WEBVTT - Great Food, Training Fuel Restaurant Success 0:00:00.720 --> 0:00:03.840 Welcome to Chopping It Up Episode eleven. I'm your host, 0:00:03.920 --> 0:00:07.040 Mike Hallen. I'm the senior restaurant and food service analyst 0:00:07.120 --> 0:00:10.600 here at Bloomberg Intelligence, and it's my pleasure to introduce 0:00:10.680 --> 0:00:15.640 today's guests. Marvin Albali, CEO of Franchise Global Brands and 0:00:15.840 --> 0:00:19.040 author of Restaurant Excellence, the Ultimate Guide to Success in 0:00:19.079 --> 0:00:22.920 the Food and Beverage industry. Thanks for doing this, Marvin, 0:00:23.040 --> 0:00:25.759 Thank you. Thanks for inviting me to the show. You 0:00:25.880 --> 0:00:28.280 got it so You've had a unique career path. Can 0:00:28.280 --> 0:00:30.479 you share a little bit about your journey in the 0:00:30.520 --> 0:00:33.960 restaurant industry? Sure? So I started my career. The first 0:00:34.000 --> 0:00:38.280 thing I started with was that I pursued education and 0:00:38.479 --> 0:00:42.400 hotel and cattering management. I studied that for four years, 0:00:42.440 --> 0:00:46.760 and after graduation, I took my first job with Chiles 0:00:46.840 --> 0:00:50.440 as an assistant manager. Made all my way up to 0:00:50.479 --> 0:00:56.000 a training manager and I was awarded the Operator of 0:00:56.040 --> 0:01:00.800 the Year by Bricker International. The same franchise Z that 0:01:01.000 --> 0:01:05.080 operated Chile's was also the master franchise of Food Ruckers. 0:01:06.319 --> 0:01:10.480 So I was promoted to an operations consultant and supported 0:01:10.640 --> 0:01:16.080 twenty twenty two restaurants for about four years. And then 0:01:16.160 --> 0:01:20.640 one of the another franchise Z approached me. He was 0:01:20.680 --> 0:01:25.480 a franchise of six restaurants food Ruckers Restaurants and approached 0:01:25.520 --> 0:01:28.760 me to become a company director. He wanted to grow 0:01:28.800 --> 0:01:32.560 his company, so I joined the franchise Z and I 0:01:32.640 --> 0:01:38.600 opened Carribook Coffee, Marble Slab Creamery, and the Great American 0:01:38.640 --> 0:01:42.479 Cookie and two more food Ruckers. In total, we grew 0:01:42.520 --> 0:01:46.920 from twelve restaurants to twenty two. It was an incredible experience. 0:01:47.040 --> 0:01:50.280 I was only twenty two years old and I had 0:01:50.320 --> 0:01:54.840 to learn everything from designed to site selection all the 0:01:54.880 --> 0:01:59.640 way to opening. After that, I joined Applebee's, the largest 0:01:59.720 --> 0:02:02.680 car will dining chain in the world, as a company 0:02:02.680 --> 0:02:06.240 director for one of the franchise franchise Ease. And then 0:02:07.320 --> 0:02:11.679 I had a great opportunity to support sixty six restaurants 0:02:11.880 --> 0:02:15.840 Burger King Restaurants in North America, and so I joined 0:02:15.840 --> 0:02:19.600 the corporate office of Burger King in Miami and supported 0:02:20.440 --> 0:02:24.840 sixty six restaurant in British Columbia and Alberta in Canada. 0:02:25.080 --> 0:02:28.880 It was my only fast food experience QUSR experience, but 0:02:28.960 --> 0:02:33.720 it was amazing. And then I joined one of the 0:02:33.760 --> 0:02:37.920 most iconic restaurant companies in North America and one of 0:02:37.919 --> 0:02:42.079 the oldest actually, it's called White Spot out of Vancouver, 0:02:42.280 --> 0:02:45.360 about one hundred and fifty restaurants in total. They have 0:02:45.440 --> 0:02:51.359 two categories. They have a fast casual brand called Triples 0:02:51.680 --> 0:02:55.440 and they have sit down restaurant family dining called White Spot. 0:02:56.320 --> 0:03:01.400 A fantastic company, they won Best Managed Companies for about 0:03:01.480 --> 0:03:05.280 seven years in a row an amazing culture. I just 0:03:05.320 --> 0:03:08.600 fell in love with that company. But then a huge 0:03:08.720 --> 0:03:13.400 opportunity came my way through a recruiter to move to 0:03:13.480 --> 0:03:18.960 Dubai and lead four hundred and forty five restaurants for 0:03:19.040 --> 0:03:24.119 the Innercinental Hotel group. The Intercinal Hotel Group also operate 0:03:24.240 --> 0:03:29.440 Indigo