“Subtlety is the art of saying what you think and getting out of the way before it is understood.” –Anonymous We as a society have really lost the power of subtlety. It could be because we have lost the patience to unravel it. We receive far more information on a daily basis than our ancestors […]
Tag Archives | Selling
What Motivates Servers: Purpose
(Note: This is the final part of a six part series dealing with what does and does not motivate servers. It is based upon research presented in the first part. If you have not read the initial post entitled “The Epiphany”, I highly recommend you do so to fully understand the series. Later parts dealt […]
What Motivates Servers: Mastery
(Note: This is part five of an ongoing series regarding what does and does not motivate servers. It is based on research provided in part one. I highly recommend visiting that post to gain proper perspective on this one. The second part dealt with how money fails to motivate servers. The third part showed how […]
What Motivates Servers: Autonomy
(Note: This is part four of a series based on research presented in part one. Part one serves as the basis for the whole series and gives a great deal of background for this post. If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend doing so to get the most out of this post and series. […]
How Money Motivates
(Note: this is part three of a series based on research presented in part one. Yesterday, I addressed why contests and financial incentives do not motivate servers. If you have not read these posts, I highly recommend doing so in order to fully understand the premise of this post.) Yesterday, I discussed why contests do […]
Why Contests Don’t Work
(Note: This is the second part of a series I am posting over the holiday weekend. The first part of this series lays out the basic premises this post and the rest of the series is based on. In order to full appreciate this series, please read “The Epiphany” where the research behind this post […]
Coupons, Discounts, and How to Deal
The old adage says, “There is no such thing as a free lunch.” Whoever said this wasn’t looking hard enough. Today it seems every restaurant is offering some sort of deal. Prices are being slashed. “Buy one get one free” is a growing part of the lexicon. Restaurants that previously never would have thought of […]
In Defense of Selling as a Server (Part One)
Search engine results are one of the most amusing parts of writing a blog. I get to see what people are searching for that lands them on this page. Almost every day someone lands on this page looking for sales techniques. Upon closer examination I am seeing a trend of the phrasing of the searches. […]
A Tale of Three Burgers
“It was the best of burgers, it was the worst of burgers, it was the burger of value, it was the burger of expense, it was the burger of service, it was the burger of incredulity, it was the burger of quality, it was the burger of waste, it was the burger of hope, it […]
Understanding Restaurants: The Other Perspectives
Servers are required to constantly juggle multiple priorities on a minute-by-minute basis. Continually reevaluating what is the most urgent guest need and how to address other needs efficiently to prevent anticipatable needs from becoming urgent. Our guests, managers, and co-workers determine our priorities. All three of these groups have no problems speaking up and letting […]
Let’s Get Connected
The Hospitality Formula Network Is Home To These Outstanding Sites:
About The Author
David Hayden was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri. He took his first serving job in 1996. Since that time, he has worked for over a dozen different restaurant companies. He has held both hourly and salaried positions at independent and corporate restaurants. He has waited on over 100,000 guests and trained hundreds of servers. He has been named "Best Server in Kansas City" the last three years by the local weekly paper.