Server Not Servant

Law & Order @ jm Curley

By: Patrick Maguire

Book Chapter: Rules of Engagement

Posted: 01/16/2012

This post is dedicated to every current and former restaurant industry worker around the world.

During a recent interview with Imbibe and Inspire, I was forced to reflect upon what inspired me to launch this blog and write a book. One of my primary responses was working people, and the subculture of workers who serve the public. Also, the camaraderie between workers, their loyalty to each other, and their trust in me when they share their stories, inspires me. Having a mission I am deeply committed to and facilitating a conversation between workers and customers inspires me immensely.

The lure of the restaurant business is a strong one. After a brief respite, following the closure of my seasonal business on Cape Cod, I’ve jumped back into the business with both feet. I am currently bartending at a new downtown gin mill/restaurant in Boston, jm Curley, named after Boston’s controversial four-term Mayor. Initially, I attended a few brainstorming and tasting sessions to help out, but was quickly sucked back into the fray after interacting with the management team and staff at jm Curley. I believe in what we are doing, and I love being part of a supportive culture where people take a lot of pride in what they do and have a lot of fun doing it.

There’s a lot to be said for loving what you do and trusting and respecting the people you work with.

Law & Order is the end product of several brainstorming sessions, emails, consults, texts, sidebars and iterations that included The Golden Rule, tipping guidelines, and several other whimsical suggestions, including proposed titles of, House Rules and Curley’s Commandments. Our intention was to reflect our culture and our collective industry experience in a playful, funny (and slightly irreverent) way. As evidenced by the reactions of our customers and a current Chowhound thread, an overwhelming majority of people ‘get it’, love it, and really appreciate the intent. There have been a few detractors, but that’s no surprise, given the fact some people will always be humorless, grumpy douchebags who aren’t happy unless they’re miserable or complaining about something. You know what that say about those who can’t take a joke…

Ironically, while I was reading in the wee hours of the morning (today), I stumbled upon Matt Damon’s responses to The Proust Questionnaire in February’s Vanity Fair.

The final question to Matt, What is your motto?

Matt Damon, “Don’t be a d-bag.”

Matt, you’re welcome to join us at jm Curley anytime. Dinner and drinks are on us…

Here is Law & Order as it appears on the menu at jm Curley:

• Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s date, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor his grub, nor his cocktail, his barstool, space, nor anything that is thy neighbour’s.
• No one on our staff goes by: Hey, Yo, Sonny, Tiger, Pal, Kid, Sport, Sweetie, Honey, Pork Chop, Chief, Champ, Captain, Boss, Buddy, Babe, Barkeep, Barmaid, Big Guy, Ma’am or Missy.
• No loud shrieking, shouting, bellowing, whining, barking, nose blowing, flatulence or obnoxious cellphone use.
• No groping, grab ass, mauling, sucking face, canoodling or heavy petting.
• We welcome all comments and suggestions, but refrain from, “You should…” We know we should, but we can’t do everything and please everyone. Open your own restaurant if you know how it should be done.
• The customer is NOT always right. However, the respectful customer is always right, and the asshole customer is always wrong.
• No foul language…
• Nobody’s perfect. Please alert us immediately if your expectations are not met. Exaggerating or lying on Yelp, Chowhound, or to anyone (after you leave) who can’t fix the problem, is for yellow-bellied cowards.
• It’s food and drink, not life and death. Don’t take yourself too seriously, we don’t.
• …Just don’t be a douchebag.

http://www.jmCurleyBoston.com/

“Serving Up Neighborhood Justice”

I look forward to your comments, and please stop by and say hello when you’re in the neighborhood. Thank you.

Permalink | Posted in Rules of Engagement | 23 Comments »

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How to Get Better Service This Holiday Season

By: Patrick Maguire

Book Chapter: Human-to-Human Service

Posted: 12/20/2011

Today’s post comes courtesy of customer service expert, Jeff Toister, founder and owner of Toister Performance Solutions.  Thanks to Jeff for including me:

Every year I compile a list of tips for getting better customer service during the holiday season. This year, I decided to ask for tips from some of the customer service authors and bloggers I admire most. Their wonderful suggestions form a list that is sure to result in outstanding customer service.

