Quotable Quotes from our best-selling products.
"We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give." - Winston Churchill
"The trouble with eating Italian food is that five or six days later you're hungry again." - Jerry Stiller
"The hardest thing [about not drinking] is waking up in the morning and realizing that's as good as you're going to feel all day." - Sammy Davis Jr.
"Those who have long enjoyed such privileges as we enjoy forget in time that men have died to win them." - Franklin Delano Roosevelt
"With all the Christmas lights this time of the year I wonder if my neighbors are celebrating the birth of Jesus or General Electric." -Jim Buelt
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SIXTYVIP (no spaces, case sensitive). No limit on quantities, our average order has been 4 copies each! Offer good only until December 19 so buy now to save big! |
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Greetings!
Happy Holidays and Welcome to the December 2009 Fundamentals e-newsletter. This month we offer three short but bright ideas to help you reduce costs and one big idea on how to make training stick. Shared knowledge is power, so be sure to FORWARD this e-mail on to everyone in your company that doesn't already get it. See the forward button on the bottom left below. --Jim Sullivan, CEO and Founder, Sullivision.com
P.S. Be sure to also check out our brand new DVD called 60 Second Lessons in Leadership: Big Ideas in Short Video Bites. In case you haven't already taken advantage of the special offer we extended to all e-news subscribers last month to save $70 off the retail price of $149, we're extending the offer until December 19. See the box below to the left under our QuoteZilla section for the special discount code (SIXTYVIP). |
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What you didn't know about training. But maybe we all should learn.
Ten years ago, I accidentally learned that the best way to train customer-facing crew members was to have them train me.
It was standard procedure then to require the waitstaff at our restaurants to memo rize ten steps of service and selling in order to be "good" servers.
The rationale was that if they knew the steps then service excellence and higher check averages would follow.
Well the lists got memorized, but problem was, service didn't improve and sales weren't increasing. It was then I had an epiphany: creating a "10 Steps of Service" list created an illusion of simplicity attached to a complex skill. The truth is that service-giving and menu merchandising are actually complex experiential and learned behaviors, not simple sequential ones. Getting customer interaction "right" requires experience, assessment, customization, and collaboration. So one fateful day we ditched our steps-of-service flip charts, exchanged "classroom-style" seating for round tables and divided the waitstaff into random groups of five. I told them our restaurants had two daily goals; 1) every guest leaves happy and 2) every shift is profitable. Then I gave each table a total of nine minutes to identify all the ways we could please guests and either save money or make money each shift.
They attacked the assignment with relish; the collaborative lists they created were more detailed and effective than our "steps." And since valuable experience was exchanged at each table through discussion as they made the lists, the insight shared was highly prized.
I also learned that day that people never argue with their own data; our servers actually used what they taught each other. Service and sales markedly improved from that day forward. I had taught them how to think, and in turn, they showed me what to do. Moral: teach people why first. If you do it right they'll teach you what to do and to do how it. And now you've leapt the knowing-to-doing gap!
Three ways to help lower costs:
While the holidays are the right time for making sales it's also a smart time to reinforce cost control too. Here are three ideas you should consider:
1) Play the "Price is Right" at employee meetings (or orientation). At your next pre-shift meeting, display everyday workplace items that employees use or abuse (i.e. sugar packets, butter, crackers, silverware, napkins, plates, glasses, salad dressing, menus, an extra ounce of meat, a handful of fries, etc.). Put the items on a table along with a face-down card that details the price of each item or portion. Employees try to guess the right answers.
2) Post your monthly invoices for electricity, water, heat, gas, food, beverage, insurance, lease, on bulletin boards with the totals highlighted in yellow. Now employees can relate the cost of doing business to their own expenses at home.
3) Creating a "must read" file saves time (and time is money). Managers today are overwhelmed with information. It's impossible to keep up with all the trade publications, newspapers, books, e-mail, newsletters, text messages and tweets that we're deluged with. Here's one way to at least stay on top of your important print material: Create a "Must Read" file. Every time you get a publication, scan it for articles you consider a "must read." Ignore everything else. Then, tear it out and stick it in your "Must Read" file. Carry this file everywhere. Any "down" time you have - a flight, a train ride, a meeting that gets started late, etc. - pull out an article and read it. Commit yourself to emptying your "Must Read" file every week. -from the "The Motivational Manager"
And finally, have yourself a happy Holiday season. If you see someone without a smile, give 'em one of yours. |
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Ultimate Multi Unit Leader Package Released! 
Save $35 on this bundle! The Multi Unit Leadership Ultimate Package 3 includes the brand new DVD for Multi-Unit Leaders,the PDF companion workbook, a copy of the best-selling Book, and the 4-CD AudioBook Box for only $149 plus shipping. Read, watch or listen your way to better leadership skills and higher sales. Tough times call for better leaders and better leaders come from self-improvement. This 304 page book, 4 CD audio and hour-long leadership workshop on DVD by Jim Sullivan teaches multi-unit managers (and high-potential GMS) how to build stronger teams, acquire and maintain more customers and raise incremental sales, especially important in recessionary times. Available only at Sullivision.com order now and save $35.
Our Price: $149 List Price: $184 |
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Sullivision.com creates service, sales, training, marketing, leadership and e-learning resources for the foodservice and retail industries worldwide. Our clients include Walt Disney, Coca-Cola, American Express, TGI Friday's, McDonald's, Supercuts, Sam's Club, KFC, Applebee's, Target, Wagamama and Dunkin Brands. See our free podcasts, articles, templates and product catalog at www.sullivision.com |
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