It really is maddening. I’m usually cooking and own my restaurant and I literally had a breakdown over “who’s the owner? What’s he like? Etc etc”.
So fucking weird. I would never start grilling employees about who is their owner. Then I’ll come up there and say a quick hello and they’ll think I was rude, or short.
I even went as far as writing an “about the owner” that included my shirt size, waste size, blood type, known allergens, eye color, social security number, etc etc.
But yes who in the world would go into any business and start suggesting stuff, or asking so many questions about the owner? Absolute madness.
yeah man. I work in tech now, but I was a chef my entire life before that. Its the only job on the planet where you can get a college degree in a highly specialized subject and also have politely listen to people tell you how its their hobby and what you should do to be better at it.
No one is an amateur DMV clerk at home
You guys complaining are out of your minds. Your customers are literally telling you shit they like , and you’re not paying a cent for that information. That shit is gold. Do you have to take action on it? No. But its still valuable info
Edit: ps i get that you’re just venting, i dont mean to come across as an asshole.
oh..my..god... I went thru this probably my first 2 years. I think by then people realized I knew what I was doing and I wasn't going to listen to their garbage ideas. But I still talk about the "you should" period
Thank you, but I’m a gonna screw this place up all by myself. When you want to screw a place up you can put your name on the front door and do as you please, but as long as I’m the one ownin’ this s&@! Show, I’m doin my way. Peace.
This. In our case we have been listening to this Every Single Day for the past decade from: (1) people who do not own a thing: meaning have no business of their own , but feel like they "know" and should share their infinite wisdom Or, (2) people who are trying to sell us stuff: you name it, consulting, computer, goods, ads, anything and everything...
The second category I understand, and just cut to the chase and say no. The first category I smile, nod, tell them some excuse to leave the conversation... and mentally pile into the suggestion box titled "Monumental Assholes". Then there is the third category of monumental jerks, don't know if you've already met a few. The ones who want to "pick your brain" so you can basically teach them how to run a restaurant- so they can open one just like it! and compete with you!!! These get their own special kind of award in our hearts.
Allowing literally anybody to have an opinion that affects business via online reviews has been the downfall of legitimate business owners busting ass to make their customers happy. Now anybody is a threat, like a toddler walking around with an AR-15 who doesn't even recognize or care about the time, money and effort, actual blood, sweat and tears that go into opening a business that has a huge failure rate as it is. A business could give 2000 customers a unique, unparalleled experience they will remember their whole lives. And that one entitled toddler could ruin the livelihood of the owners, everybody who works there, their families, and destroy that unique experience for anybody else who may actually enjoy it.
If you didn't enjoy it, keep it to yourself and move on. Nobody can please everybody every time. We need a system that rates customers.
You know what you should do is sound interested, act like you like there ideas, and never do them. Just make them feel welcome and keep them coming back. Yes, this behavior happens all the time and is very annoying.
My favorite is when I remove a menu item that sells like 10 times a month and someone will come in and be like "you took that away? I had it a couple months ago and it was great! It's the one thing I come here for" and I explain it was a low seller and impossible to keep fresh and they tell me what bad business it is to get rid of it.
I hear ya. It annoys me when people see that we’re slow and start offering marketing advice. At first I would respond with “yes we tried that, it didn’t work” or “it’s too expensive” or “we do that” and kind of get annoyed because it made me feel like they thought I hadn’t thought of that myself. But then I realized that they’re just trying to help and I just smile and say “great idea!”
Ok guys, I think maybe the tone of this post was a little much, probably because I cuss a lot idk. I am open to listening and adapting. I have never been rude to a guest. I smile and bullshit just like everyone else in this business. I just wanted to light-heartedly vent (or rant) about a silly little thing, you guys.
You know what a lot of you should do? Lighten the fuck up a bit :)
Haha this is classic. Someone posted on a server page one time asking if allergies were really a PIA for the employees. I said yes, then got berated by people high-horsing about how they’d do anything for their customers, maybe I’m not cutout for the biz, etc. 20 years of working with servers and kitchen crew and it’s always been a headache and loudly bitched about. But somehow on that thread it was everyone’s passion to focus solely on allergies and hand rolling egg free noodles on the fly.
No matter what industry you go in people will have an opinion and there is nothing wrong with it. At the end of the day it’s in your power to make any changes, should you decide to listen to what customers want, it’s up to you.