Hotel, Indigo Regent on the luxury side Crown Plaza 0:03:29.480 --> 0:03:33.480 on Holiday Inn. So I couldn't refuse that opportunity, so 0:03:33.520 --> 0:03:37.000 I moved with my family to Dubai and worked for 0:03:37.120 --> 0:03:41.160 the Intercinal Group for five years. During that time, Mike, 0:03:41.720 --> 0:03:47.080 they also gave me the opportunity to lead Europe in 0:03:47.320 --> 0:03:50.800 Japan as well, so in total I ended up managing 0:03:51.320 --> 0:03:54.520 seven hundred and seventy six restaurants and a year ago. 0:03:54.560 --> 0:03:57.720 About a year ago, I joined Franchise Global brands. I'm 0:03:57.720 --> 0:04:02.800 one of the shareholders, and we've been doing consulting, franchising, 0:04:03.000 --> 0:04:08.680 creating concepts, improving performance for several restaurants, Boston Market, the 0:04:08.760 --> 0:04:12.520 Great Harvest Bread Company, for Mosso, we consulted for a 0:04:12.640 --> 0:04:16.280 Wingstop at one point, and several other restaurants in the region. 0:04:16.360 --> 0:04:18.560 So that's it and a nutshell. Yeah, very cool, and 0:04:18.600 --> 0:04:20.479 not many people that I know, excuse me, in the 0:04:20.480 --> 0:04:24.640 industry that have experienced from QASR to fast casual casual 0:04:24.680 --> 0:04:27.560 dining all the way up to find dining, which which 0:04:27.600 --> 0:04:30.080 is very cool. So can you talk a little bit 0:04:30.080 --> 0:04:32.760 about what motivated you to write your book? Yeah, So, 0:04:34.040 --> 0:04:36.720 as you said, one of the reasons actually was, you know, 0:04:37.160 --> 0:04:39.520 I look back at my career and I see that 0:04:39.560 --> 0:04:43.000 I worked both for the hotel business, the luxury side, 0:04:43.600 --> 0:04:50.400 where you learn finesse, culinary innovation, design, luxury, and then 0:04:50.640 --> 0:04:56.120 from the franchise world I learned marketing, consistency, financial discipline. 0:04:56.440 --> 0:04:58.400 So one of the one of the reasons I wanted 0:04:58.400 --> 0:04:59.840 to write a book, I said, you know, I have 0:05:00.480 --> 0:05:03.520 really great exposure and I want to share that experience 0:05:03.520 --> 0:05:07.920 with people. And the other reason, and the more important 0:05:07.920 --> 0:05:12.400 reason is, as you know, the restaurant business has one 0:05:12.400 --> 0:05:16.679 of the highest failure rate in the world, and it's 0:05:16.760 --> 0:05:21.680 sad to see people invest all their life savings in 0:05:21.800 --> 0:05:24.960 opening a restaurant for it to fail after two to 0:05:25.040 --> 0:05:27.760 three years. And I really wanted to help. So I thought, 0:05:27.800 --> 0:05:30.599 maybe if I write a book that will help people 0:05:30.640 --> 0:05:34.400 in every aspect of the business, we can avoid all 0:05:34.480 --> 0:05:40.640 that business failure that happens with new restaurant owners. As 0:05:40.680 --> 0:05:43.400 you know, in the industry, if you look in the 0:05:43.640 --> 0:05:47.920 industry to if you search for books about the restaurant business, 0:05:48.600 --> 0:05:52.039 you can find a book on culinary on recipes, you 0:05:52.080 --> 0:05:54.800 can find a book on marketing, but you really don't 0:05:54.800 --> 0:05:57.719 find a book that covers every aspect of the business. 0:05:57.760 --> 0:06:01.200 And that's exactly what I've done. Yeah, the book is great. 0:06:01.600 --> 0:06:04.160 I think all our listeners should go out and grab it. 0:06:04.760 --> 0:06:07.960 I really appreciate the level of detail in the book, 0:06:09.279 --> 0:06:11.159 you know, especially for a guy like me. You know, 0:06:11.200 --> 0:06:13.400 I mentioned to you before, I have a little bit 0:06:13.480 --> 0:06:15.960 of experience as a short order cook, a little bit 0:06:16.520 --> 0:06:20.000 of experience making sandwiches and working the cash register out 0:06:20.000 --> 0:06:25.720 of Delhi, but that's it. So it definitely opened a 0:06:25.800 --> 0:06:28.839 nice window for me into into how a restaurant should 0:06:28.920 --> 0:06:32.240 be run. So I really appreciate it, and I was 0:06:32.279 --> 0:06:36.000 really impressed by the amount of input you received before publishing. 