CAREER CLUSTER Hospitality and Tourism CAREER PATHWAY Restaurant and Food and Beverage Services INSTRUCTIONAL AREA Customer Relations RESTAURANT AND FOOD SERVICE MANAGEMENT SERIES EVENT PARTICIPANT INSTRUCTIONS PROCEDURES 1. The event will be presented to you through your reading of these instructions, including the Performance Indicators and Event Situation. You will have up to 10 minutes to review this information to determine how you will handle the role-play situation and demonstrate the performance indicators of this event. During the preparation period, you may make notes to use during the role-play situation. 2. You will have up to 10 minutes to role-play your situation with a judge (you may have more than one judge). 3. You will be evaluated on how well you meet the performance indicators of this event. 4. Turn in all your notes and event materials when you have completed the role-play. PERFORMANCE INDICATORS 1. Explain the nature of positive customer relations. 2. Reinforce service orientation through communication. 3. Handle customer/client complaints. 4. Determine ways of reinforcing the company s image through employee performance. 5. Describe the use of technology in customer relationship management.
EVENT SITUATION You are to assume the role of manager of BLUE POINT GRILLE, a formal dining experience. The restaurant owner (judge) has noticed decline in patron customers. The owner mentioned that there have been frequent Trip Advisor reviews suggesting that food complaints and mistakes in orders are not being handled well. You are asked to come up with a plan for addressing customer complaints and ensuring patron returns. BLUE POINT GRILLE has been a historical fine dining experience. The original business owner was a culinary expert that opened the business 40 years ago. He left the business with the family when he died 11 years ago. Although the current owner does not have the culinary training of his father, he does have some knowledge of the business and has employed the former sous chef as the current head chef. The owner does not have time to commit to the business because of another career, but you have been hired to oversee the operations. The restaurant has been popular to local and visiting patrons alike. Located on the lakeshore, BLUE POINT GRILLE is recognized for both seafood and beef entrées, as well as, appetizers, desserts and their martini bar and extensive wine cellar. The restaurant is open six nights a week, Tuesday through Sunday for both lunch and dinner. The restaurant accommodates up to 200 guests and is mostly table seating with a small bar for patrons awaiting a table during the evening. The restaurant has a limited lunch menu because most of their sales are from evening dining. You have a great head chef in the evening, but the owner has made you aware that there have been complaints about wait staff not knowing the menu and making incorrect notes about sides, meat temperatures, and what is in dishes during the dinner hour. You also know that your lunch chef is not as experienced and occasionally makes mistakes by not understanding the wait staff orders. To make matters worse, customers have been posting comments on sites like Trip Advisor and Urbanspoon implying that they felt inadequately compensated for the mistake, if the mistake was corrected at all. The owner (judge) has requested a meeting with you to present your analysis of and recommendations on the following issues: What can the wait staff and kitchen staff do to improve communications with each other and the customers? What can you do as the manager to ensure customer satisfaction? How would you identify customer dissatisfaction and manage complaints or mistakes? How could the business turnaround online reviews? You will present your recommendations to the owner (judge) in a role-play to take place in the owner s (judge s) office. The owner (judge) will begin the role-play by greeting you and asking to hear your ideas. After you have made your presentation and have answered the owner s (judge s) questions, the owner (judge) will conclude the role-play by thanking you for your work. 2
JUDGE S INSTRUCTIONS DIRECTIONS, PROCEDURES AND JUDGE S ROLE In preparation for this event, you should review the following information with your event manager and other judges: 1. Procedures 2. Performance Indicators 3. Event Situation 4. Judge Role-play Characterization Participants may conduct a slightly different type of meeting and/or discussion with you each time; however, it is important that the information you provide and the questions you ask be uniform for every participant. 5. Judge s Evaluation Instructions 6. Judge s Evaluation Form Please use a critical and consistent eye in rating each participant. JUDGE ROLE-PLAY CHARACTERIZATION You are to assume the role of owner of BLUE POINT GRILLE, a formal dining experience. You have noticed a decline in patron customers. You mentioned that there have been frequent Trip Advisor reviews suggesting that food complaints and mistakes in orders are not being handled well. You have asked your manager (participant) to come up with a plan for addressing customer complaints and ensuring patron returns. BLUE POINT GRILLE has been a historical fine dining experience. The original business owner was a culinary expert that opened the business 40 years ago. He left the business with the family when he died 11 years ago. Although you do not have the culinary training of your father, you do have some knowledge of the business and have employed the former sous chef as the current head chef. You do not have time to commit to the business because of another career, but the manager has been hired to oversee the operations. The restaurant has been popular to local and visiting patrons alike. Located on the lakeshore, BLUE POINT GRILLE is recognized for both seafood and beef entrées, as well as, appetizers, desserts and their martini bar and extensive wine cellar. The restaurant is open six nights a week, Tuesday through Sunday for both lunch and dinner. The restaurant accommodates up to 200 guests and is mostly table seating with a small bar for patrons awaiting a table during the evening. The restaurant has a limited lunch menu because most of their sales are from evening dining. 3
