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| Waiter Training Newsletter |
Books & Manuals Restaurant Training Manuals Training Book for Waiters & Waitresses
The Much-Maligned Host Position
Recently I saw a brief article on the host position of any given restaurant. Probably 99% of the time we go to a restaurant and are greeted by a teenaged girl, sometimes by a teenaged boy. Don’t get me wrong; I’m all for teenagers working and learning proper work ethics. The problem is they’re not getting any work ethic at all, in some cases. They’re given this “easy” job and expected to know how to communicate effectively with your guests. There is this misconception that being a host is the easiest job in the restaurant. It’s a little like the description of an actor’s job: learn your lines and don’t trip over the furniture. Neither job is that easy.
Certainly being a host isn’t rocket science and certainly the host doesn’t have to know how to make the soup du jour, etc. However, I think the host position should be a little more difficult. We take it for granted that we’ll hire a young high school girl who will accept $8 or $9 per hour and we say to her: this is what we want you to say and here’s how you take them to a table – watch out for waiters with trays and don’t trip over the furniture! And that’s her training!
And who do we hear customers talk about the most when restaurants are the topic of conversation? Hmmm…if you hear anything at all about the host, it’s usually negative. If nothing is said at all, maybe your host is blending in with the furniture, which isn’t a great thing, considering the furniture in some restaurants is rather non-descript!
First impressions can make or break a business. Consider that your host is the first impression of your business. Are you putting your best foot, or should I say, image, forward? You can’t train someone to have a personality. You can train someone with a personality to be a great host! Picture your host right now and imagine that you’re one of your own valued customers walking into your restaurant and “Lisa” is greeting you, or some variation of the theme of greeting. Do you feel welcome? Do you feel as if this person knows the answers to your questions or, at the very least, knows enough to find out right away?
If you’re at all hesitating, chances are you aren’t presenting a great first impression for your guests. Have you ever been to a restaurant where the host is an older person? Someone who either wants to work to get out of the house or, unfortunately, needs to work to compensate for a low social security income? I have seen some attractive, vivacious older people working as hosts and people love them! They love their enthusiasm and their genuine desire to be helpful.
At the risk of criticizing our youth, the older generation usually has a work ethic that our youth of today don’t understand. They’ve never had to understand it because we’re living in a time of relative affluence. My point? If you’re going to hire a teenager to be the first impression of your restaurant, take the time to properly train and impress upon him/her the extreme importance of his/her job.
On the other hand, you can hire an older person to be your host. Generally speaking, they’re punctual, ethical and genuinely care about your customers.
Just remember that first impressions are hard to shake. What are your customers seeing when they walk into your restaurant?
Training and information is the key! Contact me, Susie, at Waiter Training, either by phone or email. My business number is (720) 203-4615, and web address is http://www.waiter-training.com.
I have restaurant training manuals available for sale, as well as my book, “A Waiter’s Training,” for the individual server who wants to learn more about his/her career and improve on skills.
Susie Ross has been involved in the hospitality industry for ten years
. She has just written a definitive work on front of house customer service and techniques for waiters and waitresses. For more information about Susie's book, "A Waiters Training," her training manuals and training seminars please visit her at http://www.waiter-training.com or email her at susie@waiter-training.com.©Waiter Training 2003
Excellence is an act won by training and habituation.
We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence,
but rather we have those because we have acted rightly.
We are what we repeatedly do.
Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.- Aristotle
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