Six Top Tips for Hiring and Training Great Order Takers and Servers

1. Hire wisely. You can train nice people to do almost anything, but you can’t train people to be nice.
2. Have an effective food delivery system. Make sure the staff fully understands it and is capable of executing the assigned tasks.
3. Preach patience. Staff needs to be periodically reminded not to show frustration.
4. Put guests first. Staff should be schooled in the basics to make all customers, especially regulars, feel special, including the importance of courtesy, exceeding customer expectations and timing and anticipation of guest needs.
5. Ban being brusque. Staff should be trained on how to be quick and efficient, and not gruff.
6. Give smiles to get smiles. Remind staff to smile often as it’s contagious, and management should practice what they preach.