Rigor, precision, friendliness are essential qualities of a good waiter in a restaurant, which will make the difference for your customers, regardless of the type of restaurant or the equipment used by the staff. The establishment’s turnover remains a priority. The profitability of the activity as well as the loyalty of the customers are all parameters that the servers must have in mind during the service.
It is therefore necessary to recruit them well and to define from the outset the skills that the waiters must have as well as the skills that they must absolutely possess, these constituting all the same the showcase of the establishment, in the same way as dishes are available there.
If you already have server training and want to improve your skills, or aspire to become one: here are the qualities to develop to become a good server.
1) Simply introduce yourself
It is not very difficult to implement a rapid presentation of the staff at the arrival of the customers. Moreover, inserting a more human touch into a service easily puts people in a good mood, which is not negligible. A personal touch never hurts!
2) Be friendly and smiling towards customers
In the hustle and bustle, a small accident (such as a knocked over plate, a broken glass or an order forgotten) quickly happened. The relational during a service is therefore not to be neglected, even in the event of a full house.
3) Know how to guide customers in their choices
To become a good restaurant server, you must also know how to sell your products, according to many parameters often unknown to customers. After finding out about the products that customers favor or the stocks to sell, a good server can thus direct them towards dishes whose stock is still too large, for example.
There are cash registers , such as L’Addition, capable of informing the servers in real time of available stocks , which is very useful during a busy service.
4) Be discreet
Obviously, many servers are regularly exposed to this problem, which is normal. Knowing how to dose with accuracy, speed and discretion requires a good knowledge of the trade but is nevertheless at the heart of it: being a good restaurant server will be invisible to customers but always available for them if needed.
5) Know the menu of your restaurant
To become a good waiter, you have to learn the menu! You must know the entire menu of the restaurant, the dishes being available or not and have some knowledge of the recipes implemented by the cooks.
In short, the link between the kitchen and the room is essential in a good restaurant. He must also know the composition of the dishes, including certain details that seem insignificant at first glance but are essential for certain customers (allergens, ingredients in particular, etc.)
Some cash registers, such as L’Addition, make your life easier by automatically detecting your products and menus. We always sell better what we master, regardless of the field.
6) Adapt your work pace to the attendance of the establishment
This is a very important quality to become a restaurant server. You really have to master the rhythm of the services, link quickly between dishes and desserts, make sure that the transitions are as short and as pleasant as possible for the customers.
Back and forth is your enemy, it wastes your time, creates fuss… nothing good for your service. Think about ways to take orders on the go . The time savings they will provide you with will not be negligible thanks to kitchen deliveries, instant order changes, etc. Time is money, think about it!
7) Set and clear a table correctly
In both cases, this must be done professionally. Indeed, despite the evolution of mentalities, many customers remain very attached to a certain type of service that could be described as French service. Thus, everything must be cleared before moving on, the condiments must in no case be forgotten, the elements must be a minimum aligned… Nothing must be neglected.
8) Resolve Conflicts Quickly
I was talking about hazards above, but once opposed to these, they must be resolved quickly, very quickly. Whether it’s a dissatisfied customer, a missing dish or an argument at a table, a smile is of course essential, but efficiency is not to be outdone.
One of the qualities of a good server remains above all a flexible server, capable of adapting to any type of situation, so as to build lasting customer loyalty by quickly solving any type of problem before they even know it. account. So they will definitely come back.
9) Present the bill at the right time and cash quickly
With the technologies available to restaurateurs, collection worries are now a thing of the past. The new, modern, fast and easy-to-use cash registers make it possible to collect the most complicated orders which, a few years earlier, would have represented a nightmare for the waiters (note sharing, numerous simultaneous receipts, sharing of a product between several customers…). To see how L’Addition order taking works, click on this link !
Know that today, cashing can also be done directly at the customer’s table thanks to the mobility of certain TPEs, but also with the latest generation pads and smartphones. The queue at the counter therefore no longer has any reason to exist, which contributes to the loyalty of customers who wait much less time. From now on, payment at the table can also be done using QR codes , a service that L’Addition will soon be offering .
10) Make customers want to come back to your establishment
The customer’s last contact with the restaurant staff, especially the waiters, should always make them want to come back and should not be taken lightly. Thus, a smile or a slight gesture will always leave a good memory for customers. Think about it!
But the connection with your customers doesn’t stop there. With the acceleration of digital, your presence on social networks is another important way to give people a good image of your restaurant and make them want to come to your establishment. The catering sector is in full phase of modernization and communication on the internet is now an essential component of the success of a restaurant.