As mystery shoppers, we know that employees are expected to say certain things and ask certain questions when they interact with customers. For example, they may ask questions to lead to suggestive selling, such as, “Would you like to make that a combo?” or questions about preferences, such as the kind of bread you want in your sandwich.Fine Dining Restaurant Service Standards
Fine dining restaurants typically have high standards for service. If you have ever done a fine dining restaurant mystery shop, you know how detailed the questions can be.
The four-star Le Bernardin restaurant in New York City has exacting standards for service. In fact, they have a list of 129 “sins” that staff are to avoid when serving customers.
Many of the these will be familiar to mystery shoppers, as they are the kinds of things we are asked to evaluate in our reports:
- Not acknowledging guests with eye contact and a smile within 30 seconds. First impressions count!
- Not thanking the guests as they leave. Last impression!
- Forks with bent tines.
- Chipped glassware.
- Burned-out lightbulbs.
- Lack of eye contact.
- Not refilling water or coffee.
- Soiled or ill-fitting uniforms. …continue reading Fine Dining Restaurant Service Standards
Have you ever gotten one of those notices on your receipt to call a toll-free number and answer a few questions about your experience at a store or restaurant? Often the business “bribes” customers to participate by providing a coupon good for a discount on their next visit, or by entering them in a drawing for cash and other prizes.
As mystery shoppers, we are in the business of evaluating the service provided by waiters and other service providers.
, a new book by someone called “The Waiter,” (but since publication, identified as Steve Dublanica) tells the other side of the story: what happens behind the scenes at a restaurant and what waiters really think of the customers.