"Get rid of her first, then deal with the three men"

You can imagine the line from a Hollywood movie, can't you ... but this is Melksham, last Thursday evening. And the line was overheard by one of our friends from her seat in the restaurant, eating alone and already feeling somewhat uncomfortable. "Formal wear only" and a menu that insists on you choosing two courses as a minimum, cordon bleu food that takes a while to prepare, is great for a romantic evening but not if you're in town alone.

Now let's be fair - it could well be that the talk was technical kitchen talk, arranging the order of service. In fact that's more than likely the case. But it scarcely helped to make the customer feel at home.

We don't run a fine restaurant - we can and do cater as required for groups, but we feel that our own visitors prefer the less formal environment we offer, with a wide choice of local eating places they can go to or bring in a takeaway meal; it's a very different market, and I revel in the difference. We could conside this other place, which is just a couple of streets from our own Well House Manor to be competiton, but we don't - there's a big difference between a restaurant with rooms and a business hotel and although people may occasionally book into "a" when "b" is more in tune with their needs, the competition will be minimal.

What IS common to both "them" and "us" is the need to provide the customer with the service that's sought, to put yourself in their shoes, and to avoid making any comments - whether or not you think you're in earshot of the guests - that could be taken the wrong way. Indeed that's a good general rule; if any of you happen to be watching "Celebrity Big Brother" that's running at the moment, you'll have just seen Jade ejected amidst a great deal of coverage. Comments that she made appeared to be racist - she swears that they weren't.
(written 2007-01-21 07:41:38)

 M400 - Well House Manor - The Hospitality Business

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