Colton Herinckx

Nutr. 446

Assignment 7: Policy/SOP

Measuring and monitoring customer service in a retail food operation (refers to training
servers for seating and helping customers at the table, and how a retail operation might
monitor that)

Policy: It is our policy to provide customers with the highest level of service achievable.
All customers are valuable, and returning customers are vital to our success. This policy
is directed at servers and will ensure that each customers experience is favorable. The
manager is responsible for verifying that employees are interacting with customers in an
appropriate manner. Measures of customer service and satisfaction will be assessed
through daily observation, customer complaints, and customer survey feedback. Failure
to follow the policy will result in the appropriate penalty from the following: the first
offense will result in the employee being retrained by the manager, the second offense
will result in a warning from the manager, and the third offense will be considered
grounds for termination. If an employee fails to follow the policy, the appropriate
corrective action will be taken at the soonest possible opportunity.

Training New Servers to Seat and Help Customers

PURPOSE: To train new servers to appropriately interact with customers.

SCOPE: This procedure applies to employees who seat, serve and/or otherwise wait on
customers.

KEYWORDS: Training, Servers, Seating, Helping, Customer Interaction

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. The manager is responsible for training servers on using the procedures in this
SOP.
2. Report to work healthy, clean, and dressed in appropriate attire.
3. Arrive no later than five minutes prior to the beginning of the assigned work shift.
4. If working an opening shift, assist other employees in opening tasks.
5. Clean all tables, chairs, floors, and other surrounding areas in assigned zone.
6. Verify that all condiment containers are filled.
7. When interacting with customers, expect to deal with multiple types of customers.
Rude customers are to be treated no differently than polite customers.
8. Always remain confident, friendly, and helpful when interacting with customers.
9. Give each customer your total attention by standing tall and looking him or her in
the eye.
10. Seat customers at a clean table as soon as possible. Prioritize customers who
arrived first.
 11. If there are few seats available, communicate with customers and let them know
it will be a longer-than-usual wait time.
12. After seating customers, ask what they would like to drink. Allow them adequate
time to look over the menu and make decisions.
13. Know the menu, the daily specials, and be ready to answer customer questions
or make recommendations.
14. Cooperate with the customers. If a customer makes a special request, honor it if
possible and pass the request on to the chef.
15. Communicate with the customers. If the kitchen is running slow, give them
warning.
16. When serving food, make multiple trips if necessary.
17. Make minimal contact with glass rims or plate surfaces. No contact is strongly
preferred.
18. Always excuse yourself when reaching across a customer.
19. Before leaving, confirm every customer has what they want and/or need and ask
if there is anything else you can do.
20. Do not spend too much time at any one table. This may upset other customers at
separate tables.
21. Offer refills or additional beverages as necessary.
22. Do not rush customers. If all customers at a table are clearly finished eating,
bring the bill. Do not bring the bill if the customers are not done yet.
23. Always give change to customers paying in cash. Never assume the change is a
tip.
24. Clean when not busy. Doing nothing makes a bad impression on customers.
25. If overwhelmed, ask another server for help. Communicate with customers if
another server will be taking over.
26. Wash hands frequently and keep all wounds covered.
27. If you need to use the bathroom, ask another server to cover and notify the
manager.
28. At the end of a shift, clean table, floor, chairs, and surrounding areas. Make sure
condiments are full.
29. If working until closing time, help other employees with closing tasks.

MONITORING:
The manager will observe server-customer interactions throughout the day
to ensure customers are seated in a timely manner and interactions are
appropriate.
Customer complaints will be recorded in the Complaint Log by the
manager.
Negative customer feedback will be recorded in the Complaint Log by the
manager.
 All policy infractions and corrective actions will be recorded by the
manager.

CORRECTIVE ACTION:
1st Offense: Manager retrains the employee. Manager must log the
retraining.
2nd Offense: Manager warns employee of deviation from SOP. Manager
must log the warning.
3rd Offense: Employee may be terminated.

VERIFICATION AND RECORD KEEPING:

The manager will verify that all servers follow this SOP by visually observing the
employees during all hours of operation. Inappropriate behavior on an employees part
will be noted by the manager and the appropriate corrective action will be taken. In
addition, customer complaints will be recorded in the Complaint Log. Finally, customers
will be given optional surveys regarding customer service and their experience with
employees they interacted with. Negative survey results will also be recorded in the
Complaint Log. The Complaint Log will serve as a measure of overall customer
satisfaction and will be kept on file for a minimum of 1 year.

DATE BY:
IMPLEMENTED:

DATE REVIEWED: BY:

DATE BY:
REVISED: