Happy Halloween! (and more)
Happy Halloween! I am not taking the day off today, but I am doing a post that is a bit shorter than usual. I may even give a few trick or treat tips!
The “Real” Post
A friend of mine owns a restaurant. He mentioned to me that he read my blog and asked how he was supposed to figure out what his customer’s names were (so he can address them by name). I looked at him and said there were a few ways.
Ask them.
For some reason, very few people seem to think about this. If a waiter has seen a group of people at the restaurant a few times – it may be appropriate to ask for their names so you can put a name to the face.
Look at their credit cards.
I’m not sure if the credit card companies like this, if it considered ethical, or what, but regardless, it is a good way to find out the customers’ names. Quite a few restaurants do this anyways, so I don’t see the harm in it. The point is remembering.
Communicate.
How hard is it for the waiter to ask the hostess what name the reservation was in? Not too hard.
Think about it.
Think about ways to find out what your customers’ names are and how to customize the experience accordingly. Usually the most effective way is to communicate with other departments and use tools that are already available.
The “Fun” Post
So there are two types of customer service when it comes to Halloween. The trick-or-treaters and the hosts.
Trick-or-treaters.
I think the amount of trick-or-treaters who read my blog are probably quite limited. However, I say it is fairly likely that a good part of my readers have children. Tell your children to be nice, to smile, to say thank you, and to answer questions (i. e. what are you?) with a smile.
The hosts.
I’m sure there is a different term for this, but the hosts are the people who live at the places the trick or treaters visit. Like with the children: smile, be nice, ask questions (what are you?), say have a nice night, and all of those good things. If you have pets, you may want to put them in another room so they don’t scare anyone or get out. Oh, and give good candy!
Customer service on Halloween is simple. Follow the golden rule of being nice and you will do fine!
On another note, congratulations to Joe Kraus (who was interviewed on Service Untitled) and Jotspot, which was acquired by Google today.