Chapter 1
Successful
Customer Relations
What is the importance of customer
service to food service?
Competition for customers makes
good customer service a must. To
keep customers coming back for
more, excellent service is essential.
Even if the food is great, customers
will be disappointed if the service is
poor.
What are the steps to providing
friendly helpful service?
1. Greet customers with a smile and
make eye contact.
2. Fulfill customers’ requests without
appearing irritated or annoyed.
3. Thank customers sincerely and
express pleasure in helping them.
4. Be cooperative when coworkers ask
for assistance.
List the reasons and the ways to
make a positive first impression in
the food service industry.
Dress appropriately
Practice good hygiene
Wear clean, wrinkle-free uniforms or
clothing that is in good condition
Maintain clean hair, held back or up
Have clean hands and nails
Do not wear strong fragrances
Do not drink, eat, smoke or chew gum
in front of customers
Describe a variety of customers that
may have special needs.
Older customers - difficulty seeing
hearing, walking, carrying objects
Customers with disabilities – seating
accommodations
Families with children - children’s food
on menu, high chairs, snacks, crayons,
Customer on a special diet - know
menu, offer suggestions
Customers with food allergies – know
menu
Service Encounter
Customer contact with
an operation’s
employees
Internal Customer
Employees and
coworkers who depend
on one another to do a
good job.
Rule of Ten
Dissatisfied customers
tell an average of 10
people about their bad
experience.
Service Plan
An organized,
systematic method of
handling customer
service.
Outline the service planning
process.
Identify problems and their causes
Set goals
Consider available resources
Develop policies and procedures
Obtain feedback and monitor
results
Mission Statement
An operation’s
philosophy of doing
business.
In Summary: How does customer
satisfaction directly affect a
restaurant’s success?
Customers get an overall impression of a
foodservice operation from its employees. More
than 80% of customers who do not return to a
foodservice operation say that they were unhappy
with employees’ attitudes, not with bad food. It
costs five times more to advertise to attract new
guests than it does to keep current ones coming
back. Customer service is the greatest factor in a
guest’s decision to either return to a restaurant or
never come back.. Dissatisfied customers tell an
average of 10 people about their bad experience.