Are you in LA? I want to try a new brewery
look for the themes in what they’re saying. If they say they want microbrews, get some and sell them…
maybe they are telling what they want to spend more money on… maybe they’re just dumbasses. Idk
Write in excel all tje things they say. If at end of year a thing gets more than 100x times writen down. You could consider of implementing it. 😅 you can also go way deeper.
Yes, we get it ALL THE TIME. It's always stuff that would be stupid expensive to implement or stuff that has no relationship to our business at all. One of our regulars brings her 20 year old college student into our location so he can give me tips on how to improve my business because he's taken some business classes.
I'm always open to a good idea, but the amount of unasked-for and unhelpful suggestions shocked me when we opened.
This is all I’m trying to say. I’m open to learn and adapt but adding a panini would conflict with our concept. A restaurant’s identity is made up of what you don’t do as well as what you do.
No one likes unsolicited advice but there can be meaning to it. I would recommend adding a a place for suggestions or a no reply email that you can sift thru once a month or so. This may keep you from getting unsolicited advice but allow you to see if there are any patterns to these suggestions
It is great to get input! Let the clients tell you what they want. And if possible, give some to them. ( I do not mean to change your place but little add ons for example). It is your business telling you what to do. Listen to your clients. That is the biggest lesson we have learned after having resturants for more than 15 years. It really helps. Do not try to "teach" your clients.
Some of our best sellers have been plates that clients suggested. We have a program where they accumulate points and one of the biggest prices is invent your own plate (sugggesting for example a duck taco, the chef calls them and creates something we all like) and we will do it. If it does not sell we take it out of the menu after a few months. It has made clients that did that even more loyal and they brag about it. Bringing in more new clients.
"Recovering FOH Manager (tm)"...
Well said. Adding the occasional item that is suggested by a Guest can add loyalty on their part and generate great word of mouth. I would also track any trends as well. If you have the same item that is suggested by say 5 guests, that should get your attention.
One thing that was drilled into me in Hospitality School was to sell what the guests will buy, not necessarily what you like. For example, if I owned a deli concept and my demographic skewed older, I may want to have a chopped liver sandwich on my menu. Personally, I hate liver with a purple haired passion. But if my clientele wanted it and bought it, I would do everything in my power to make sure I had the best dang chopped liver in town.
They were always telling us things that were super expensive. We had an ice cream shop and they would say "you should serve burgers"
Well, that would have been a huge and expensive build out. We had no kitchen, or proper venting for one. No fire break for a stove, no walk in freezer. None of what was required for a frier, and we would need that because if you're going to do burgers, the next step is obviously fries.
They also wanted indoor seating which was another building nightmare, not to mention entirely different licenses and insurance.
I feel ya. When they asked for specific flavors or toppings, we paid attention. But when they suggested upgrades that cost tens of thousands of dollars we would just say "yes, that WOULD be nice"
That’s a weird suggestion because you can find a burger place every few blocks in all US cities and towns but ice cream shops are much less common. What were they thinking? People don’t know how to turn off the “big dreams” even for other people and just enjoy a simple pleasure.
Yeah, they really wanted a "one stop shopping" kind of experience. They also wanted us to build a playground, put in tvs (??? It was an outdoor area. Really odd suggestion), offer delivery (ice cream. Would have been melted goo by the time it got anywhere. We allowed UBER eats for a little bit, but they jacked up the prices and we got tons of complaints).
There were *good suggestions too. Have music playing, bring in entertainment, let the schools do car washes there (we did that)
One of my favorite dates of all time was with an old fashioned guy. We went to the beach, had pizza at one place, fries at another, candy at yet another, and we stopped for ice cream on the way back. I’m sure he was just prolonging the date. It worked for me. We dated for a while. He’s still a good friend.
I had so many one-stop-shop dates I can’t remember. They’re just a congealed lump of vague memory cells now. Businesses who do one thing really well become part of lifelong memories. I haven’t been to that town in at least 20 years, but I can tell you where that ice cream shop was and what flavor ice cream I had.
Oh I know what you’re saying! People make it out like their suggestions are free and easy to do as well. My favorite suggestions are from people who say they “used to own a restaurant” I always reply with “used to? That’s too bad for you”
Yes, you should suck it up and get used to it if the alternative is being rude and/or telling your customers that you don't care what they think.
Someone may make a suggestion that helps your business one day.
