One
Sunday morning, I decided to have breakfast at a locally owned restaurant in my
area. I brought in some books and a magazine and was seated at a booth. The
restaurant was not that busy. I had eaten there before, the service was good
and the food was alright.
I
wanted to eat somewhere that had family feel to it without the restaurant
chain-store sameness. I wanted to relax, enjoy some food and read.
I
wondered what my rights were. Could they do that? Of course, they could, they
own the place. Maybe not, a few years ago, a steakhouse owner in Louisville,
Kentucky asked O.J Simpson to leave his restaurant. Later, the owner said “I didn’t want to serve
him because of my convictions of what he’s done to those families.” Question:
Was the owner’s actions legal or illegal? Simpson did intend to file a lawsuit
against the restaurant alleging his ejection was about race and not being a
high profile customer. Later, he didn’t follow through with the suit.
Restaurants
do have rules they must follow. They are allowed to implement neutral customers
conduct rules, dress codes or other neutral admission policies. Such policies
must apply equally to all persons regardless of their race, color, sex, gender
identity or other protected characteristics. The policies and laws vary from
state to state.
For
example, in California, the Unruch Civil Rights Act, enacted in 1959, states
“All persons within the jurisdiction of the state are free and equal, and no
matter what their sex, race, color, religion, ancestry or national origin are
entitled to the full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities,
privileges or services in all establishments of every kind whatsoever.”
I thought I should get a refund, but I didn't
speak up and left which is I'm sure, is what they wanted.
I've
never eaten at that restaurant again. I still ride by and they're still in
business. I never told anybody about that treatment I received from the
restaurant.
Personally, I avoid going to a restaurant on a Friday or Saturday evening. Is this
the Curse of the Alone Diner?
Now,
there may be a social life preserver thrown to the Alone Diner. The downside is
that we may have to travel to Amsterdam to be saved from bad Alone Diner
treatment.
Eenmall
is a restaurant in Amsterdam that has only tables for one. It offers a
four-course meal including drink. There is no Wi-Fi, diners are encouraged to
read physical books and magazines.
There
may be some hope here in the states. The U.S Census Bureau revealed more people
are living and eating alone than at any other time in history. Nearly one-third
of all current U.S household have a single person in them.
Some
restaurants are making an effort to accommodate the Alone Diner. Restaurant
trenders say they’re seeing a larger emphasis on restaurants that have more two
persons tables with faster wait times and smaller menu items that are geared
towards individuals.
At
New York City’s based Union Square Hospitality Group, the servers are trained
on how to interact with the Alone Diner. The customers are offered a couple of
table locations along with reading materials, if desired.
Here
are a few concepts that restaurants can be used to increase their share of the
profitable Alone Diner pie:
Spend the time and effort to hire the right
people with good personalities to interact with the Alone Diner.
Outline the behaviors you expect from your
employee, the way they should act, speak and respond to the Alone Diner’s
needs and requests.
Establish and maintain on-going customer
service training on a recurring basis.
Give
incentives to employees who demonstrate great customer service. Employees
want to be well paid, but they would like to be treated with respect and shown
appreciation.
Here
is a kicker, a Gallup Poll survey revealed a customer who is emotionally bonded
to your place of business is likely to spend 46 percent more money that a
customers who is just satisfied, but not emotionally bonded.
This
is very true to be “emotionally bonded” to a restaurant. I have found a
restaurant that I have an “emotion bond” where I am treated the same whether I
am dining alone or with someone. My
average bill is about eight to nine dollars and I visit this restaurant about once
a week. My average spending at this
restaurant is 50 weeks x $ 9.00 = $450.00.
The
reason I eat at this restaurant because I can read and work as long as I want
without the threat of being kicked out plus the food is really good. One day, I
was writing and got into a groove. Seven hours later, no one ever asked me to
leave, they just kept refilling my hot tea.
It
takes some guts to eat alone in a restaurant, but it is our right to be served
and treated as if we were part of a “party of five.”
As
we end with each blog post, the mantra, Plant
Service, Harvest Money from the book, The
Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz
Hello,
May I Help You, Adventures In Customer Service posts on Wednesdays.
Sources:
Eating Alone by
Design: An Entire Restaurant With Tables for One http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-04-24/eating-alone-by-design-an-entire-restaurant-with-tables-for-one
We Eat Half Of
Our Meals Alone
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/07/eating-alone_n_5658532.html
Front-line
Employees Are Key to Customer Service Success http://humanresources.about.com/od/customerservice/a/serve_customers.htm
