F.A.C.E.S. Run Your Restaurant!

F.A.C.E.S.
Photo by Javier Molina
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When I ran high-volume restaurants for 20 years, the acronym F.A.C.E.S. served as our team mantra.  Every day in every restaurant across America, we are seeing and serving new guests every day… new Faces, if you will. 

Unique faces that perhaps know nothing about our restaurants and what makes them special. New faces you want to return. To do this, your entire team needs to serve each and every guest as if they were a regular. That’s where F.A.C.E.S. comes in.

F.A.C.E.S. stands for:

F = FRIENDLY

Imagine if every customer left your restaurant feeling like they were a long-time friend even if they were a first time visitor.   It was our restaurant’s M.O. for every staff person crossing a guest’s path to authentically smile, look them in the eye, thank the customer and invite them to return.  This is just one of many ways to build that all-important “affinity” with your clientele.  Remember,  affinity is free and a true “competitive advantage”.  Finding new customers is expensive.

A = ATTENTIVE

A guest has expectations and needs when they dine out in your restaurant.  Its one thing for a customer to make a request, but entirely another for your staff to anticipate needs before being asked and over-deliver on the experience.  This is the difference between running a restaurant and building a “brand”.

  • Simplot Frozen Avocado
  • T&S Brass Eversteel Pre-Rinse Units
  • BelGioioso Burrata
  • McKee Foodservice
  • Day & Nite
  • Inline Plastics Safe-T-Chef
  • Red Gold Sacramento
  • Imperial Dade
  • Atosa USA
  • RATIONAL USA
  • RAK Porcelain
  • AyrKing Mixstir
  • Texas Pete
  • DAVO Sales Tax

Sometimes, the service team can be a little overzealous at tables.  It’s a fine balance between being attentive and available or obtrusive.  Train your staff on finding that all-important balance.

C = CARING

If you’ve done your job well, you’ve hired staff with pleasing personalities that genuinely care about each and every guest’s experience.  I’ve always believed in hiring for personality, attitude and a genuine desire to serve over experience. You’ll know you’ve arrived when your team feels more like family than staff, and your customers are singing your restaurant’s praises.

E = EFFICIENT

We’ve all visited restaurants with a long wait at the host station, empty but uncleared tables and a service staff that’s surviving but not selling.  That all too common expression “in the weeds” is far too common.  The guest experience suffers along with the restaurant’s reputation and all-important word of mouth marketing.  Truly great restaurants cross-train their staff to multi-task, become adept at other positions, anticipate needs and deliver consistently great dining experiences.  Accomplish this and your online reviews will soar, new customers will seek out your restaurant, regulars will return and everyone will bring their friends.

S = SELLING

Many restaurants train on Service, but few train staff to SELL!

Once again, every day new customers come in your door for a variety of reasons.  Most know nothing about what makes your restaurant unique or what they’ll enjoy.  Your menu is a marketing piece, but your service team are ambassadors that bring your restaurant experience to life for the guest.  Hospitality is so much more than delivering food and drink.  Its really about training your staff to educate, inform and entertain your customer – every table, every time!  Do this well and your cash register will ring.

Roger Beaudoin
Roger Beaudoin, Restaurant Rockstars

So there you have it. Five simple letters that deliver a powerful competitive advantage.  More importantly, truly memorable dining experiences that build your business and your brand.   Add F.A.C.E.S. to your next pre-shift meeting, as well as your culture of hospitality and watch new customers become regular visitors and old friends.

Go out there, get that restaurant wow factor, and Rock Your Restaurant!

  • Simplot Frozen Avocado
  • AyrKing Mixstir
  • RATIONAL USA
  • Red Gold Sacramento
  • BelGioioso Burrata
  • Atosa USA
  • T&S Brass Eversteel Pre-Rinse Units
  • McKee Foodservice
  • RAK Porcelain
  • Inline Plastics Safe-T-Chef
  • DAVO Sales Tax
  • Texas Pete
  • Imperial Dade
  • Day & Nite
Roger Beaudoin
Roger Beaudoin is the founder of the Sales Stars Server Training System, Author of Rock Your Restaurant, a game-changing guide to Restaurant Finances and Creator of The Restaurant Rockstars Academy. He is a successful restaurant entrepreneur who has founded and operated 4 restaurants/hospitality companies over the past 22 years. He recently sold the Matterhorn SKI BAR in Maine, a seasonal restaurant and bar that generated over $1 MILLION dollars sales in just 4 months, with double the Net Profit of the average full-serve restaurant. While running The Matterhorn it was named “BEST SKI BAR USA” by Skiing Magazine and “Classic SKI BAR” by SKI Magazine, as well as receiving restaurant accolades from the New York Times, Boston Globe, Framers Travel Guides, Powder Magazine, Yankee Magazine and other publications over the years. Roger is a Speaker at industry events, Host of the Restaurant Rockstars Podcast and is frequently interviewed as a Guest Expert on other industry podcasts as well.In addition to providing turn-key restaurant Staff Training and Financial systems, Roger Coaches and Consults to restaurants of all types. As more than 50% of restaurants fail, he has a deep passion for helping new restaurant owners not only survive but knock it out of the park! (There is no reason for them to make the same mistakes he made 20 years ago when he started his first restaurant). With over 20+ years in the business, he is a genius with restaurant analytics, branding, training, systems and efficiencies and uses that expertise to help restaurateurs create not just restaurants, but BUSINESSES that ROCKS PROFITS!