the
profitability of your business. This month’s Point of Profit--------
Walk the flow of product with childlike eyes. We introduced this concept last
month. Let’s work on the details-----Pick a day that you will come to your
business and pretend that you have never been there before. Think like you are
back in first grade and everything is brand new. Walk the flow of product from
back door to customer. As you walk this path ask yourself “why” things are
being done like this. Why do we leave the back door open when we are finished
receiving? Why do the deliveries sit out until someone has time to put them
away? Why do we buy things from this particular vendor? You can see where this
can lead you----to questioning the practices that have become part of your
everyday business cycle! Why do we have to pretend we are in the first grade?
Being “childlike” ensures that we are open to change and not holding on to
things because we were the person that made a particular decision or created a
policy that turns out not to be so good for our profitability. Take one area
(receiving, storing, issuing etc.) per day and walk through it. You’ll be
surprised how much you learn about your business by simply acting like a kid
again!
Last month’s Take Home
Idea ------ Building a customer relationship program by creating your own
e-zine newsletter. Find great information
at www.e-zinez.com
This month’s Take Home
Idea------- When getting ready to introduce a new concept or service gather
your “Fan Club”. This fan club is made up of your top 50 customers. These are
the people that already know you and love your service. Invite them for a
tasting or a mini reception where some giveaways will be provided. Get their
input, listen to their comments and suggestions and let them know their value
to your business. There is marketing gold in your top 50 customers. They become
your advocates and low cost salespersons. Nurture this group to help grow your
business.
Bonus
Take Home-Website for exploring food and nutrition and lots more-visit-www.blonz.com
Points
of Profit Leadership Inc. helps companies develop their managers into leaders.
We are a “one stop shop” for resources and tools for enhancing customer service
levels, increasing profitability and developing leadership skills within your
organization.
Points of Profit News is an online means of sharing information of interest
to the restaurant and hospitality community. You are encouraged to send
questions, make observations and share items of interest. E-mail your ideas,
thoughts and contributions along with your name, address and phone number to: ronyudd@ronyudd.com
Ron Yudd is a recognized expert on developing profit strategies and customer service solutions. Ron provides his clients with the tools for their success. He accomplishes this through keynotes, seminars, workshops, facilitation consulting and personal coaching. His keynotes and seminars—Leadership Legacy, Leadership for the Bottom Line, No One Escapes Customer Service and Mentoring Today for Leaders Tomorrow have helped business operators focus in on building leadership skills, improve customer service and enhance the profitability of their operations. He combines a motivating style with practical “take home” ideas. You can reach him at www.ronyudd.com or email him at ronyudd@ronyudd.com. His office number is 301-540-5791. Copyright 2001 by Ron Yudd.