Alternatives to “No”

No one likes being told no to something they want, especially if they think their request is completely reasonable. Being told no can turn a positive interaction negative, especially if it’s not handled well. Oftentimes, how you’re given an answer is just as important as the answer itself. Shep Hyken…
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Understanding Tough Customers

For anyone who has worked face-to-face with customers, you know there are just some people out there who—to put it delicately—are difficult. They’re seemingly impossible to please, expecting near perfection from you and your products. Not only are these interactions stressful, but they can go wrong in a flash. To…
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Why Employees Should Care About Net Profit

Anyone who has ever looked at a business’s financials will quickly understand the difference between gross and net profit. But for clarity sake, let’s define them. Gross profit equates to how much money is made on a sale after deducting its production costs, while net profit is what’s left over…
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Which Industries Benefit Most from Mystery Shopping?

You might think this question is purely rhetorical, as there’s an argument to be made that all industries can benefit from mystery shopping. Given that The Brandt Group specializes in mystery shopping, you might also think that we would agree with the sentiment—and you’d be right, of course. But there…
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Employee Retention and Customer Loyalty

All businesses should yearn for high customer loyalty. Loyalty, after all, means repeat-business and word-of-mouth. The sales that come from returning customers and referrals don’t come with the typical cost of customer acquisition that eats into the bottom line. In a sense, customer loyalty is a lot like free advertising.…
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Leadership Qualities

As a business owner or general manager, one of your most important tasks is delegation. On its face, delegation sounds like the opposite, like you’re trying to avoid a chore because you don’t enjoy doing it and would rather someone else deal with it instead. However, great leaders understand their…
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Beyond Order-Taking

Let’s return to RestaurantRockstars.com’s Roger Beaudoin again for inspiration, this time for how to maximize profits and create an overall superior customer experience through good sales practices and quality options. To begin, we can see in another video podcast with RunningRestaurants.com that Beaudoin describes the difference between salespeople and order-takers. He…
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More Keys to a Great Restaurant Work Culture

More Keys to a Great Restaurant Work Culture Last week, we covered RestaurantRockstars.com-founder Roger Beaudoin’s first four keys to developing a great restaurant work environment. This week, we’ll detail the remaining points of his philosophical roadmap for ensuring a great customer experience. If It’s Not Fun, Why Do It? Beaudoin…
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The Keys to a Great Restaurant Work Culture

RunningRestaurants.com recently posted a recorded call with Roger Beaudoin (founder of RestaurantRockstars.com) to explain what makes for a great working environment in a restaurant. His eight points act as a sort of philosophical roadmap for how to maintain a healthy culture that will ultimately deliver the best customer experience possible.…
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