5 Common Restaurant Complaints | And How to Respond to Guest Complaints https://youtu.be/p_ROZqRSSCU How to Handle Customer Complaints | The Right Way https://youtu.be/6GsBfQ1R-Gc For the past few weeks, we've been talking about ways on how to improve customer service to ensure an excellent customer experience in our establishments. Part of this is identifying customer complaints and how to handle them. So, in today's episode, we are going to discuss turning angry customers not only into happy b...
Sep 08, 2020•13 min•Season 2Ep. 117
5 Common Restaurant Complaints | And How to Respond to Guest Complaints https://youtu.be/p_ROZqRSSCU Please visit our website www.makingdoughshow.com Previously, we talked about the five most common customer complaints that we receive in the restaurant. For today's show, I'm going to share with you some key pointers on how to convert a complaining customer into a loyal guest. Is it possible to turn an angry customer into a happy customer? Customer complaints are crucial to any business. Do you k...
Sep 01, 2020•16 min•Season 2Ep. 116
What are the most common customer complaints you receive in your restaurant? Customer complaints are inevitable in every business. Perhaps, restaurants are one of the most susceptible establishments where you get to experience guest complaints every day. From a mild issue that can make a customer say it politely, to a severe problem that can escalate to an angry customer, anything can happen within a snap of a finger. But what does a customer complaint mean? How to handle customer complaints? Ul...
Aug 25, 2020•16 min•Season 2Ep. 115
It isn't a secret that Making Dough Show's host, Hengam Stanfield is a restaurant owner, herself. Consequently, the industry she belongs to has been hit hard by the coronavirus, crippling various businesses worldwide. In today's show, John Carpenter of Snelling Hospitality put a spotlight on our very own Hengam Stanfield. Let's see and learn how Hengam and her family were able to weather the storm in this exclusive interview by John. Thanks a bunch for tuning in for another Making Dough Show epi...
Aug 18, 2020•28 min•Season 2Ep. 114
Download: The Ultimate Restaurant Marketing Guide and all our FREE Resources at https://www.makingdoughshow.com/resources In today's show, we are giving you five tips to improve restaurant customer service. You may have a great team to provide great customer service in your establishment. However, you know that there are always areas to improve when it comes to customer service. Customer service is a very significant aspect of the industry we are in, so if you are a restaurant owner or restauran...
Aug 11, 2020•23 min•Season 2Ep. 113
How do you train your staff for restaurant customer service? In our last week's episode "10 Restaurant Customer Service Standards | Customer Service Tips," https://youtu.be/WgqjHQjwFTw, we addressed the importance of setting standards to improve customer service in your establishment. Today, we are focusing on one of the most significant components to ensure that excellent customer service in your restaurant will ALWAYS be present! TRAINING YOUR STAFF! I'll be giving you five tips on equipping y...
Aug 04, 2020•14 min•Season 2Ep. 112
Download: The Ultimate Restaurant Marketing Guide and all our FREE Resources at https://www.makingdoughshow.com/resources What makes an outstanding restaurant customer service? If you've been in the restaurant industry for quite some time, you know that excellent restaurant customer service isn't all about how delicious the food you offer or how attractive the place you have. It's far more than that. Customer service is necessary for all businesses to become successful. For restaurants, setting ...
Jul 28, 2020•24 min•Season 2Ep. 111
What if an employee has Covid-19? Sooner or later, we could be dealing with this issue. Now the biggest question is, do you need to close your restaurant if an employee has Covid-19? We hope that you'll never get into this situation. However, if it happens (hopefully not), do you have a gameplan in place? Do you have protocols that you communicate with your team, so everyone is aware before all the shenanigans can even happen? Do you know the restaurant Covid-19 guidelines? What are the things t...
Jul 21, 2020•23 min•Season 2Ep. 110
Restaurant Scheduling is crucial in creating a productive team. Now more than ever, restaurant owners need to find means to increase their profits, and one way to do so is by ensuring that we accomplish critical tasks efficiently. In today's Making Dough Show, we are pleased to have Cory Warfield as our special guest, the Founder and Chief Visionary Officer of ShedWool. Cory is a passionate restaurant veteran who saw the need for a scheduling app. Thus, ShedWool's Smart Shift Scheduling Software...
Jul 14, 2020•25 min•Season 2Ep. 109
How to beat your restaurant competition? We all know that competition in the restaurant industry is extremely high. Making your restaurant stand out among the rest of your competitors is indispensable to find success in this business. Is one, two, or three successful restaurant marketing strategies enough for you to thrive in this industry with millions of highly-driven competitors? Of course not, as there are a lot of factors to consider for you to keep up every day. Consider these seven practi...
