How To Be A Better Restaurant Hostess: Examples Included
Being a restaurant hostess is fun and great but somewhere along the way you will start to think about how could you be more organized, efficient, budgeting, and a better hostess in general. Thriving for the better is always a great sign that will lead to magnificent things so be glad that you wondered to this post.
In this article we are going to give you helpful tips and aspect that everyone can always make a little bit better toward perfection, however, nothing is ever truly perfect as Matthew Mconaghau well said; ”every day, every week, every month and every year of my life, my hero is always 10 years away. I’m never gonna be my hero”. And the hero is always yourself improved in the future.
Contents
Preparations
Have Everything Ready
Before you open the doors it’s important to have everything good to go so there aren’t any unnecessary running around. Imagine that multiple important tasks would be forgotten, which would lead to minor panic and stress.
Also, it’s good to prepare for longer than a couple of hours ahead, preparing for tomorrow or even the rest of the week will have an incredible impact on the efficiency of your establishment!
Have A Plan B
Having a plan be is essential if and when a problem occurs. Let’s say that someone gets sick during work hours so there is a need for a plan so the sick employee’s tasks can be handled. You get the point, having a plan B for the essentials can save a lot of hassle and disappointments.
Round-Up The Staff
This is an extremely important step to do before the doors are open for customers. Here you will go through everything that has planned for the day, ask if someone haves questions, and cheering up and motivating the whole staff will lead to much better results, than in a restaurant where the hostess looks down on the staff and doesn’t take them into any consideration. This will lead us to the next aspect of preparations.
Create Good Atmosphere
Creating a positive atmosphere is the key to success for restaurants. Businesses that have a great atmosphere between each staff member will be an excellent experience, and as a bonus, this will usually shine to the customers which will lead to free mouth-to-mouth marketing. This makes it all the more important to create a restaurant space that’s stylish but welcoming as well as comfortable for your guests.
Service
Now, the doors are open and customers are flowing in, there are so many important tasks to handle in these hectic hours and we’re going to walk you through how to properly handle those situations. Remember to have motivation and fun with it and everything will be 100% easier.
Greet Guest Immediately
When you see customers coming from outside go to the door and are ready to meet them, that will definitely give positive vibes straight from the star for the customers and how does the saying go? First impressions are everything! If it isn’t the busiest hour at the time feel free to have a conversation with the guest which will make them feel really wanted and appreciated, and as a bonus, you will have more fun as well!
Show Them Their Tables
If the restaurant doesn’t have only one table unseated then you can up the game by asking the customers where they would like to sit. I personally love it when I go to a restaurant and the hostess asked where would I like to be seated and I can choose a table of my own liking!
Ask About Beverages
Ask the customers about what they would like to drink and you can throw a little extra when the customer chooses a beverage, you can give a little history or piece of knowledge about the drink which will make a simple beverage ordering much more interesting and memorizable experience.
Many of these things on this list are basic information that is known to most hostesses out there but what many doesn’t know is that if something is simple, it doesn’t need to be that everyday grey same experience over and over again. Think about how you can make this more memorable, unique, and special to the customer and you will notice huge differences in your hosting skills.
Take Orders & Ask About Preferences
Okay, it’s time to take orders and ask if they would want to some changes or if they have some preferences. A great idea to spice up this experience is to make ”chef’s specials” that you could bring immediately after taking orders.
If you would like to try this method out you should ask the customers does anyone has any special diets such as vegan, gluten-free, nut allergy, or other things that might affect the chef’s specials, so you will need to have a couple of special diet tasties in reserve.
Keep Them Attended
After bringing the dishes to the customers that don’t mean that they’re out of mind. It’s a great idea to visit them at least once and quickly ask is the food to their satisfaction or something similar. However, take notice that running 5 times and constantly asking them will just piss them off so moderation is a key!
Surprise Them
If you want to add something extra special there are many incredible entertainment ideas to try out! For example and hear me out this is a good one! Depending on the kind of your restaurant you could tape a ”winning ticket” under one chair every day or week, and ask the customers to look under the chairs and the winner could get a small gift card, free future meal, or something special.
There are many other ways and I understand if that specific one isn’t your restaurant’s style but the idea is to give them something that will really stick with them and in return, you will get mouth-to-mouth marketing like crazy and probably a couple of regulars every time you pull something unordinary off!
After Dining
Ask For Feedback
After the customers are finished dining you should ask for feedback for improvements and getting in touch with them the last time and see that everything is well. At this point, they are probably super satisfied if everything has gone according to the plan.
Make Them Feel Wanted
As the customers take leave to make them feel appreciated and wanted again. Quick tip about doing this; say something different to everyone and don’t repeat one sentence as they take to leave your years because depending on the human being that the customer is, there are different things to say to everybody. However, keep it simple and don’t sweat about it and they will feel wanted.
These are the essentials of how to become a better hostess and they might seem simple at first but if you really give them thought, you can make the simplest thing feel exceptional and abnormally positive if done right. Below you can find additional questions that you might have in mind and something useful for you to download.
What Qualities Make A Good Hostess?
A good hostess makes customers feel welcome and comfortable. The hostess should be friendly, welcoming, and engaging to encourage repeat business from customers. They must also be able to handle stressful situations with a big old smile on their face. It isn’t rocket science but it certainly isn’t for everyone. Wouldn’t recommend a total introvert.
Is Being A Hostess An Easy Job?
Restaurant hostess is one of the most common professions for young women. The majority of people believe that being a restaurant hostess is an easy job, but it isn’t as simple as it sounds! Being a successful host requires good communication skills, skilled organization, and serious professionalism, and hear me when I say it, being a hostess isn’t the easiest job on the planet.
Final Words
I sincerely hope that you found this article helpful, got atleas a couple of new tips and tricks to assist you in your journey and a good overall look at what a successful evening as a hostess should look like.