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| Waiter Training Newsletter |
Books & Manuals Restaurant Training Manuals Training Book for Waiters & Waitresses
The Two-Minute Rule
What is the two-minute rule? Well, if you’re a server, you should know automatically what it is and, if you don’t, shame on you. The two-minute rule is the time you should allow your guests to have their food before you check back with them and make sure everything is great. Notice I didn’t say “ok” – I said “great!” That’s a topic for another newsletter.
After two minutes, most guests will have had time to try their food and know whether or not it was prepared to their satisfaction. If it wasn’t, it becomes your opportunity to correct a mistake immediately and save your tip from dipping below the acceptable mark.
One of the things that is most irritating to guests is needing their server and not being able to locate him. Other servers don’t seem to care that you’re looking around the restaurant for someone to offer another drink, refill beverages or just clear some plates. It becomes the classic “that’s not my table” syndrome.
Another equally annoying situation is having the server hover over you, asking every five to ten minutes, “Is everything ok?” “Is everything still ok?” I can tell you that from personal experience I have wanted to throw my dish at servers who kept coming by and asking that question. It’s not necessary to keep asking that question! Your guests are trying to enjoy the dining experience and perhaps have a conversation with the other people at the table – not the server!
The only time it’s ok to come by and repeat that two-minute rule is if there was a mistake and the server corrected it and needs to make sure the dish has indeed been prepared to the satisfaction of the guest.
This brings up an issue that a reader recently pointed out to me, and that is the need for a sort of “silent summons” for the guest to give a waiter so as to avoid raising one’s hand or shouting out as if to a dog. There is a restaurant in Denver that has a system that is probably similar to the one suggested. This casual, cafeteria-style Mexican restaurant has little wooden stands on each table. Cleverly designed are flags attached to strings that guests can raise up to let the server of that station know that something is needed. The problem is obvious; servers may not be in their stations to know they are needed. They have to be present to see the flag! The other option could be an electronic device that signals the server wherever he/she may be. I propose that a well-trained service staff shouldn’t need any kind of “summons” system, either electronic or otherwise, to do their jobs properly. By definition, a server’s job is to be at the ready for guests.
After your two-minute check-back, you need to use silent service, which is merely your presence and visibility in your station. That’s who you’re there for – the customer. Don’t ever forget that. If you’re present in your station, you may not even have to intervene; you may only have to observe and step in when necessary – silently. Believe me, your guests will appreciate it.
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 2004
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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