At work, we have "secret shoppers" sent from corporate to pose as guests and critique their experience. They start when they walk in the door, grading how the host staff greets them and how long it takes them to be seated. They grade the restrooms, parking lot and quality of their meal and their service. These are people that just sign up to be shoppers. You can spend time online and sign up to be a shopper for almost any business from Walmart to Target to any restaurant you can imagine. You get your meal and gratuity refunded...so basically it is a "free" meal. What these people do not realize is that a LOT of money is spent on this program therefore a LOT of attention is paid to these reports. We've had servers fired over having a bad "Shop".
I agree that it is a good tool to keep us on our toes and try to be consistent in our service. I also agree that depending on what type of day and what type of mood the customer is in, it will reflect on how they perceive their meal and experience in our store.
My good friend , let's call her "Shawty" has been at our store since it opened. She has gotten 100% after a 100% on her shops time and time again.
Last week she caught a bullet in the back from a "sniper"...I mean a "shopper".
She said that she was so busy and had so many tables that she didn't even remember who the people were. Obvious from their report they had a stop watch on them. "It took six minutes for my husband to get his horseradish for his steak." "The server seemed like she didn't want to be there." "It took 25 minutes for me to get a glass of water." (I find that fact a little hard to swallow...even if I had to wait 25 minutes to swallow it.)
Out of 100% she got ...ummm let's just say "Not a good score."
When I walked in today and saw the report posted my heart dropped into my stomach. If "Shawty" could get a bad shop, I was destined to be next in the line of the "Sniper's" fire.
What is crazy is that we work with so many young kids that could give a flying fart about how they do their job or could care less when they get a bad shop.
AS for me and my friend...we care about our jobs, we work our butts off from the time we walk in the door until the time we walk out of it. We leave our problems at the door, we give the job our total attention and realize how lucky we are to have a job that gives you a paycheck every time you leave...and that our performance determines what that paycheck will be.
No wonder so many of the younger servers leave ticked off. They do a crappy job and they get crappy tips. Lucky for them THEY didn't get shopped!!
Unfortunately for my friend "Shawty" she did get shopped...and on a horrible shift to have it happen.
I think that could have been me...it STILL could be. I wish that these people knew how much weight their comments carry. They are getting a free dinner consisting of whatever they wish to order regardless of the price. We are getting "Their View." Whatever that may be, that is the view that counts. I think that if they knew they could possibly have some one's job on the line , that they would lighten up on their critique.
I WILL say that if it is a truly horrible experience, the server and the entire team should be held accountable. If it is just a busy, BUSY night and you can see that for yourself...cut us some slack. Could YOU wait on eight tables at a time and have everything go perfectly? Sometimes as a seasoned server it DOES go smoothly, sometimes it just turns into a train wreck and you are glad that you don't break down into tears.
Never downplay the role of a "Waiter." It is a hard job if you do it right, and it is as I always say "sales and marketing."
Just be careful..."BIG BROTHER" is out there and I hope I am not his next victim. My thanks to "Shawty" for taking this hit for me, you never know when the bullet may be whizzing MY way!
I agree that it is a good tool to keep us on our toes and try to be consistent in our service. I also agree that depending on what type of day and what type of mood the customer is in, it will reflect on how they perceive their meal and experience in our store.
My good friend , let's call her "Shawty" has been at our store since it opened. She has gotten 100% after a 100% on her shops time and time again.
Last week she caught a bullet in the back from a "sniper"...I mean a "shopper".
She said that she was so busy and had so many tables that she didn't even remember who the people were. Obvious from their report they had a stop watch on them. "It took six minutes for my husband to get his horseradish for his steak." "The server seemed like she didn't want to be there." "It took 25 minutes for me to get a glass of water." (I find that fact a little hard to swallow...even if I had to wait 25 minutes to swallow it.)
Out of 100% she got ...ummm let's just say "Not a good score."
When I walked in today and saw the report posted my heart dropped into my stomach. If "Shawty" could get a bad shop, I was destined to be next in the line of the "Sniper's" fire.
What is crazy is that we work with so many young kids that could give a flying fart about how they do their job or could care less when they get a bad shop.
AS for me and my friend...we care about our jobs, we work our butts off from the time we walk in the door until the time we walk out of it. We leave our problems at the door, we give the job our total attention and realize how lucky we are to have a job that gives you a paycheck every time you leave...and that our performance determines what that paycheck will be.
No wonder so many of the younger servers leave ticked off. They do a crappy job and they get crappy tips. Lucky for them THEY didn't get shopped!!
Unfortunately for my friend "Shawty" she did get shopped...and on a horrible shift to have it happen.
I think that could have been me...it STILL could be. I wish that these people knew how much weight their comments carry. They are getting a free dinner consisting of whatever they wish to order regardless of the price. We are getting "Their View." Whatever that may be, that is the view that counts. I think that if they knew they could possibly have some one's job on the line , that they would lighten up on their critique.
I WILL say that if it is a truly horrible experience, the server and the entire team should be held accountable. If it is just a busy, BUSY night and you can see that for yourself...cut us some slack. Could YOU wait on eight tables at a time and have everything go perfectly? Sometimes as a seasoned server it DOES go smoothly, sometimes it just turns into a train wreck and you are glad that you don't break down into tears.
Never downplay the role of a "Waiter." It is a hard job if you do it right, and it is as I always say "sales and marketing."
Just be careful..."BIG BROTHER" is out there and I hope I am not his next victim. My thanks to "Shawty" for taking this hit for me, you never know when the bullet may be whizzing MY way!
1 comment:
Hang in there Shawty! If Cotton is coming to your defense-we know you're good! I think if you're going to be a restaraunt "secret shopper"-you need to have worked in one. On that note, I also think that if the Department of Health walks in during the lunch or dinner rush to do an Inspection, we should be able to fire them, for being stupid.
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