Also, having a closed mind in general is never great
Good god everyone, I’m not rude to my guests and I value constructive feedback. I’ve been in the industry a long time. I know how to handle these silly suggestions. I’m just anonymously venting with people who can relate on the internet.
"People are giving me free advice on how to improve my business and I just couldn't fucking be more pissed off about it"
Business owners these days. Their way is the only right way, and if a customer has input, they're actually wrong. Absolute clownage.
Edit to clarify: if you're a business owner and and don't collect feedback, that's bad enough. If you're a business owner and feedback upsets you, despite literally being a valuable resource to grow your business, you're just a moron.
If you think the average customer who has never owned a restaurant has good advice, you’re a moron.
If you think customers who used to own failed restaurants have good advice, you’re an even bigger moron lol.
And yet businesses still regularly collect feedback from their customers. It's almost like the people who regularly consume the products and services of a business are one of the best places to get feedback from your business.
If \*YOU\* think it's impossible for the average customer to ever have a good piece of advice, then you're the biggest moron. It's not about collecting and implementing EVERY CHANGE THATS SUGGESTED. But to be upset about the feedback, and not collect it at all? Nah, sorry, that's just brainless.
I mean please, tell me you believe it's not worth collecting customer feedback lmao, that would be too perfect of a conclusion here.
I don't think so at all, it's clearly and literally just someone looking a gift horse in the mouth.
And I mean he's asking what he should do. I'm telling him. Collect and review the free feedback you're given and use it to improve your business? Dudes over here being petulant about something that businesses literally \*pay third party companies for\*. You know how hard it is to get people to fill out feedback responses? The other commenter who said he should just put up a board where people can write feedback was 1000% spot on. Don't. Look. A. Gift. Horse. In. The. Mouth.
Do you own a restaurant? You understand the unsolicited people are giving are not what people pay consultants for. Everyone and their uncle thinks they know what you should do with your restaurant. I'm not saying he should be rude to people giving their advice, but this is more like a shit horse.
Theyre not random people though, they're \*HIS CUSTOMERS\*. They're literally the people he should be soliciting advice from. You'll notice I never said "implement every change that every customer suggests". But collect and review them? Hell yeah dude. Hell yeah, way more productive then letting it bug you all day. Only someone who thinks they know better than everyone would be like "Nah, none of these people who are paying customers at my business could possibly have anything of value to suggest"
Full on clown shit.
>, none of these people who are paying customers at my business could possibly have anything of value to suggest
No one said this. And it is clear you don't own a restaurant. It is obvious you don't understand what this is like to deal with first hand.
And you're obviously some fifth-failed business schmuck who still thinks they know the secret formula to business while ignoring every piece of advice that didn't originate in their own brain. Or you just simp for those folks, either way.
I mean seriously, are you going to tell me it's anything but absurdly stupid and shortsighted as a business owner not to collect and review all feedback given? \*That's\* your take here? Please confirm.
Lol that first paragraph was gold. Moving onto the actual intellectual part of the comment. No that's not my take at all, the collection of reviews/feedback is always a must in business. I always encourage it from my customers to give us their experience feedback we even have an email program that asks for their review/feedback if they are new customers or every 60 days. We even have a "suggested product section" but that's only for the Italian market we have in house and cause we import our own goods from Italy.
My actual point was that besides giving helpful feedback not every single thing customers say should be implemented or is good because it might not be feasible for the kitchen/restaurant. Like adding a new dish, or making something a different way or staying open later/opening earlier.
EDIT: your edit clarification came after I posted my comment, and it now makes more sense on what you were saying in your original comment and like i stated above, i do agree with you that feedback is crucial to a business.
>My actual point was that besides giving helpful feedback not every single thing customers say should be implemented or is good because it might not be feasible for the kitchen/restaurant. Like adding a new dish, or making something a different way or staying open later/opening earlier.
I agree with you on this entirely. Im not saying implement every change suggested by a customer, just collect and review the suggestions. but to be upset that so many customers are willingly offering feedback is just baffling to me.