You have a great head chef in the evening, but you know that there have been complaints about wait staff not knowing the menu and making incorrect notes about sides, meat temperatures, and what is in dishes during the dinner hour. You also know that your lunch chef is not as experienced and occasionally makes mistakes with orders. To make matters worse, customers have been posting comments on sites like Trip Advisor and Urbanspoon implying that they felt inadequately compensated for the mistake, if the mistake was corrected at all. You have requested a meeting with your manager (participant) to present his/her analysis of and recommendations on the following issues: What can the wait staff and kitchen staff do to improve communications with each other and the customers? What can you do as the manager to ensure customer satisfaction? What steps would you take to identify dissatisfaction and what would you do as a manager to manage complaints or kitchen/staff mistakes? How could the business turnaround online reviews? The manager (participant) will present to you in a role-play to take place in your office. You will begin the role-play by greeting the manager (participant) and asking to hear his/her ideas. 4
During the course of the role-play you are to ask the following questions of each participant: 1. As a manager, you will not be able to be present during every shift. How will you ensure that customers leave BLUE POINT GRILLE having a positive experience? Possible Solutions Following a training session, BLUE POINT GRILLE will be running a comment card sales promotion or an online customer service survey in which they will receive a coupon for completing the survey. During the promotion, sales staff with the most positive feedback will win a gift certificate for a popular local retail outlet. BLUE POINT GRILLE will ensure positive customer service by employee random secret shopper customers in which they evaluate the restaurants customer service. Individuals that get a high rating will receive a free gift basket (or some other prize.) These shoppers will also be used when evaluating the staff, which will be done every 6 months. I will observe waitstaff that have made positive changes in their customer service and are doing very well with their position. I will speak to these individuals about interest in advancement and ask them to consider being a head waitstaff for the lunch or dinner shift and/or a staff trainer with pay compensation. 2. What are some possible solutions of how you could proactively use technology to improve customer relations? Possible Solutions BLUE POINT GRILLE will create a sales promotion that the encourage customers to tell sites such as tripadvisor.com and urbanspoon.com about their time at the restaurant such as 25% off 2 entrees or a coupon for a free dinner if you Like Blue Point Grille on Facebook. BLUE POINT GRILLE will run a viral commercial and/or photos showcasing great food and excellent service that would be promoted through various social media channels such as Youtube.com, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest. Once the manager (participant) has presented and has answered your questions, you will conclude the role-play by thanking the manager (participant) for their work. You are not to make any comments after the event is over except to thank the participant. 5
Evaluation Form Information JUDGE S EVALUATION INSTRUCTIONS The participants are to be evaluated on their ability to perform the specific performance indicators stated on the cover sheet of this event and restated on the Judge s Evaluation Form. Although you may see other performance indicators being demonstrated by the participants, those listed in the Performance Indicators section are the critical ones you are measuring for this particular event. Evaluation Form Interpretation The evaluation levels listed below and the evaluation rating procedures should be discussed thoroughly with your event chairperson and the other judges to ensure complete and common understanding for judging consistency. Level of Evaluation Exceeds Expectations Meets Expectations Below Expectations Little/No Value Interpretation Level Participant demonstrated the performance indicator in an extremely professional manner; greatly exceeds business standards; would rank in the top 10% of business personnel performing this performance indicator. Participant demonstrated the performance indicator in an acceptable and effective manner; meets at least minimal business standards; there would be no need for additional formalized training at this time; would rank in the 70-89 th percentile of business personnel performing this performance indicator. Participant demonstrated the performance indicator with limited effectiveness; performance generally fell below minimal business standards; additional training would be required to improve knowledge, attitude and/or skills; would rank in the 50-69 th percentile of business personnel performing this performance indicator. Participant demonstrated the performance indicator with little or no effectiveness; a great deal of formal training would be needed immediately; perhaps this person should seek other employment; would rank in the 0-49 th percentile of business personnel performing this performance indicator. 6
RESTAURANT AND FOOD SERVICE MANAGEMENT, 2014 JUDGE S EVALUATION FORM DISTRICT EVENT Participant: I.D. Number: INSTRUCTIONAL AREA: Customer Relations Did the participant: Little/No Value Below Expectations Meets Expectations Exceeds Expectations Judged Score PERFORMANCE INDICATORS 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Explain the nature of positive customer relations Reinforce service orientation through communication Handle customer/client complaints Determine ways of reinforcing the company s image through employee performance Describe the use of technology in customer relationship management Reason effectively, use systems thinking, make judgments and decisions, and solve problems? Overall impression and responses to the judge s questions 0-1-2-3 4-5-6 7-8 9-10 0-1-2-3 4-5-6 7-8 9-10 TOTAL SCORE 7