Treat employees with respect (Patrick Maguire)
Patrick Maguire’s terrific blog, I’m Your Server Not Your Servant, highlights customer service experiences from the employees’ point of view. He reminds us that getting better service starts with treating employees with respect.

We need to remember that human workers are not the same as self-checkout stations, and that workers should be treated with the same mutual respect that we would expect if we were doing their jobs. If you treat workers with common courtesy and make a sincere effort to have some fun and make a genuine connection with them, your chances of receiving excellent service will improve dramatically.

Be engaging (Steve Curtin)
Visit Steve Curtin’s customer service blog and you’ll see a picture of him holding a pineapple. Why a pineapple? The pineapple is a universal symbol of hospitality. (Seriously, who could get upset when there is a pineapple involved?) Naturally, he recommends being a more hospitable customer.

When a customer glances at an employee’s name tag and uses her name at the beginning of the interaction along with a smile and eye contact, it has a disarming effect that quickly breaks the ice. The customer may also ask, “How is your day?” or compliment the employee by saying, “You look like the one in charge…” Just as employees tend to reflect the dispositions of their supervisors (for better or worse), they can also reflect the dispositions of the customers they serve.

Be reasonable (Shep Hyken)
Shep Hyken, best-selling author of the Amazement Revolution, also writes a very insightful customer service blog. One of his suggestions is that a reasonable customer will almost always get better service.

Let’s start with a confrontational situation to illustrate the point. There is an old story that goes something like this:

A passenger approached the airline representative about his lost luggage. Obviously upset, he more than complained. He yelled and made derogatory remarks about the airline. The airline employee’s response was simple. “Sir, I can see you’re upset. Right now there are only two people who care about your lost luggage and you are starting to make one of them upset.”

The moral of the story is that as a customer, you can’t get what you want by being unreasonable. If there is a problem, a level headed approach with reasonable suggestions will always win over confrontational arguments.

Place your irritability on hold before complaining (Guy Winch)
Sometimes, we have customer service complaints that need to be resolved. Who better to give advice on complaint resolution than Guy Winch, a psychotherapist who literally wrote the book on how to complain the right way (check out The Squeaky Wheel)? Here are complaint tips from an article he wrote for Psychology Today on how to resolve Christmas shopping complaints.

Complaint in person: “We should arm ourselves with receipts, patience, civility, and authentic smiles.”

Complaint via toll-free hotline: “We should place our irritability on hold (even if we are placed there too), remain calm and present the facts simply.”

Complaint via Twitter: “If you do tweet a complaint about a company, be fair, especially if you have oodles of followers. Remember, frustration fades but tweets are forever.

Don’t take yourself too seriously (Write the Company)
Write the Company’s blog features witty customer service correspondence with real companies. Read between the lines and you’ll realize that his tip is a great reminder to not take ourselves too seriously.

Getting better customer service during the holidays requires a secret weapon. This should not be confused with producing a concealed weapon, which has also proven to be very effective in getting the full attention of service personnel. One secret weapon to consider is sympathy. Not for the service representative, for yourself. You’ll be amazed by how much faster and more compassionately you’ll be treated by simply taping a slightly soiled white gauze pad over an eye or applying fake blood under your nose with even more on a tissue. Holidays are a crazy time to be a customer, so go crazy!

Enjoy the holidays and good luck getting outstanding customer service this holiday season!

Permalink | Posted in Human-to-Human Service | 5 Comments »

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Legendary Regulars

By: Patrick Maguire

Book Chapter: Customer Hall of Fame

Posted: 11/28/2011

Today’s post comes courtesy of Darren Tully, a loyal reader and commentor on this blog. Darren works at a take-away food counter in Dublin, Ireland. He sent me the following email over the weekend that I am sharing with his permission. This is priceless.

I love customers who you can have a laugh with. One of my regulars, I’ll call her “Mel”, is like that. Mel is 80 years old, and despite needing a zimmer frame, she insists on waiting like everyone else to place her order. She is unbelievably funny and always has a kind word to say, even if she has a complaint to make. I admit that I’m very fond of her. She always asks to speak to me whenever she’s in, and I consider her to be like one of my great aunties.