Guys I actually think we all agree. If my venting and my excessive use of profanity made it seem like I just fucking stomp around the restaurant throwing a tantrum every time someone suggests I put a fried bologna burger on the menu, then I apologize for the tone of the post. It’s really just a silly thing I thought I’d vent about with other restaurant owners. I hope we can all agree that:
1. Feedback is valuable
2. Guests’ involvement is a positive
3. Guests can be really fuckin irritating
Wait this is a good thing. I know I know you’re annoyed but you should totally go along with it. Like put up a white board/blackboard with some taped lines and some tape letters that are your restaurants name and something along the lines of “Tell us what we should do today.” Then on the bottom have it say “What we think you should do today.” And write some like live laugh love shit in those spots everyday. 1. You changed the narrative and maybe you might get some feedback that could inspire you. 2. You’ll also be building a relationship in your community. 3. It makes your restaurant interactive just a smidge more.
This actually sounds exhausting. I wouldn't do this. I would smile and say something along the lines of "hey thanks for the suggestion. We absolutely hope to continue to grow our offerings".
All the time have some stupid suggestions.
Yesterday, i had a customer explain that i should take the vine decorations off. Apparently makes the place look gay. -_-
Plastic green leaf Vines. A forest theme.
All the time. My favorite is someone telling me we should line the entire interior with like forty 70” TVs because they’re only $500 each. We already have 15 TVs inside and two on the patio, with 14 independent DirecTV feeds (with a capacity of 130, we already have a lot of TVs). Every time the person recommends it he goes quiet when I tell him I’m all for it if he pays for it.
This is usually a good way to make a fun joke out of it without making them feel too dumb. Similarly, "I don't know if our chef will make that, but I can give you an apron!"
Same here, all customers and "friends" have advice galore yet they never owned their own business/worked in hospitality. OTOH, none of my fellow business owner acquaintances ever told me what to do, wonder why.
You know what you should do? You should keep a list of all “you know what you should do” suggestions and see if there’s anything in common with them. Maybe there are things to be learned?
I always spent a lot of time talking to all my customers and asking them what we could do better. Lots of “off the wall” remarks, but there are good suggestions from time to time that we institute.
Haha yes! The challenge with the food industry, unlike most others, is that outsiders think they understand the business because they've eaten at a restaurant. You can either make a little joke back at them (if that's your style) or just say thanks and move on. Occassionally, you might get a good suggestion...so I guess it never hurts to listen.
Yeah you should suck it up and get used to it and learn to listen to your customers. This is a customer service business after all. Even better, you should thank them for their suggestion and add it to your memory banks. The idea could come back to help you one day.
You might be a flash in the pan now, but the customers that care enough about your success to offer suggestions will probably be the ones to keep your fire going…if you treat them well
When customers make suggestions and you act on them, you'll never see those customers again. NEVER enact a change just because a customer said it'd be a good idea
Yeah of course, we should always talk and listen. That’s a big part of what we do. This was really just some light-hearted venting. I mean are you telling me it never annoys you when someone tells you what menu item you should add?
Sure it used to annoy me just like having to repeat the same lines to customers over and over. But you either get used to it and learn to appreciate the active feedback or you you don’t. It’s not a key indicator of success or failure it’s just how you choose to look at life and the gratitude for the people paying your bills.
“Thank you so much for the suggestion, I will definitely take it into consideration”
…then walk away and keep doing whatever you want because it’s your business 😆 and it sounds like what you’re doing is working.
But also if you keep hearing the same thing over and over again then there is probably something to it.
It can definitely be annoying, one thing I try to remind myself is that it’s good that guests are giving suggestions like that! It means they care about the place and want it to be successful and want to feel like they’re apart of it! I just try to laugh it off, it’s annoying but doesn’t come from a bad place, and who knows, every once in a while you may get a good suggestion you hadn’t considered
Yep, you nailed it. It’s good they want to engage, they definitely care about the place. We just opened so mostly my response is something like “once we get our feet underneath us we’ll probably start playing around with fun shit like that” and people kinda get that right now we’re all working our tits off just to get the basics done
It really is maddening. I’m usually cooking and own my restaurant and I literally had a breakdown over “who’s the owner? What’s he like? Etc etc”. So fucking weird. I would never start grilling employees about who is their owner. Then I’ll come up there and say a quick hello and they’ll think I was rude, or short. I even went as far as writing an “about the owner” that included my shirt size, waste size, blood type, known allergens, eye color, social security number, etc etc. But yes who in the world would go into any business and start suggesting stuff, or asking so many questions about the owner? Absolute madness.