Jul 07, 2020•18 min•Season 2Ep. 108
How to turn around a failing restaurant? Today, we are answering an inquiry from a fellow restaurant owner who's going through a tough season right now. They're wondering how to survive the restaurant business amidst the pandemic crisis we are all facing at present. Sadly, this coronavirus fiasco has brought an adverse impact in different industries around the world, and we, in the restaurant business, are not exempted. If you are asking, when is it time to close your restaurant? The answer is N...
Jul 02, 2020•22 min•Season 2Ep. 107
As a restaurant owner, what is the biggest frustration you have in your business right now? In today's Making Dough Show episode, I will share with you, based on our own experience, how your frustrations can lead to your freedom. When you are a restaurant owner, getting frustrated is quite easy, that's just a fact! All you got to do is to look around you -a piece of equipment breaks; you got a no call, no show; you received a nasty review online; you walked into your filthy restroom, and the lis...
Jun 01, 2020•20 min•Season 2Ep. 106
The struggle of finding new employees is rampant in the restaurant industry. One practical solution to this is to design a job posting that would make a job seeker apply to your company without any hesitation. In today's special episode of the Making Dough Show, Nick Reinking, the Vice President of Sales for Efficient Hire, will share his expertise on Human Resources, especially in the recruitment and onboarding process. The Efficient Hire is a company that designed a Human Resources platform th...
May 28, 2020•22 min•Season 2Ep. 105
The Ultimate Restaurant Marketing Guide and all our FREE Resources at https://www.makingdoughshow.com/resources As a restaurant boss, you must know how to calculate the break-even point of your restaurant. One of the problems we encountered when we purchased our first restaurant was we did not realize how to read the P and L, and we were unaware of how to assess based on the gross sales. If you are planning to open a restaurant, or you are already in this business, you must understand these numb...
May 18, 2020•13 min•Season 2Ep. 104
When a piece of equipment breaks down, it consequently becomes an unexpected expense. Otherwise, you have set a budget for such an unforeseen event. Being in this business for more than six years, we've learned so much from our mistakes, especially when it comes to our expenses. The cost of opening a restaurant is no joke, that's why we need to ensure that we do more savings than spending. So here are four tips for you, my fellow restaurant owners, to avoid UNEXPECTED restaurant expenses: 1. Cho...
May 11, 2020•14 min•Season 2Ep. 103
Let's talk about our May Marketing! The past couple of months have been tough due to the pandemic crisis. But this shouldn't stop us from thinking about how we can grow our restaurant sales. Remember, good sales can solve a multitude of issues in our business. So let's start the month of May with these practical tips as we continue to thrive in these challenging times.
May 05, 2020•25 min•Season 2Ep. 102
What would happen after this pandemic lockdown? Probably, this is the biggest question most restaurant owners have right now. We've been observing that there could be some things that will become the "new normal" even after this crisis is over. Social distancing, strict disinfection of public places, wearing face masks, working from home, etc. could all be part of our daily routines. As a restaurant owner, have you already thought of how these "new normal" can affect your customers, your people,...
Apr 29, 2020•13 min•Season 2Ep. 101
10 Tips to craft a SUCCESSFUL Restaurant Meal Kit and market it https://youtu.be/R8AbJkKJ2Bo GROW your restaurant sales with Text Marketing | Restaurant Marketing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDb3mBF1zoY&t=1s Hey, fellow restaurant professionals, how are you doing now? I hope you are well and still thriving. Today is another special Q and A episode of Making Dough Show! We are answering an email inquiry from the owner of 2 locations of Joe and Pie Cafe Pizzerias in Pittsburgh, PA: " Curre...
Apr 27, 2020•18 min•Season 2Ep. 100
GROW your restaurant sales with Text Marketing | Restaurant Marketing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDb3mBF1zoY&t=1s 7 Tips to GROW Your Restaurants Sales out of a Sales Dip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-wcF2RnsoM&t=1s Today, I'm responding to an inquiry from John of North Carolina. He's asking, how can TEXT MESSAGE MARKETING help him in promotions for his restaurant. I want to tell John and you, my fellow restaurant professionals that there's no efficient marketing tool, like the ...
Apr 24, 2020•10 min•Season 2Ep. 99
Which would you prefer: Finding ten customers where each of them orders ten pizzas from you? Or Get one catering deal from one company that orders ten 6" pizzas at once? In today's show, we are centering on the power of catering to boost up your restaurant's sales. If you're looking into growing your catering sales, you must have a strategy in place. So here are seven tips we can share with you: 1. Always be on time and provide accurate orders. 2. Create a menu offering that stands out. Research...