0:06:36.080 --> 0:06:38.520 Can you talk a little bit about that process. Yeah, sure, 0:06:39.080 --> 0:06:42.400 So you know, I really raised the bar so high 0:06:42.480 --> 0:06:44.320 that it took me three and a half years to 0:06:44.400 --> 0:06:48.480 complete this book. So after I wrote it, I sent 0:06:48.640 --> 0:06:53.599 each chapter to three or four top professionals in the 0:06:53.640 --> 0:06:58.000 world from that subject. So let's talk about the kitchen 0:06:58.080 --> 0:07:02.239 management for example, the kitchen manage and chapter nine, which 0:07:02.279 --> 0:07:07.039 talks about recipes improvement. Both chapters were reviewed by actually 0:07:07.160 --> 0:07:10.760 nine chefs. Some of the chefs were trained by the 0:07:10.840 --> 0:07:14.120 best in the world. So some of the chefs that 0:07:15.080 --> 0:07:17.960 shared their input and feedback and added value to the 0:07:18.000 --> 0:07:24.440 book were trained by Gordon Ramsey, Jason Atherton, Pierre Ganying, 0:07:25.000 --> 0:07:28.120 and Paul Bukuz. The same thing I've done with the 0:07:28.200 --> 0:07:32.680 design chapter. Brian Tappan the former former designer of the 0:07:32.760 --> 0:07:37.400 Cheesecake Factory and designed several Apple these restaurants and currently 0:07:38.480 --> 0:07:41.400 works with a company that has six hundred restaurants and 0:07:41.480 --> 0:07:45.720 being a Pollack who designed more than thirty five American brands, 0:07:46.040 --> 0:07:50.760 restaurant brands and two so really that's the methodology that 0:07:50.800 --> 0:07:54.560 I took for each chapter, and there's a ton of 0:07:54.640 --> 0:07:57.920 value out of that for sure. Early on in the book, 0:07:57.960 --> 0:08:00.520 he posted a picture of a viral linked in tweet 0:08:00.600 --> 0:08:03.640 that you had. Basically it said, most people think they 0:08:04.080 --> 0:08:06.920 know the restaurant business because they eat out a lot, 0:08:07.000 --> 0:08:09.760 and that really resonated with me. I feel like a 0:08:09.800 --> 0:08:13.640 lot of restaurant stock investors think they know restaurants because 0:08:13.960 --> 0:08:18.240 they eat out a lot, So I definitely connected with that. 0:08:19.280 --> 0:08:22.240 What are the biggest pitfalls for entrepreneurs that are taking 0:08:22.280 --> 0:08:25.400 their first stab at owning and operating a restaurant. That's 0:08:25.400 --> 0:08:28.680 a great question, and there are several answers to that, 0:08:28.840 --> 0:08:32.000 But what I for the past twenty five years of experience, 0:08:32.080 --> 0:08:37.079 what I see is the following. So new restaurant owners 0:08:37.360 --> 0:08:41.160 typically in the beginning are very much focused on service, 0:08:41.760 --> 0:08:47.559 food quality, atmosphere, on the top fundamentals, team training. But 0:08:47.720 --> 0:08:52.080 after about a year they lose focus and the focus 0:08:52.160 --> 0:08:57.000 turns on marketing, revenue, cost management, and administration work a 0:08:57.080 --> 0:09:00.920 lot of computer work. And when that happens, when you 0:09:01.000 --> 0:09:04.720 lose focus on what matters to the guest, you start 0:09:04.800 --> 0:09:08.520 losing guests. So that's one aspect the other aspect. Some 0:09:08.600 --> 0:09:11.680 of them get really excited and open another store, but 0:09:12.000 --> 0:09:15.520 the second store is not even near, it's very far 0:09:15.600 --> 0:09:19.480 from the first store, So then they dilute all their 0:09:19.520 --> 0:09:22.000 effort and then they spend a lot of time between 0:09:22.000 --> 0:09:24.120 the first store and the second store, and then lose 0:09:24.120 --> 0:09:26.719 focus as well. So if you want to expand, I 0:09:26.760 --> 0:09:30.640 would say expand carefully and don't go too far where 0:09:30.760 --> 0:09:33.120 you require a lot of traveling time, which is a 0:09:33.200 --> 0:09:38.200 time lost on the road. Other operators I see the 0:09:38.240 --> 0:09:41.520 ones that fail fast and fortunately are the ones who 0:09:41.559 --> 0:09:46.400 are running restaurants by calculators. So they're obsessed with cost management. 