Two restaurant professionals explain the 10/4 rule: make eye contact and smile within 10 feet, say something positive within 4 feet. They argue chain restaurants have turned dining into transactions, and that real hospitality means remembering the stories behind each guest, not just serving food.
What's like, one thing that you changed using the TIERC method had an immediate maybe ripple effect with your guest, you
know, an easy one is just, you know, going back to that culture, like the know, I workshop and our code of conduct. So it's in our code of conduct, you know, like the 104 rule, right? So you make eye contact and smile within 10ft of someone. You say something positive within 4ft of somebody, you know, and that's just something that, like, as we're going through our days, you know, if you're a server, oh, my gosh, I gotta get this food to this table. You know, we're all super busy all the time trying to get stuff done, right? So it's something that might really fly under the radars to just say hi, you know, have that human interaction.
So human being, what a new concept, right? Yeah, yeah. I hate to say the chains ruined it. I mean, the chains are actually like, they took the. They. They took the hospitality out of the restaurant industry, and they made it all just about food, you know, just like serving substance, you know, just getting a meal and not really having the experience, which I think that's another thing I think most restaurants are just struggling with, that they've lost touch with. What's it mean to give a real experience, not just like, put food on a plate and shove in front of somebody and then say, here's your ticket, here's your check, pay for it. All right? Next. You know, not like a transaction, but actually having this interaction is human connection with people is what I think most restaurants are missing. And I really see you, especially with the new rebrand with Madison's on Main. I see you really, really pushing that forward as far as you want to have that full kind of on, like, I mean, human interaction experience with the new brand.
So, yeah, that's what it's all about. That's why I fell in love with the restaurant industry to begin with, because there really is magic and restaurants to, you know, to be the gathering place where memories are made and all of that. And, you know, we do. Getting back to that code of conduct, you know, our last but not least element is that we never forget the human element. Right. You know, I don't care how busy you are behind the line, we always remind our staff, hey, you know that that sample that you're making could be going to a single mom who. It's her first time out in a year, and this is, you know, the first time that she's treating herself. You never know, you know, and it's always.
Yeah, we tend to generalize. We see table numbers, like table 14, but. Yeah, like table 14. Somebody having an experience. And like you said, you don't know what they're going through. The beautiful thing about restaurants is, I mean, people go to restaurants to celebrate all kinds of things.
If your restaurant only works because you work 80 hours a week, it doesn't work.
