Executive summary “The customer is king. ” – This saying especially applies in today’s Food & Beverage industry. The quality of the served product is as important as good service in the hospitality. The service in the F&B sector is about the “food flow”. The waiting staff constitutes the connection between the kitchen and the consuming guests. On these grounds their task is it to take care of every customers whether its taking orders, serving food and drinks, provide product information, receive reservations and make bookings or complete all cashier duties.
High qualitative service leads to satisfied guests and is an essential marketing tool in order to increase the important customer base. Good service is made up of skilled and passionate personnel working in a welcoming environment. Particularly due to stiff competition in the hospitality industry excellent service is a key performance feature. II. Aims and objectives After writing this assignment about good service in the F&B sector I expect me to know the fundamental rules regarding the daily work in this particular business.
Furthermore I will be aware of all essential characteristics which waiting staff should possess. Thanks to this assignment I know how to select relevant resources from irrelevant and can embody my own opinion. Moreover I will be capable to understand the common challenges occurring in this industry and why high quality is so important. In addition my writing skills will get improved. III. Research methodology In order to assure a high quality and diversity of my sources I investigated various resources for my assignment. I explored different platforms as libraries, the Internet and newspapers.
As the subject is well defined it still offers much content and I found numerous informative sources. In my research I had to filter my search results in order to assort the most relevant content. Thus I mainly used specialized books, online articles, interviews and podcasts – all about the Hospitality Onno Hetzke -3- Food and Beverage Management industry. Together with my personal ideas and experience they added up as perfect mixture of resources. 1. Introduction Surely everyone once has experienced bad service in a restaurant, but not everybody knows how complex this business is.
Nobody is perfect and each of us begins with learning, however there are a few standards, which facilitate this process as well as assure being a good waiter or waitress. In the following five major elements regarding proper service in the F&B industry will be specified and revealed. 2. Key components of good service in F&B 2. 1 Consumer orientation The service sector is focused on the customer’s needs and wants. Thus the goal of the waiting staff is to convince the guests with their actions or even better to exceed their expectations. Therefore waitress and waiter require special service skills.
Waiting staff need to be passionate about their job in the F&B segment and must provide a pleasant atmosphere to their guests. Service is not a tangible product (Kandampully et al. , 2001, p. 6), which is why customers need to feel comfortable. The qualified service force needs to ensure this welcoming ambiance and anticipate. Further elemental attributes are to act friendly, courteous, communicative as well as attentive. This business is about achieving satisfied guests through focusing and meeting their needs (Cousins et al. , 2002, p. 39). Onno Hetzke 4- Food and Beverage Management 2. 2 Teamwork and communication In order to ensure the best possible service in the F&B industry smooth teamwork and plain communication among each other is crucial (Lillicrap & Cousins, 2010, p. 31). This component is such important due to the fact that the service team consists of many persons with different functions. Like a ”clockwork” the system and sequence needs to flow steady. Seamless transition and the right timing for fulfilling each involved party’s task will reduce everybody’s work plus simplify the process.
For this reason one fundamental component for being successful in F&B service operations is to act as a team player and assist co-workers. For example when realizing special orders from guests they need to be communicated with the kitchen. Teamwork, for instance, is required when a large group of guests needs to get their food served at the same time, where one waiter is not enough. 2. 3 Management strategies The F&B manger is the supervisor of all operations and bears the full responsibility.
Therefore he creates strategies in order to organize all different units together with ensuring the consistent quality of the service (Kandampully et al. , 2001, p. 63). Furthermore the manager must ensure the appropriate amount of staff for each unit as well as other resources. Moreover it is his duty to define the style of the location, whether it is a luxury restaurant or pub, take care of an adequate atmosphere, motivate his workforce and develop a harmonized menu. Another F&B manager’s task is to guarantee efficiency as well as effectiveness during the whole workflow.
Efficiency means to do things right whether effectiveness means to do the right things (Kandampully et al. , 2001, p. 127), which is a key factor for being successful in the long-term. As strategic head of all F&B service activities he is supposed to manifest the company’s values and norms. Those serve as a guideline for all employees in order to represent the corporate mission. For example at McDonald’s the service’s focus lies on working quick rather than detailed as well as providing the same customer experience in every McDonald’s restaurant on the world. Onno Hetzke -5-
Food and Beverage Management 2. 4 Experience, competence and knowledge One key component for high quality and good service is to exhibit professionally trained waitress and waiters. The major skill is to treat the guests as king or queen through providing comfort, happiness and enthusiasm. A high-output waiting staff needs experience and expert know-how. The job is very demanding and is subject to keen competition. For being successful in this business various skills plus consolidated knowledge are required as for example different serving procedures, customer handling or product information.
In addition every server should always know the restaurant’s menu together with matching wine recommendations and special daily offers inside out (Davis et al. , 2008, p. 164). Skilled waiting staff with a confident and friendly appearance leads to satisfied guests plus positive impressions. 2. 5 Environment Just as good service, the actual gastronomy’s environment plays a similar important role in the F&B industry. Premium state-of-the-art facilities as well as a remarkable interior increase the customer’s satisfaction (Davis et al. , 2008, 34 – 36). nspiring service. Other features can be the use of local ingredients or eco-friendly products. Even a convenient location of the F&B outlet with for example many free parking spaces will leave a memorable impression. For instance Starbucks as a global player pursues the service of offering as many stores as possible to its customers together with a valuable loyalty program. Combined with a welcoming and personalized service the implementation is the vital challenge in order to obtain outstanding and Onno Hetzke -6- Food and Beverage Management 3. Critical evaluation
Good service consists of physical and mental hard work together with many years experience. Therefore not every human is suitable to work in this intensive industry. To be passionate about this kind of business is fundamental. To act consumer orientated means sometimes to overcome your own limits while dealing with a guest in order to never refuse a wish and to work overtime. Moreover the wages even often do not correspond to their actual effort, which is why waiting staff is considered underpaid. Anyhow normally they receive a tip and it is their own purpose to enjoy work because of making other people happy.
Furthermore in today’s global economy and due to its strong competition it is hard to run a profitable business without sacrificing quality. Another common negative symptom is that waiter and waitress suffer from emerging health problems. Owing to physical pressure many people in the F&B business are afflicted by backache for example. Nevertheless this industry offers various career opportunities. 4. Conclusion 4. 1 Recommendations F&B managers need always to communicate with their personnel, provide them skill enhancement and trainings plus diversified tasks.
An F&B manager should shield his workforce from being overextended as well as over-worked in order to ensure the high service quality standards. Furthermore general quality management helps to maintain and even improve the workflow of an organization. Regular inspections and feedback discussions will uncover weak points in an F&B department which then can be adjusted. All in all an open-minded and attentive F&B manager easily can provide significant progress together with an effective as well as efficient working atmosphere. A good F&B manger increases the economic performance.
Onno Hetzke -7- Food and Beverage Management 4. 2 Summary In summary there are five basic principles for being successful in the F&B industry with good service. It is absolute essential to provide the guests a welcoming environment combined with a consumer orientated working performance. High potentials together with a diligent and dedicated management ensuring teamwork will constitute the perfect recipe for success and good service. Supplementary the waiting staff needs to be composed of highly skilled experts. Consequently it is all about passion.