0:09:46.600 --> 0:09:50.600 They're obsessed with profitability, and it doesn't work that way 0:09:50.600 --> 0:09:52.880 in the restaurant business. And the restaurant business you have 0:09:53.000 --> 0:09:57.040 to serve quality, deliver quality, quality of experience, and quality 0:09:57.080 --> 0:10:01.160 of food. Once you impress your guest and earned their trust, 0:10:01.920 --> 0:10:07.240 then you'll be successful. Very cool. So for those listening 0:10:07.280 --> 0:10:11.240 in that haven't read the book, Marvin equates restaurants success 0:10:11.280 --> 0:10:15.120 with levels of a pyramid, and exceptional food quality is 0:10:15.160 --> 0:10:18.360 at the base. So can you speak to the importance 0:10:18.360 --> 0:10:23.400 of consistency, crevability, and signature dishes at a restaurant, right, 0:10:23.800 --> 0:10:29.240 these are three different elements, so consistency. The reason I 0:10:29.280 --> 0:10:34.120 put consistency there. I remember watching a Netflix show for 0:10:34.240 --> 0:10:38.959 Anthony Bourdaine. It was called The Last Magnificent, was about 0:10:39.000 --> 0:10:42.640 a chef called Jeremiah Tower, and he said a phrase 0:10:42.800 --> 0:10:47.160 in that show. What he said, the beast the religion 0:10:47.360 --> 0:10:51.200 of any restaurant is consistency, and it resonated with me 0:10:51.280 --> 0:10:54.840 a lot. Now, I don't see a problem in consistency 0:10:54.880 --> 0:10:59.600 in the franchise world, but I see a huge problem 0:10:59.640 --> 0:11:04.720 in Alans with independent restaurants and hotels. So that's why 0:11:04.760 --> 0:11:09.040 in the book there's about five to six pages explaining 0:11:09.120 --> 0:11:13.640 in details, how do you achieve consistency because, Mike, you know, 0:11:14.440 --> 0:11:18.480 as they say, consumers trust or the lack of it, 0:11:18.480 --> 0:11:23.160 comes from consistency. That's one aspect. The other aspect, which 0:11:23.200 --> 0:11:27.319 you mentioned, craveability, and where in the book I talk 0:11:27.400 --> 0:11:31.720 about having at least two appetizers, two main course items, 0:11:31.920 --> 0:11:37.240 two desserts where people would crave. Because if people don't 0:11:37.280 --> 0:11:40.360 crave your food, it's gonna be you're gonna have a 0:11:40.400 --> 0:11:45.600 hard time with repeat visits or with creating loyalty. Think 0:11:45.679 --> 0:11:48.600 of cinnamon, A lot of people say, oh, you know, 0:11:49.760 --> 0:11:52.240 I'm craving I would like to have a cinnamon roll. 0:11:53.280 --> 0:11:56.600 Think of Krispy Kreen when they first started and they 0:11:56.600 --> 0:11:59.880 were extremely popular. Shake Jack as well. So you all 0:12:00.200 --> 0:12:02.079 hear that, you know, I missed that burger, I missed 0:12:02.120 --> 0:12:04.199 that donuts. I would love to have a cinema role. 0:12:04.440 --> 0:12:07.280 If your customers are not saying those words, if you're 0:12:07.320 --> 0:12:10.360 not hitting those phrases, you have a problem in the 0:12:10.480 --> 0:12:14.319 R and D department. And the last part signature dishes 0:12:15.080 --> 0:12:18.800 and very simple. If you know you cannot succeed by 0:12:18.840 --> 0:12:22.080 fitting in, you can only succeed by standing out. And 0:12:22.120 --> 0:12:24.600 if you don't have signature dishes, which goes hand in 0:12:24.640 --> 0:12:29.920 hand with cravability, and you don't have unique items, then 0:12:30.120 --> 0:12:32.360 if you have a Caesar salad like everyone else, if 0:12:32.360 --> 0:12:35.880 you have a burger like everyone else, I wonder how 0:12:35.920 --> 0:12:39.280 do you create a following? I wonder how your marketing 0:12:39.280 --> 0:12:42.160 department will be able to market your brand. So I 0:12:42.200 --> 0:12:45.800 think your cheft, your R and D department need to 0:12:45.840 --> 0:12:51.000 come up with few items with specific marinade, a special way, 0:12:51.480 --> 0:12:55.720 special sauce, special cooking procedure that no one can match 0:12:55.800 --> 0:12:59.000 in your city. I think that's really important. Yeah, for sure. 0:12:59.160 --> 0:13:01.760 And getting back to cinnabon man, I think the best 0:13:01.800 --> 0:13:05.719 marketing ever is just the smell of a cinnabon right. 