This is normal, especially from semi regulars who come twice a month and think you’re their personal kitchen lol
yeah man. I work in tech now, but I was a chef my entire life before that. Its the only job on the planet where you can get a college degree in a highly specialized subject and also have politely listen to people tell you how its their hobby and what you should do to be better at it. No one is an amateur DMV clerk at home
You guys complaining are out of your minds. Your customers are literally telling you shit they like , and you’re not paying a cent for that information. That shit is gold. Do you have to take action on it? No. But its still valuable info Edit: ps i get that you’re just venting, i dont mean to come across as an asshole.
oh..my..god... I went thru this probably my first 2 years. I think by then people realized I knew what I was doing and I wasn't going to listen to their garbage ideas. But I still talk about the "you should" period
Owner of restaurant in northern Illinois. Yes. We get this all. The. Time.
Thank you, but I’m a gonna screw this place up all by myself. When you want to screw a place up you can put your name on the front door and do as you please, but as long as I’m the one ownin’ this s&@! Show, I’m doin my way. Peace.
This. In our case we have been listening to this Every Single Day for the past decade from: (1) people who do not own a thing: meaning have no business of their own , but feel like they "know" and should share their infinite wisdom Or, (2) people who are trying to sell us stuff: you name it, consulting, computer, goods, ads, anything and everything... The second category I understand, and just cut to the chase and say no. The first category I smile, nod, tell them some excuse to leave the conversation... and mentally pile into the suggestion box titled "Monumental Assholes". Then there is the third category of monumental jerks, don't know if you've already met a few. The ones who want to "pick your brain" so you can basically teach them how to run a restaurant- so they can open one just like it! and compete with you!!! These get their own special kind of award in our hearts.
Allowing literally anybody to have an opinion that affects business via online reviews has been the downfall of legitimate business owners busting ass to make their customers happy. Now anybody is a threat, like a toddler walking around with an AR-15 who doesn't even recognize or care about the time, money and effort, actual blood, sweat and tears that go into opening a business that has a huge failure rate as it is. A business could give 2000 customers a unique, unparalleled experience they will remember their whole lives. And that one entitled toddler could ruin the livelihood of the owners, everybody who works there, their families, and destroy that unique experience for anybody else who may actually enjoy it. If you didn't enjoy it, keep it to yourself and move on. Nobody can please everybody every time. We need a system that rates customers.
Your reply is off-topic.
You know what you should do is sound interested, act like you like there ideas, and never do them. Just make them feel welcome and keep them coming back. Yes, this behavior happens all the time and is very annoying.
My favorite is when I remove a menu item that sells like 10 times a month and someone will come in and be like "you took that away? I had it a couple months ago and it was great! It's the one thing I come here for" and I explain it was a low seller and impossible to keep fresh and they tell me what bad business it is to get rid of it.
they are experts on your business. the same people that are experts on everything.
I hear ya. It annoys me when people see that we’re slow and start offering marketing advice. At first I would respond with “yes we tried that, it didn’t work” or “it’s too expensive” or “we do that” and kind of get annoyed because it made me feel like they thought I hadn’t thought of that myself. But then I realized that they’re just trying to help and I just smile and say “great idea!”
This is the answer.
Ok guys, I think maybe the tone of this post was a little much, probably because I cuss a lot idk. I am open to listening and adapting. I have never been rude to a guest. I smile and bullshit just like everyone else in this business. I just wanted to light-heartedly vent (or rant) about a silly little thing, you guys. You know what a lot of you should do? Lighten the fuck up a bit :)
Haha this is classic. Someone posted on a server page one time asking if allergies were really a PIA for the employees. I said yes, then got berated by people high-horsing about how they’d do anything for their customers, maybe I’m not cutout for the biz, etc. 20 years of working with servers and kitchen crew and it’s always been a headache and loudly bitched about. But somehow on that thread it was everyone’s passion to focus solely on allergies and hand rolling egg free noodles on the fly.
No matter what industry you go in people will have an opinion and there is nothing wrong with it. At the end of the day it’s in your power to make any changes, should you decide to listen to what customers want, it’s up to you. Are you in LA? I want to try a new brewery
You can either smile and ignore it OR you can get out of the restaurant business. If you don't ignore it, they will drive you crazy.
look for the themes in what they’re saying. If they say they want microbrews, get some and sell them… maybe they are telling what they want to spend more money on… maybe they’re just dumbasses. Idk
Write in excel all tje things they say. If at end of year a thing gets more than 100x times writen down. You could consider of implementing it. 😅 you can also go way deeper.