Apr 23, 2020•16 min•Season 2Ep. 98
10 Steps to a Successful Restaurant Promotion: https://www.makingdoughshow.com/resources How we’ve been promoting our Pizza Kit: Pizza Kit Instructions https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=141554197258389 Turn your pizza kit into a CALZONE: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=881252609058653 Turn a pizza dough into zeppole donuts https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=225357742046406 If there's one good thing that this pandemic has brought to us, it is to witness how resilient and optimistic we are despit...
Apr 20, 2020•17 min•Season 2Ep. 97
REDUCE Order Taking MISTAKES | FOH Manager Tips https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boAfD-zpprA&t=01s RESTAURANT SWOT ANALYSIS - How to conduct a swot analysis for your restaurant https://www.makingdoughshow.com/resources In this special episode of Making Dough Show, we are answering a query from our friend, Sol, who's the General Manager of El Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant in Nicholasville, Kentucky. Sol is asking how to communicate a more accurate wait time for their customers, especially that...
Apr 17, 2020•17 min•Season 2Ep. 96
🔥 Restaurant Owners: Control the Controllable 🛑 Let's talk about what we CAN control today and this week in our restaurants: 🛑The EXPERIENCE - We've got to remind our people to show GRATITUDE to our customers more than ever. - Communicating a more ACCURATE wait time! Come up with better systems for this so the customer does not have to wait for their food! This heavily affects the customers experience. It matters to them, so it matters to us! - Give COURTESY calls When the customers food is r...
Apr 09, 2020•9 min•Season 2Ep. 95
Stress can KILL YOU! How are YOU handling this stressful season, friend? Turns out we’ll be dealing with this Corona issue for longer than we thought... So, we have to get a handle on the STRESS of the season for us to continue to think clearly and make wise decisions for our businesses and our people... Especially at a critical time such as this. Here are a few things I am working on: Get a GOOD night’s sleep Focus on what you CAN control Take it ONE day at a time Comment and share how YOU are ...
Apr 06, 2020•3 min•Season 2Ep. 94
I know things get tough each day. But it is not the time to slow down for us, restaurant owners. You have to step on the gas and have a plan of action! It's time for you as a leader of your business to strategize and re-envision how your restaurant is going to look like when we get through this challenging season. I firmly recommend you to do a SWOT Analysis of your operations. The SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) Analysis, can be a useful framework for you to have systematic...
Mar 31, 2020•6 min•Season 2Ep. 93
The Ultimate Restaurant Marketing Guide and all our FREE Resources at https://www.makingdoughshow.com/resources Every day, since the flare-up of this pandemic coronavirus disease, we hear different stories of fear and suffering of people from all walks of life. But as the saying goes, every cloud has a silver lining. For instance, as a restaurant owner, what could be the best learning or realization you gained from this trying time? I want to urge you to observe your numbers and get aggressive a...
Mar 30, 2020•6 min•Season 2Ep. 92
The Ultimate Restaurant Marketing Guide and all our FREE Resources at https://www.makingdoughshow.com/resources What could be the best social media strategy in these trying times? A fellow restaurant owner asked if they still need to continue posting on social media even if they have to shut down due to this pandemic crisis. My answer is a BIG YES. We need to stay connected with our customers. If you want to come back strong and regain customer's loyalty, then don't lose it. Remember that those ...
Mar 27, 2020•4 min•Season 2Ep. 91
The Ultimate Restaurant Marketing Guide and all our FREE Resources at https://www.makingdoughshow.com/resources To my comrades in the restaurant industry, how are you doing now? I hope you're all okay and hanging in there. As of today, we have no dine-in, and we only have takeout and delivery. But I'm aware that a lot of states have shut down the entire restaurant businesses and sadly, that maybe you (I'm sorry about that). Some folks even chose to close because there's an immense drop in their ...
Mar 26, 2020•8 min•Season 2Ep. 90
The Ultimate Restaurant Marketing Guide and all our FREE Resources at https://www.makingdoughshow.com/resources I was incredibly stressed out when this pandemic crisis started. We have no dine-in, and we only do takeout and delivery - I thought we would drop our sales by 50%. But thanks to our dear customers, that didn't happen! We're doing okay at the moment (I hope, you too). We had an excellent Friday sales just like a regular Friday. But things don't happen by itself. We had a RECORD SALES b...
Mar 25, 2020•6 min•Season 2Ep. 89
The Ultimate Restaurant Marketing Guide and all our FREE Resources at https://www.makingdoughshow.com/resources Restaurant Association Link: https://p2a.co/ULJRbGG Tell Congress to Support Restaurants and Our Employees! The coronavirus outbreak has been hitting our industry so badly. And what's the government's recovery plan for us? We may not know it precisely by now, but today, I am encouraging you to VOICE your opinions! To my fellow restaurant/small business owners, it's time to articulate w...
Mar 24, 2020•9 min•Season 2Ep. 88