0:13:05.720 --> 0:13:07.360 You can smell it if I feel like, from halfway 0:13:07.400 --> 0:13:11.720 across the mall, and it smells fantastic. Definitely something that 0:13:11.760 --> 0:13:18.080 creates creavability. Superior service in hospital hospitality obviously are crucial 0:13:18.160 --> 0:13:20.280 next level of the pyramid for you in the book, 0:13:21.960 --> 0:13:25.880 Hiring well and the importance of menu knowledge. Those are 0:13:25.880 --> 0:13:28.120 two things that you mentioned in the chapter that really 0:13:28.120 --> 0:13:32.440 stood out to me. Yeah. You know a lot of 0:13:32.440 --> 0:13:36.920 people talk about challenges with hiring the right people and 0:13:36.960 --> 0:13:39.400 they say, you know, we're not competitive enough from a 0:13:39.440 --> 0:13:44.280 salary standpoint to hire the best people. I slightly disagree 0:13:44.400 --> 0:13:48.080 because in my career I did hire people that minimum 0:13:48.120 --> 0:13:51.680 wage who are brilliant. So what I coach about in 0:13:51.720 --> 0:13:55.040 the book, especially for front of the house service employees, 0:13:55.520 --> 0:13:58.719 you really need to look for personalities. So when I 0:13:58.800 --> 0:14:02.559 do my interviews, I'm looking at the smile, the attitude, 0:14:03.000 --> 0:14:09.160 the positive vibes, the teamwork attitude. I'm not so much 0:14:09.200 --> 0:14:11.920 obsessed with the skill, because I can teach you how 0:14:11.960 --> 0:14:14.800 to open a bottle of wine, I can teach you 0:14:14.880 --> 0:14:17.600 how to serve food. I can teach you how to 0:14:18.440 --> 0:14:21.560 prebus a table. That's not really difficult, but if you 0:14:21.640 --> 0:14:24.200 have the wrong attitude, it will be very difficult to 0:14:24.280 --> 0:14:29.520 change that. So if the hiring and recruitment is based 0:14:29.520 --> 0:14:33.720 on that, you'll have an amazing team, very positive that 0:14:33.920 --> 0:14:37.440 you know, people that help each other, very friendly, and 0:14:37.560 --> 0:14:42.200 you'll do well in that department. On menu knowledge, I 0:14:42.400 --> 0:14:45.560 talk a lot about it in the book for two reasons. 0:14:46.800 --> 0:14:49.360 First of all, there is a food safety aspect and 0:14:49.400 --> 0:14:53.760 there is customers health aspect. About three to four months ago, 0:14:54.800 --> 0:14:58.480 there was a guest in Mexico, a British customer in 0:14:58.560 --> 0:15:04.640 Mexico who's got allergy from sesame. Order the salad and 0:15:04.880 --> 0:15:08.400 ask the food servers if they're sesame in the in 0:15:08.440 --> 0:15:11.880 the salad and they said no. Obviously they didn't know, 0:15:12.240 --> 0:15:15.640 but there was sesame in it. The customer ordered the salad, 0:15:15.680 --> 0:15:19.400 had the salad, and unfortunately, Mike, the customer passed away. 0:15:19.840 --> 0:15:24.520 Oh wow, the allergy was so strong. So when I 0:15:24.680 --> 0:15:30.400 coach and train restaurants in the region and internationally, I 0:15:30.560 --> 0:15:35.360 tell them nine many knowledge doesn't work, and that's one 0:15:35.400 --> 0:15:38.960 of the reasons. Now someone might say you're exaggerating. You know, 0:15:39.080 --> 0:15:43.040 no food server will know well. The other aspect, we 0:15:43.080 --> 0:15:45.720 know that confident food servers sell well. If you want 0:15:45.720 --> 0:15:49.080 to do an up selling program, suggests a selling program 0:15:49.160 --> 0:15:51.160 without great many knowledge, you will not be able to 0:15:51.160 --> 0:15:54.720 achieve it. Someone might say, listening to this podcast, I 0:15:54.800 --> 0:15:57.720 know all of that. Yes, many restaurant owners know that, 0:15:58.320 --> 0:16:02.280 but very few of them do whiz is or tests 0:16:02.400 --> 0:16:05.640 or training on daily basis, so they end up going 0:16:05.720 --> 0:16:09.000 nowhere with them. It's really really crucial from a sales 0:16:09.000 --> 0:16:12.720 standpoint and from a customer satisfaction standpoint. Yeah. And speaking 0:16:12.760 --> 0:16:16.840 of training, I mean it's really been It's really woven 0:16:16.960 --> 0:16:21.640 throughout your book. I was. I was almost surprised a 0:16:21.640 --> 0:16:25.800 little bit. I probably shouldn't have