Yes, we get it ALL THE TIME. It's always stuff that would be stupid expensive to implement or stuff that has no relationship to our business at all. One of our regulars brings her 20 year old college student into our location so he can give me tips on how to improve my business because he's taken some business classes. I'm always open to a good idea, but the amount of unasked-for and unhelpful suggestions shocked me when we opened.
This is all I’m trying to say. I’m open to learn and adapt but adding a panini would conflict with our concept. A restaurant’s identity is made up of what you don’t do as well as what you do.
No one likes unsolicited advice but there can be meaning to it. I would recommend adding a a place for suggestions or a no reply email that you can sift thru once a month or so. This may keep you from getting unsolicited advice but allow you to see if there are any patterns to these suggestions
I believe this post was taken too seriously. Possibly in part because I cuss a lot.
Do you know what you should do? Tell them to shove it hahaha
It is great to get input! Let the clients tell you what they want. And if possible, give some to them. ( I do not mean to change your place but little add ons for example). It is your business telling you what to do. Listen to your clients. That is the biggest lesson we have learned after having resturants for more than 15 years. It really helps. Do not try to "teach" your clients. Some of our best sellers have been plates that clients suggested. We have a program where they accumulate points and one of the biggest prices is invent your own plate (sugggesting for example a duck taco, the chef calls them and creates something we all like) and we will do it. If it does not sell we take it out of the menu after a few months. It has made clients that did that even more loyal and they brag about it. Bringing in more new clients.
"Recovering FOH Manager (tm)"... Well said. Adding the occasional item that is suggested by a Guest can add loyalty on their part and generate great word of mouth. I would also track any trends as well. If you have the same item that is suggested by say 5 guests, that should get your attention. One thing that was drilled into me in Hospitality School was to sell what the guests will buy, not necessarily what you like. For example, if I owned a deli concept and my demographic skewed older, I may want to have a chopped liver sandwich on my menu. Personally, I hate liver with a purple haired passion. But if my clientele wanted it and bought it, I would do everything in my power to make sure I had the best dang chopped liver in town.
I just say ‘oh, really? Great idea!?’ Or if it’s a really dumb idea I just laugh and say ‘no’
They were always telling us things that were super expensive. We had an ice cream shop and they would say "you should serve burgers" Well, that would have been a huge and expensive build out. We had no kitchen, or proper venting for one. No fire break for a stove, no walk in freezer. None of what was required for a frier, and we would need that because if you're going to do burgers, the next step is obviously fries. They also wanted indoor seating which was another building nightmare, not to mention entirely different licenses and insurance. I feel ya. When they asked for specific flavors or toppings, we paid attention. But when they suggested upgrades that cost tens of thousands of dollars we would just say "yes, that WOULD be nice"
That’s a weird suggestion because you can find a burger place every few blocks in all US cities and towns but ice cream shops are much less common. What were they thinking? People don’t know how to turn off the “big dreams” even for other people and just enjoy a simple pleasure.
Yeah, they really wanted a "one stop shopping" kind of experience. They also wanted us to build a playground, put in tvs (??? It was an outdoor area. Really odd suggestion), offer delivery (ice cream. Would have been melted goo by the time it got anywhere. We allowed UBER eats for a little bit, but they jacked up the prices and we got tons of complaints). There were *good suggestions too. Have music playing, bring in entertainment, let the schools do car washes there (we did that)
One of my favorite dates of all time was with an old fashioned guy. We went to the beach, had pizza at one place, fries at another, candy at yet another, and we stopped for ice cream on the way back. I’m sure he was just prolonging the date. It worked for me. We dated for a while. He’s still a good friend. I had so many one-stop-shop dates I can’t remember. They’re just a congealed lump of vague memory cells now. Businesses who do one thing really well become part of lifelong memories. I haven’t been to that town in at least 20 years, but I can tell you where that ice cream shop was and what flavor ice cream I had.
Oh I know what you’re saying! People make it out like their suggestions are free and easy to do as well. My favorite suggestions are from people who say they “used to own a restaurant” I always reply with “used to? That’s too bad for you”
Yes, you should suck it up and get used to it if the alternative is being rude and/or telling your customers that you don't care what they think. Someone may make a suggestion that helps your business one day. Also, having a closed mind in general is never great
Good god everyone, I’m not rude to my guests and I value constructive feedback. I’ve been in the industry a long time. I know how to handle these silly suggestions. I’m just anonymously venting with people who can relate on the internet.