I was on closing shift tonight so there were only two of us, myself on counter and my friend on tables and dish room. Out of nowhere we got a mini rush in the last 15 minutes. As lines go, it was no big deal. There was no huge wait for the customers, but I had one incredibly impatient woman in the line, a nominee for your Customer Hall of Shame.

When I finally got to serve her I greeted her with a big smile, but before I could say anything she snarled, “Tea to go, NOW!” And that was it–she didn’t speak to me again, she only glared for the rest of transaction. I don’t really understand why she acted that way, I was serving everyone ahead of her in a speedy and friendly manner, but I guess there is no pleasing some people.

Mel was in the line behind her and watched the whole thing. As the woman was walking away, Mel shuffled up and said, “Not enough dick, that’s what her problem is.”, loud enough for everyone, including the woman, to overhear. It was so funny. The other customers were either giggling or standing slack-jawed, and the woman was shaking with indignant rage as she left.

I thought I was going to explode from holding the laughter in, I honestly don’t know how I wasn’t rolling around on the floor behind the counter. 

I absolutley love customers like “Mel”. Here’s to Darren Tulley and all of the Mel’s of the world who speak up and say what every worker would love to, but can’t. Mel is a shoo-in for my Customer Hall of Fame.

Please share your stories about customers who have come to your defense and called out other asshole customers. Thank you.

Permalink | Posted in Customer Hall of Fame, Customer Hall of Shame | 8 Comments »

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Charged Up

By: Patrick Maguire

Book Chapter: Human-to-Human Service

Posted: 11/17/2011

I recently walked into a Verizon store on Boylston Street in Boston, my cellphone moments away from running out of juice. With important issues to attend to throughout the afternoon, I needed  my phone. At the service counter, I asked CSR Michael Onessimo, if they sold used chargers, with the idea of going to the library across the street to charge up the phone. 

Michael explained that they sold only new chargers. Since I already had 2 chargers at home, I had to weigh wasting 30 bucks for a  third charger vs. having a juiced up phone for an afternoon of important stuff I had to deal with. 

And then came a breakthrough moment that turns a customer into an ambassador.

“Do you have any errands to run in the neighborhood?”, Michael asked.

“Excuse me?” I replied.

“Well, if you have some time, I can put your phone on our charger out back for while, and it will be charged up for the afternoon”, Michael offered.

Perfect! I handed over my phone and told him I’d grab a cup of tea down the street.

When I returned to pick up my phone, I asked for the store manager. Jennifer Baker wasn’t working that day, so I called her later to compliment Michael for helping me out and saving me 30 dollars. I was grateful that he took the initiative to provide a solution that I hadn’t even thought of.

As is often the case, Jennifer told me that customers rarely called with praise for good service and that she had goosebumps listening to me describe Michael’s work. She said that she and her colleagues at Verizon were working hard to nurture a culture of thoughtful, proactive service and hospitality.

As I have stated before; Great service is execution, great hospitality is a mindset, an awareness, and a culture focused on making meaningful and memorable connections with customers.

 Thank you, Michael and Jennifer. It’s working!

I love having the reason to make those phone calls.

Have you had any breakthrough moments as a customer that you’d like to share?  Who are the outstanding service industry employees you’d like to recognize?

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Leaders and Bystanders-2

By: Patrick Maguire

Book Chapter: Human-to-Human Service

Posted: 11/15/2011

Please take a moment to read this great piece by David Brooks in today’s New York Times about the media response to the Penn State atrocities. I devoted a blog post to The Bystander Effect, and it will be discussed at length in the book. Too many people talk a big game, but turn away  or remain silent during moments of truth. If you’ve ever watched an episode of John Quiñones’ TV show, “Primetime: What Would You Do?” you know what I’m talking about. We need to turn the tide and encourage more people to step up and speak up.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/15/opinion/brooks-lets-all-feel-superior.html

Permalink | Posted in Human-to-Human Service | 2 Comments »

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