been. But how much 0:16:25.840 --> 0:16:29.280 you talk about training throughout the book, and how much 0:16:29.280 --> 0:16:34.480 you recommend restaurant tours train their employees. I mean, whether 0:16:34.520 --> 0:16:40.040 it's daily, monthly, who you recommend does the training? Can 0:16:40.120 --> 0:16:42.600 you can you talk a bit about your process and 0:16:42.920 --> 0:16:46.680 how you recommend restaurant Sure, Mike, I talk about the 0:16:46.680 --> 0:16:50.920 training a lot, because from my experience, the best operator 0:16:51.040 --> 0:16:54.320 in the world trained well. And I'll give you last 0:16:54.400 --> 0:16:58.320 year I was in New York with my family went 0:16:58.360 --> 0:17:01.960 to Danny Myers restaurant Grammars Tavern, and I was impressed. 0:17:02.000 --> 0:17:05.399 I was wowed with the food server training. Actually, on 0:17:05.520 --> 0:17:08.480 that day two food servers came to the table because 0:17:08.480 --> 0:17:12.520 one of them was shadowing a trainer. And we here 0:17:12.560 --> 0:17:15.439 in Dubai we have Zooma. You're familiar with Zuma, it's 0:17:15.480 --> 0:17:20.920 a big brand globally and another brand called Lepetite, Mizone 0:17:20.960 --> 0:17:24.439 and or Fally Brothers. The training is incredible and they 0:17:24.480 --> 0:17:27.320 have high volumes. They're always fully booked, so there's a 0:17:27.359 --> 0:17:33.840 direct correlation between training and success. The problem is with 0:17:34.320 --> 0:17:37.439 many restaurants that they get busy or because they have 0:17:37.880 --> 0:17:41.040 hourly employees, they don't believe in training or high turnover, 0:17:41.119 --> 0:17:43.480 saying Inston, I have a high turnover. By the time 0:17:43.520 --> 0:17:46.840 I train an employee, they leave, But there's no way out. 0:17:46.960 --> 0:17:49.320 You're going to train them because the other option is 0:17:49.400 --> 0:17:52.960 having untrained employees serving your people or cooking your food. 0:17:54.000 --> 0:17:57.080 So I offered two solutions in the book, Mike. One 0:17:57.119 --> 0:18:02.480 of them is really easy with the daily shift briefing. 0:18:02.560 --> 0:18:05.040 Pre shift briefing, you have at least ten minutes for 0:18:05.119 --> 0:18:07.280 the front of the house and ten minutes for back 0:18:07.320 --> 0:18:10.679 of the House. So what I would do and what 0:18:10.800 --> 0:18:13.399 I put in the book, just take a menu item 0:18:14.000 --> 0:18:16.680 and describe it well with the food servers, ask about 0:18:16.720 --> 0:18:20.000 the ingredients, ask how do you upsell it? And share 0:18:20.040 --> 0:18:22.400 one training tip. I'll share one with you right now. 0:18:22.960 --> 0:18:27.480 If there's a customer complaint, what I teach is don't justify. 0:18:27.720 --> 0:18:31.600 Always rectify. So someone says my fries are cold, don't 0:18:31.640 --> 0:18:33.960 say I just brought them from the kitchen. Just say 0:18:34.000 --> 0:18:37.000 I'm sorry. I'm gonna bring you a fresh portion of fries. 0:18:37.400 --> 0:18:40.000 So this is a training tip, So think about it. 0:18:40.560 --> 0:18:45.720 In ninety days you would have taught ninety tips. You 0:18:45.800 --> 0:18:51.000 will notice that the team's skills have improved significantly because 0:18:51.040 --> 0:18:54.000 you're training every day a new thing. And if you 0:18:54.240 --> 0:18:58.199 use the service chapter, the service chapter was designed in 0:18:58.240 --> 0:19:01.119 a way where you can use it from each section 0:19:01.200 --> 0:19:04.920 of the book of that chapter. So that's one aspect 0:19:05.240 --> 0:19:06.960 for Back of the House is the same way, or 0:19:06.960 --> 0:19:08.919 I'd like to call them Heart of the house. The 0:19:09.040 --> 0:19:12.560 same way you take your recipe. So imagine this, Mike, 0:19:12.720 --> 0:19:18.120 You've got a grilled cook, salad salad cook, an expeditor, 0:19:18.320 --> 0:19:21.480 a fried cook, and you're talking about an item from 0:19:21.520 --> 0:19:24.840 the growth station. When you're talking about an item from 0:19:24.840 --> 0:19:28.840 a growth station, you're indirectly cross training the salad employee 0:19:29.240 --> 0:19:34.280 and