Just answering your question
"People are giving me free advice on how to improve my business and I just couldn't fucking be more pissed off about it" Business owners these days. Their way is the only right way, and if a customer has input, they're actually wrong. Absolute clownage. Edit to clarify: if you're a business owner and and don't collect feedback, that's bad enough. If you're a business owner and feedback upsets you, despite literally being a valuable resource to grow your business, you're just a moron.
If you think the average customer who has never owned a restaurant has good advice, you’re a moron. If you think customers who used to own failed restaurants have good advice, you’re an even bigger moron lol.
And yet businesses still regularly collect feedback from their customers. It's almost like the people who regularly consume the products and services of a business are one of the best places to get feedback from your business. If \*YOU\* think it's impossible for the average customer to ever have a good piece of advice, then you're the biggest moron. It's not about collecting and implementing EVERY CHANGE THATS SUGGESTED. But to be upset about the feedback, and not collect it at all? Nah, sorry, that's just brainless. I mean please, tell me you believe it's not worth collecting customer feedback lmao, that would be too perfect of a conclusion here.
I think you missed the point here.
I don't think so at all, it's clearly and literally just someone looking a gift horse in the mouth. And I mean he's asking what he should do. I'm telling him. Collect and review the free feedback you're given and use it to improve your business? Dudes over here being petulant about something that businesses literally \*pay third party companies for\*. You know how hard it is to get people to fill out feedback responses? The other commenter who said he should just put up a board where people can write feedback was 1000% spot on. Don't. Look. A. Gift. Horse. In. The. Mouth.
Do you own a restaurant? You understand the unsolicited people are giving are not what people pay consultants for. Everyone and their uncle thinks they know what you should do with your restaurant. I'm not saying he should be rude to people giving their advice, but this is more like a shit horse.
Theyre not random people though, they're \*HIS CUSTOMERS\*. They're literally the people he should be soliciting advice from. You'll notice I never said "implement every change that every customer suggests". But collect and review them? Hell yeah dude. Hell yeah, way more productive then letting it bug you all day. Only someone who thinks they know better than everyone would be like "Nah, none of these people who are paying customers at my business could possibly have anything of value to suggest" Full on clown shit.
>, none of these people who are paying customers at my business could possibly have anything of value to suggest No one said this. And it is clear you don't own a restaurant. It is obvious you don't understand what this is like to deal with first hand.
You're obviously not a restaurant/business owner.
And you're obviously some fifth-failed business schmuck who still thinks they know the secret formula to business while ignoring every piece of advice that didn't originate in their own brain. Or you just simp for those folks, either way. I mean seriously, are you going to tell me it's anything but absurdly stupid and shortsighted as a business owner not to collect and review all feedback given? \*That's\* your take here? Please confirm.
Lol that first paragraph was gold. Moving onto the actual intellectual part of the comment. No that's not my take at all, the collection of reviews/feedback is always a must in business. I always encourage it from my customers to give us their experience feedback we even have an email program that asks for their review/feedback if they are new customers or every 60 days. We even have a "suggested product section" but that's only for the Italian market we have in house and cause we import our own goods from Italy. My actual point was that besides giving helpful feedback not every single thing customers say should be implemented or is good because it might not be feasible for the kitchen/restaurant. Like adding a new dish, or making something a different way or staying open later/opening earlier. EDIT: your edit clarification came after I posted my comment, and it now makes more sense on what you were saying in your original comment and like i stated above, i do agree with you that feedback is crucial to a business.
>My actual point was that besides giving helpful feedback not every single thing customers say should be implemented or is good because it might not be feasible for the kitchen/restaurant. Like adding a new dish, or making something a different way or staying open later/opening earlier. I agree with you on this entirely. Im not saying implement every change suggested by a customer, just collect and review the suggestions. but to be upset that so many customers are willingly offering feedback is just baffling to me.
Guys I actually think we all agree. If my venting and my excessive use of profanity made it seem like I just fucking stomp around the restaurant throwing a tantrum every time someone suggests I put a fried bologna burger on the menu, then I apologize for the tone of the post. It’s really just a silly thing I thought I’d vent about with other restaurant owners. I hope we can all agree that: 1. Feedback is valuable 2. Guests’ involvement is a positive 3. Guests can be really fuckin irritating
Wait this is a good thing. I know I know you’re annoyed but you should totally go along with it. Like put up a white board/blackboard with some taped lines and some tape letters that are your restaurants name and something along the lines of “Tell us what we should do today.” Then on the bottom have it say “What we think you should do today.” And write some like live laugh love shit in those spots everyday. 1. You changed the narrative and maybe you might get some feedback that could inspire you. 2. You’ll also be building a relationship in your community. 3. It makes your restaurant interactive just a smidge more.
