HOTELS

Bart Berkey

Sales Lessons From A Sushi Server
July 25, 2008

How many of you love sushi?

Japanese food is something that our entire family can enjoy--it offers enough variety so that each person is pleased. It is a special diversion from the chicken fingers and fries that our kids normally select from a children's menu. But the problem that I've encountered when going to many sushi restaurants is the lack of patience many servers have for customers.

Yes, they are experts on the variations, styles, accompaniments, etc., but many of us still want to learn and experiment. There may be times of frustration when customers want to order sushi in a customized manner: "inside out, cut in eights, no roe, with the mayo on the side." How many times would your California Roll arrive with those lovely, orange eggs when the texture is the last thing you'd require to make your meal enjoyable?

This may be as frustrating as the varying degrees of customization for a Starbucks coffee drink. Regardless of whether a customer is paying $5 for a cup of coffee, $7 for a hand roll or $459 for a guestroom, we need to remember that customers should always be treated as customers.

Last week in Sarasota, Florida, we were fortunate to experience one of the best sushi servers of all time. She asked us questions to find out what we really like. She offered suggestions based on her knowledge of the menu. When we had special requests to certain items, she responded "no problem," and repeated the order to ensure the accuracy. She was pleasant and did not make us feel uncomfortable. She thanked us for our business and told us to ask for her next time we were in town.

Do we make our customers feel comfortable? Do we use terms or acronyms they may not understand? Do we know what they truly want based on our questions? Are we pleasant and do we thank them for their business? The sushi satisfied our palates in Sarasota for several hours, but the experience of our superior sushi server will be remembered for a much longer time.

Posted by Bart Berkey on July 25, 2008 | Comments (4)