the frye employee. So that's the beauty about training 0:19:34.280 --> 0:19:36.960 every day during appreciative briefing and the other The other 0:19:37.000 --> 0:19:41.159 solution is at least once a month classroom training but 0:19:41.400 --> 0:19:44.919 not lectures is full of role play, role play and 0:19:45.040 --> 0:19:48.320 role play because that what makes the real behavior, and 0:19:48.560 --> 0:19:51.040 that's where you see the mistakes and you can correct 0:19:51.080 --> 0:19:54.120 the team and coach them. So these are a very 0:19:54.240 --> 0:19:57.199 very brief way some of the things I mentioned in 0:19:57.240 --> 0:20:00.880 the book about training, I thought that was I think 0:20:00.880 --> 0:20:03.880 you mentioned too that the gms and the assistant gms 0:20:03.880 --> 0:20:07.760 aren't doing all the training correct. Yeah. So when I 0:20:07.800 --> 0:20:11.880 worked for Chili's and Applebee's, we had food server trainers, 0:20:12.320 --> 0:20:17.000 we had hostess trainers, we had a grill station trainer, 0:20:17.160 --> 0:20:20.280 a prep trainer. So these are our employees that run 0:20:20.520 --> 0:20:23.600 a regular shift, but they were trained on how to 0:20:23.640 --> 0:20:27.440 train others. And when we have a new employee, they'll 0:20:27.520 --> 0:20:31.280 learn the best behaviors, the best standards from those guys. 0:20:31.640 --> 0:20:33.920 So we just don't put you with a senior employee, 0:20:33.920 --> 0:20:36.520 because sometimes you might have a senior employee who's got 0:20:36.520 --> 0:20:39.640 a lot of bad habits, so you create a problem 0:20:39.640 --> 0:20:41.960 for yourself. Yeah, and i'd imagine it creates a good 0:20:41.960 --> 0:20:46.160 pipeline for potential managers down the road. Right, Absolutely, Sorry, 0:20:46.160 --> 0:20:49.359 I forgot to mention that. So those trainers that you 0:20:49.400 --> 0:20:53.040 were training at least once a month become the backbone 0:20:53.040 --> 0:20:56.720 of the operation and become part of your succession planning. 0:20:57.320 --> 0:21:01.920 And actually one key point here, Mike, become the protector 0:21:02.160 --> 0:21:05.800 of high standards at your restaurants. When they see something wrong, 0:21:05.840 --> 0:21:07.800 they stop it. When they see a short cut, they 0:21:07.840 --> 0:21:11.440 stop it because they're the ones who are leading high standards. 0:21:11.560 --> 0:21:15.560 I like it. In your experience, is there pushback from 0:21:15.600 --> 0:21:19.439 employees about that much training? How are you and how 0:21:19.480 --> 0:21:22.360 are your gms taught to lead and motivate your hourly workers. 0:21:23.119 --> 0:21:26.640 I have never experienced or faced and employee who doesn't 0:21:26.680 --> 0:21:29.840 want to learn. Be it. Nowadays there's a lot of 0:21:29.920 --> 0:21:34.199 online learning. It's all on a cell phone, gamifications and 0:21:34.280 --> 0:21:37.439 quizzes and all of that. I've never experienced someone saying no, 0:21:37.480 --> 0:21:40.600 I don't want to learn. But I've seen managers who 0:21:40.600 --> 0:21:43.680 were too busy to follow up with the trainers to 0:21:43.720 --> 0:21:48.000 ask about employees and see what they've learned. And that's 0:21:48.080 --> 0:21:52.960 counterproductive productive, to be honest, Cole, and I appreciate your 0:21:53.040 --> 0:21:57.360 willingness to seek suggestions for operational improvements from your teams, 0:21:58.160 --> 0:22:00.760 and it seems like you did it on a regular basis, 0:22:00.800 --> 0:22:03.960 and I'm sure the employees appreciate that as well. Do 0:22:04.000 --> 0:22:07.760 you have examples that were especially successful, maybe something that 0:22:08.359 --> 0:22:12.920 you recommend everyone thinking, thinking, everyone think about doing. Yeah, 0:22:12.960 --> 0:22:18.120 so one of the that's a great question, Mike. At 0:22:18.119 --> 0:22:20.880 one point in my career, I was managing a restaurant 0:22:20.920 --> 0:22:24.760 company of twenty two stores, and I came up with 0:22:24.760 --> 0:22:28.360 an idea of I want to I heard at one 0:22:28.359 --> 0:22:31.400 point that the big Mac came either from a franchise 0:22:31.480 --> 0:22:35.119 z or from an employee, and it became the number 0:22:35.160 --> 0:22:38.680 one sandwich for McDonald's worldwide. So I said, I want 0:22:38.680 --> 0:22:43.240 to ask the employees, even the dishwashers, about what could 0:22:43.280 --> 0:22:45.440 we do better? So what I would do every quarter, 0:22:45.640 --> 0:22:50.200 sometimes every month, I would ask for questions to every employee. 