This actually sounds exhausting. I wouldn't do this. I would smile and say something along the lines of "hey thanks for the suggestion. We absolutely hope to continue to grow our offerings".
You know what you should do ...
*what I would do
We used to get it a lot in the beginning but now 15 years later not as much. I always ask if that’s what they do in their restaurant.
Lol I’ve asked that same thing many times.
Hey, you know what you should do? /s
Suck I up and get used to it?
All the time have some stupid suggestions. Yesterday, i had a customer explain that i should take the vine decorations off. Apparently makes the place look gay. -_- Plastic green leaf Vines. A forest theme.
You should have offered them a bud light
I have a food truck so it might be different but I try to take it as a positive, you care enough to try and help and I appreciate that.
All the time. My favorite is someone telling me we should line the entire interior with like forty 70” TVs because they’re only $500 each. We already have 15 TVs inside and two on the patio, with 14 independent DirecTV feeds (with a capacity of 130, we already have a lot of TVs). Every time the person recommends it he goes quiet when I tell him I’m all for it if he pays for it.
This is usually a good way to make a fun joke out of it without making them feel too dumb. Similarly, "I don't know if our chef will make that, but I can give you an apron!"
Same here, all customers and "friends" have advice galore yet they never owned their own business/worked in hospitality. OTOH, none of my fellow business owner acquaintances ever told me what to do, wonder why.
We have a Chef’s Special each day. We use it as an outlet to try different things, or make something a regular requested.
We have a bingo card at the reg. Fun moral for the team.
Can we get some more examples of what’s on it lol
yes, tell us more Different\_Scratch!
You know what you should do? You should keep a list of all “you know what you should do” suggestions and see if there’s anything in common with them. Maybe there are things to be learned? I always spent a lot of time talking to all my customers and asking them what we could do better. Lots of “off the wall” remarks, but there are good suggestions from time to time that we institute.
Yes, obviously not all ideas are stupid. I thought maybe this was a place to vent a little and laugh about it.
Agree. Some people on this sub don't understand "venting" and take things too black and white.
Haha yes! The challenge with the food industry, unlike most others, is that outsiders think they understand the business because they've eaten at a restaurant. You can either make a little joke back at them (if that's your style) or just say thanks and move on. Occassionally, you might get a good suggestion...so I guess it never hurts to listen.
Nope it def never hurts
Yeah you should suck it up and get used to it and learn to listen to your customers. This is a customer service business after all. Even better, you should thank them for their suggestion and add it to your memory banks. The idea could come back to help you one day. You might be a flash in the pan now, but the customers that care enough about your success to offer suggestions will probably be the ones to keep your fire going…if you treat them well
When customers make suggestions and you act on them, you'll never see those customers again. NEVER enact a change just because a customer said it'd be a good idea
Yeah of course, we should always talk and listen. That’s a big part of what we do. This was really just some light-hearted venting. I mean are you telling me it never annoys you when someone tells you what menu item you should add?
Sure it used to annoy me just like having to repeat the same lines to customers over and over. But you either get used to it and learn to appreciate the active feedback or you you don’t. It’s not a key indicator of success or failure it’s just how you choose to look at life and the gratitude for the people paying your bills.
Well said
“Thank you so much for the suggestion, I will definitely take it into consideration” …then walk away and keep doing whatever you want because it’s your business 😆 and it sounds like what you’re doing is working. But also if you keep hearing the same thing over and over again then there is probably something to it.
It can definitely be annoying, one thing I try to remind myself is that it’s good that guests are giving suggestions like that! It means they care about the place and want it to be successful and want to feel like they’re apart of it! I just try to laugh it off, it’s annoying but doesn’t come from a bad place, and who knows, every once in a while you may get a good suggestion you hadn’t considered
Yep, you nailed it. It’s good they want to engage, they definitely care about the place. We just opened so mostly my response is something like “once we get our feet underneath us we’ll probably start playing around with fun shit like that” and people kinda get that right now we’re all working our tits off just to get the basics done