“The customer is always right” used to be a founding principle of good service. Not any more, says hospitality expert Nick Clarke. For more than a decade, his company Hop Training has been sending actors into restaurants such as Hawksmoor, Brat and Mountain to role-play scenarios with front-of-house teams and encourage a more equal footing between staff and guest.
“Traditionally, staff have been seen as subservient, especially in high-end restaurants,” he says. “Certain restaurants play up to that with an ‘Absolutely, sir’ style of service. But this creates the potential for problems. People tend to go into high-end restaurants with a degree of discomfort – they might be meeting their boss or on a date. Uncomfortable people tend to kick off. We teach staff how to read that energy and change it by responding appropriately – not something you can do if you’re subservient.”
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“Customers have become more entitled,” adds Clarke, of how behaviour has changed. “Business-lunchers and groups of men especially want to assert status. They talk loudly over a server, for instance. With female sommeliers, guys definitely play up more.” In situations like these, Clarke advises teams to “give guests space physically and verbally”, then respond with a soft tone, slow pace and economic speech. “This makes the guest feel assured and dissolves their need to dominate.”
