How To Greet Customers As A Waiter In Restaurant
How To Greet Customers As A Waiter in a Restaurant | How Should A Waiter Greet A Customer. Restaurants spend hours of effort to train their servers to provide impeccable service, yet they forget that good customer service begins as soon the guest enters the door and is greeted by the host/hostess.
Greeting guests the right way as they arrive at your restaurant is no small detail. The provision of a warm welcome and ongoing attentiveness can be one of the things that sets you apart from the competition, ultimately helping to drive loyalty with customers.
Acknowledge and Welcome Guest. To make guest feel welcome and important, whenever any guest arrives, it is the responsibility of the service staff to approach and meet the guest with a smile, maintain eye contact and with proper body posture greet the accordingly at the door.
Tips on How to Greet Customers in a Restaurant
First impressions are the last impressions. That’s why it’s vital to make sure that your establishment offers excellent customer service.
1. Address Them With Respect
As soon as guests walk through the door and you’ve flashed your smile, offer a welcome greeting. Be respectful when greeting individual customers; use “sir,” “ma’am,” and “miss.” Customers will be far less likely to turn around and go somewhere else after receiving a greeting that makes them feel welcome and respected.
3. Listen Closely
Getting the order and service right requires listening to detail. If they order simply by saying the name of the item, be sure to ask them any pertinent questions that may be relevant to getting the order right, even if they didn’t think to provide the information.
4. Continue To Act Quickly, But Be Polite
In a fast-casual restaurant, where the guest approaches the counter to order, the order-taking should be considered an extension of the greeting. The customer is still on his or her feet, not situated comfortably and already “seated,” so to speak. After welcoming the customer, politely ask if they would like to try a certain new menu item you’re currently promoting, if applicable. A cheery delivery keeps this quick suggestion from feeling pushy to the customer.
Examples of what to say when greeting guests
“Good Morning/Afternoon/evening, welcome to ABC (Restaurant Name)”
- Politely ask “Do you have any reservations?” to ensure you know whether to look for them or find a table
- If they do have a booking, follow up with “Can I please have your name?”
- If they don’t have a reservation, ask the diner “How many will be dining this evening?” and if you do have space ask if they have any preferences.
- After checking the reservation, repeat the details back to them “Absolutely (address by name if appropriate). You have a table booked for (Number of guests).
- With space established, ask about any special requirements. Is there a child in the group and will you be needing a high chair, are there strict dietary requirements?
Recommendation
Guide on How To Greet Customers As A Waiter in a Restaurant
1. Show a genuine interest
The host charged with greeting guests should always do so with a warm and welcoming attitude. Since this is the initial rapport with your customers, it’s crucial that it is done so in a genuine and polite manner. Establish a standard type of greeting that your restaurant hosts can use, and make sure that they are asking about your customers’ needs, while expressing real concern for any special requests.
2. Strategically seat guests
To reduce frustration and wait times, pre-plan the seating arrangements ahead of time. This preparation will ensure that your guest’s reservations are all honored correctly and allow for better management of walk-ins at your restaurant. Common sense is usually the best tool to help determine where to seat guests. Tables will need to be allocated according to the party size or the number of guests and the host will need to be strategic in placement of the tables.
3. Provide accurate wait times
To avoid impacting the customer’s dining experience, it is important that the host provides true and accurate wait times. Most guests will be more accepting of a wait at a restaurant if they are pre-advised with an accurate forecast.
4. Keep calm and positive
The hospitality industry can be tough, but it’s important to remember that no matter what happens, hosts need to keep calm and be positive. A positive attitude will help improve even the worst situation. Providing the best experience possible for guests is the most important factor.
5. Provide menus
It’s also best practice to provide guests with the drinks and food menus when seating them. This gives the customers time to look at the menu while waiting for the server to arrive and complete orders. Have your hosts take initial drinks orders, or at least bring water to the table for those thirsty diners.
6. Act with kindness even when busy
One of the hardest elements to manage is responding promptly during busy times. Hosts and servers will be juggling many different tasks during busy periods. However, these are the times when it is most important to greet and respond to guests promptly.
7. Conflict Resolution
When a conflict arises between the waiter and the restaurant’s customers over the first impression the waiter has made, the waiter should first attempt to resolve the customer on his own. For example, he could say, “I apologize for not acknowledging you immediately after our hostess seated you. May I take your drink order why you look at the menu?” Greeting difficult customers is something every waiter has encountered at some point in his career. The key to customer satisfaction is to not offer excuses for making a poor impression.
- Example :-A guest or group of guests may come without any reservation. In that case, greeter or host could say “Please allow me few seconds sir. Let me check if there is any table available or not.”
- Now if there is free table then the host could easily make guest seated there but what does happen if every tables are occupied? If none available then you have to handle the situation tactfully.
Summary on how to Greet Customers as a Waiter and handle their order
- Approach the table within 30 seconds of the guest’s seating. Promptness sets the tone for the meal service and impresses upon the guest the caliber of service she can expect.
- Introduce yourself in a succinct, confident manner.
- Offer the guest an aperitif, cocktail or beverage. Do not suggest any specific drinks unless instructed by the service manager.
- Respond to the guest with the proper salutation. Always use, “Sir” or “Ma’am,” or, if addressing a group, “Ladies” or “Gentlemen.”
- Describe the specials per the chef’s instructions. Do not change the chef’s description of the specials, which are usually introduced to the waitstaff in the pre-shift meeting.
- Provide a brief synopsis of the menu upon request only. It is imperative to display product knowledge when describing anything the restaurant offers.
- Thank the guests and collect the menus in the same order a sommelier serves wine: ladies first, in a clockwise direction, followed by the men, in a clockwise direction. Collect the host’s menu last regardless of gender.
