When determining how to outfit your restaurant, it is important to consider the type of restaurant you're opening as well. For example, you wouldn't want fine linens in a fast food concept any more than you'd serve filet mignon on paper plates at a fine dining establishment. But, there's more to having your concept be consistent in look and feel— the service and food have to fit as well.

From time to time, I order a pizza from a regional chain. I order because it's extremely convenient to have a quick phone call followed by a delivery a little while later. This restaurant chain has positioned itself as a regionally owned, friendly establishment that caters to busy people and their families. The atmosphere in their locations mirrors this. They have several salad and pizza bars, comfy red pleather booths and lots of parking. They also have about 10 delivery trucks per location and tout quality in addition to their convenience.

Here's where they go wrong. Every time we order something for delivery, our order is not complete. Something is always forgotten. Often something that we paid for such as a side dish or extra topping. We then have to call the restaurant to request a credit for the missing item(s). The last time we called, the manager informed us that giving a credit was just too hard with their credit card system. He suggested we drive over and pick up the missing item ourselves. Or perhaps next time, if we remember, when we order he could discount our order.

The cardinal rule of ANY business was missed and that is Know Thy Business. If your business is convenience, then everything you do has to ultimately leave the customer thinking, that was easy and convenient. If your business is luxury, then everything you do has to leave the customer thinking that was incredible or unforgettable— even decadent. The pizza chain is in the business of convenience. If their staff had been trained to understand that this alone was the sole purpose to maintain customers, they may have approached our transactions differently. Imagine if the manager had said “I'll have a driver bring that side salad right over to you and he'll be returning the cost, plus we've got a coupon for next time.” Then, as the consumer, I've had a wow experience; I'm thinking they understand that I order here because my time is extremely limited and valuable. If this had happened, we'd still be buying our pizza there and we would have told everyone about it.

Training makes all the difference. If your staff knows what the goal is for the customer experience, then you will be on the road to success.

For more information on online staff training, check out our Waitrainer demo located here