0:22:51.440 --> 0:22:56.880 What are the top your top ideas to drive sales? 0:22:57.800 --> 0:23:02.800 What are your top suggestions to reduce cost? What are 0:23:02.840 --> 0:23:06.720 your top three challenges at work and any other concerns 0:23:06.760 --> 0:23:10.320 or suggestions. So I remember doing that, and at one 0:23:10.320 --> 0:23:14.159 point we had an employee who noticed that we have 0:23:14.320 --> 0:23:17.600 no curtains in all of our walking coolers and freezers. 0:23:18.280 --> 0:23:20.280 And you know, I always knew that when you work 0:23:20.359 --> 0:23:23.000 in a place for a long time, your eyes get 0:23:23.080 --> 0:23:25.679 used to it. So I was like, that's a great idea. 0:23:26.000 --> 0:23:28.639 So we bought the curtains. We put them everywhere, and 0:23:28.680 --> 0:23:33.119 here's what we achieved, less insects going to the walking cooler, 0:23:34.320 --> 0:23:40.480 better temperature of food, so less spoilage, and the compressors 0:23:40.520 --> 0:23:43.600 of the walking cooler and freezer would work less, which 0:23:43.640 --> 0:23:48.920 means less electricity cost. So we took John, took his picture, 0:23:49.680 --> 0:23:53.399 gave one hundred dollars reward, and circulated his image this 0:23:53.560 --> 0:23:57.000 photo throughout the company. Then next month, when we did 0:23:57.000 --> 0:24:01.119 the same exercise, guess what, we received a ton of 0:24:01.240 --> 0:24:06.440 suggestions and ideas. And that point that was a turning point, Mike, 0:24:06.520 --> 0:24:12.159 because I was no longer leading alone. I started leading 0:24:12.280 --> 0:24:15.960 with everyone and everyone who was putting their ideas. So 0:24:16.480 --> 0:24:19.720 you changed the game completely. So that's one of the 0:24:19.760 --> 0:24:22.040 best things that I ever happened in my career. Actually, 0:24:24.280 --> 0:24:28.600 very cool um. In the book, you also advocate advocate 0:24:28.680 --> 0:24:32.640 for monthly bonuses. So, um, you know, I'd imagine there's 0:24:32.680 --> 0:24:35.719 some benefit there because it's it's a high turnover business, right, 0:24:35.720 --> 0:24:39.520 so people are motivated to actually see that bonus money. 0:24:40.160 --> 0:24:43.280 But are there any other benefits to monthly bonuses that 0:24:43.320 --> 0:24:45.359 you like to speak of. Yeah, so I don't believe 0:24:45.400 --> 0:24:48.120 in any in an annual bonus or quarterly bonus. So 0:24:48.240 --> 0:24:53.600 the way I structured the bonus at my company was 0:24:53.640 --> 0:24:56.240 on monthly basis. And this is how it worked. So 0:24:56.440 --> 0:24:59.040 if you were a restaurant manager that worked for me, Mike, 0:24:59.320 --> 0:25:02.600 you would res one third of your bonus if you 0:25:02.720 --> 0:25:07.000 achieved the sales target for the month, and two thirds 0:25:07.080 --> 0:25:10.920 if you achieve the profit target, an additional one third 0:25:11.280 --> 0:25:15.399 if you achieve the guest satisfaction target. And the reason 0:25:15.560 --> 0:25:18.400 I had those three because if I say only profit, 0:25:18.720 --> 0:25:24.160 you can cost and kill guest satisfaction and get your bonus. 0:25:24.200 --> 0:25:26.360 And I didn't want that to happen. So the way 0:25:26.359 --> 0:25:28.480 we did it, at the end of every month, when 0:25:28.480 --> 0:25:31.119 the P and L came out, you would come to 0:25:31.200 --> 0:25:34.840 my office. The finance manager will come to my office, 0:25:34.880 --> 0:25:38.000 and as a restaurant manager, you had to take me 0:25:38.080 --> 0:25:42.200 through your expenses and how are they going up or 0:25:42.240 --> 0:25:44.520 down from last month. You have to show me your 0:25:44.560 --> 0:25:50.240 guest satisfaction scores either on Google on open Table. Also 0:25:50.760 --> 0:25:55.520