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104 How to Hire A-Players
Restaurant Personnel
Have you ever worked in a restaurant? The dining room is clean
and inviting. Depending on how upscale a restaurant is, it may be
beautiful, serene, or funky. But it is always a stage on which a performance
is played out during breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The
kitchen, however, is another story. It is hot, crowded, loud, and
profane. Miraculously, out of this maelstrom emerges beautifully
prepared food that is presented with a flourish to diners who
have no idea of the drama that unfolded to make their plate so
appealing.
Between these two worlds are the waitstaff who must build immediate
rapport with customers, know their products intimately,
make good recommendations, and up-sell with expertly delivered
phrases. While you probably don’t operate a restaurant, the requirements
of this job likely sound familiar. Every business has to make
its product or service and deliver it flawlessly to clients. Bridging
the gap between the kitchen and the dining room are the salespeople
who create enthusiastic customers who want to come back
again and again.
Steve Schultz is a successful sales manager in the copier and document
imaging industry. He will tell you that people who have
excelled as waiters, waitresses, or restaurant managers often do
well for him in entry-level sales positions. Steve likes hiring A-players
from the restaurant industry because they:
Are service-oriented.
Are transactional—they deal with customers all the time and
make quick sales.
Understand the importance of solving customer problems
immediately.
Know how to up-sell.
Are used to customers making quick judgments on the quality
of their service.
Understand their pay (tip) is a scorecard for the service they
have delivered.