48 Create a “bible”
It’s boring and hard work but you must create an instruction
manual with a clear indication of just what your employees should
be producing and how they should be dealing with the customers.
Despite your best efforts to keep telling them how hard it is to
make money, you can rest assured that they will, on occasion, still
decide that things are better “their way”. They will decide to use
their dear old grandma’s lasagne recipe and not yours. They will
decide that your scones should be a bit bigger because that’s they
way they like them or indeed they may even decide that the scones
should be a bit smaller to help “save you money”.
Of course, when you are designing your menu, with all the margin
“stars” that you have slaved over, you will have designed it in a very
specific way – a way that helps you make money. Well, this way
needs to be put down in the “bible” that all staff are given when
they arrive. Not only should this manual cover every aspect of how
they deal with the customer, it must also contain a visual image of
every regular item on the menu detailing how it should be
prepared and presented.
Now this may seem like a lot of hassle, but you would be amazed at
just how quickly you can put something like this together. It does
NOT have to be pretty, but it does have to be clear. Crystal clear
and written as if you were dealing with an eleven year old. The
basics must be cast in stone and when you have completed your
manual you then need to sit all your employees down and ensure
they fully understand the concept of being flexible for
the customer.
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