Hi, I’m Claire from Delaget.

For restaurant operators, in the first quarter, we typically experience softer sales, which can be caused by a slow-down after the holiday season, bad weather in much of the country, and deep discounting making it very competitive between brands. Take advantage of this extra time to set yourself up for a successful, and busy, spring and summer. Early in the year is the perfect time to practice with your team and coach everyone for greater capabilities. Spring will be here before you know it, and you want to be ready.  Here are five tips to improve your focus on operations, customer experiences, and loss prevention.

Re-train your cashiers

The customer experience begins here, and it’s also the starting point for order preparation, speed of service, and cash and credit card handling.

Practice these things with your team:

1. Cheerful greetings. If you have a drive-thru, go outside and listen to the drive thru speaker. Can you hear the smile in the order taker’s voice?
2. Brand standards for guest interactions. Practice until great execution becomes a habit.
3. Speed at the register, without sacrificing guest experience. Practice navigating the key board, anticipating guest’s questions, making changes, and processing credit cards.

Cross-train your entire team

Developing capability in multiple positions increases your team’s value to you and drives employee satisfaction. And the big win for operators here is labor savings. A cross-trained team is the key to managing a tighter labor allowance during down sales periods.

Develop your team’s customer interaction skills

Create some fun by clearing guests’ trays, refilling beverages, opening and closing doors, or sampling desserts or new menu items. Even hold a contest to see who can collect the most guest’s names during a shift – a fun way to improve your guest experiences.

Prepare your restaurants for spring

Take a full inventory of supplies, safety equipment, small wares, and utensils. Establish your needs and strategically plan your expenses to purchase everything you need to run a great restaurant in advance, and within budget.

Refine your loss prevention program

Prevention in our business can be found in our behaviors and routines.

1. Schedule practices and manager-in-charge shift control to minimize multiple hands in cashier tills.
2. Monitor the amount of cash in the cash drawers, and direct cashiers to secure all $20 bills and excess $10 and $5 bills in a cash drop box or safe.
3. Establish a manager shift change routine. Make sure the safe is verified per your company standard.
4. Educate yourself and your team on how to use your loss prevention software. Complete oversight to your cashier’s results will keep them honest, prevent loss, and increase sales by as much as 3%.

Prepare now to deliver your brand standards at a high-level, perhaps improving in areas where you are currently struggling, and set yourself up for a successful spring, and some great sales, brand scores and guest scores.

To learn more about how to improve operations, customer experiences, and loss prevention, visit us at Delaget.com/coach today!