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This week I had the honor of speaking at “Leader to Leader,” a biannual business leaders event organized and executed by those sharp & savvy brand builders over at The Creative Company. The Creative Company is an award winning digital media, web design and PR agency that has been helping build brands in Madison, Dane County and beyond for 25 years.

Twice a year, Laura Gallagher and her amazing team, pulls together some of the areas finest leaders from a wide variety of industries. This weeks event included leaders from construction and architecture, local retail leaders like Vom Fass and Little Luxuries , professional service firms such as Wegner and Cresa Corporate Real Estate and banking and finance leaders as well.

We had an ambitious agenda that included learning from world class leaders who shared, via video, how they weave storytelling into their brands and we brainstormed how each of us can be a more conscious and effective leaders.

I spoke on the art of customer service and shared my top 5 tips for making restaurant hospitality work in ANY business.  

Here’s segment#1. Watch for the rest this week!

Step#1

Get Clarity & Get Social

Make sure that everything is clear about your company before your customers ever walk in your door. Restaurants have to do this or you wouldn’t know what you’re eating, paying or getting yourself into right?  From your website, to your phone number, to your advertising and the sign on your front door. Do your potential customers really  know WHO you are, WHAT you are, WHERE you are and HOW do they get to you, contact you and do business with you?  Ask yourself this question and be really honest about the answers. Is there anything confusing about your Who, What, Where and How?  Look at your business as a potential customer, not the owner or manager.  If you do it right, the WHEN is what our customers decide about doing business with you.

 

Is your company on the social circuit?  Many restaurateurs loath social media sites such as Twitter, Foursquare and even Facebook and they either avoid them or use them poorly or infrequently. This is a huge mistake.  The lack of initiative and disinterest in learning a new skill is hurting your business if you are not embracing it.  Plus it’s FREE!  Share what you have done, are doing and will do on all your social sites. Post pictures and videos if you have them.

Consider what social media sites are best for your business, start with one, build your profile and get used to posting and then, only when you feel you can move on to another or turn over posting to a trusted team member, move on to another.  And for goodness sakes, get on LinkedIn!  It is the best business networking you can ever do without ever leaving your desk. Love it or hate it, it’s here to stay, we’re social media beings now.