Hospitality Influencers

Having a great team in the kitchen is really important in our line of work. I believe that building a great team itself is a team effort.

When I started my career as a chef as you can see from my profile (click here), I took a different route than most. I joined the military and learned my trade there, not from a college or a culinary school.

You've heard of the saying 'the customer is always right'. In the world of hospitality, particularly at the front line of service, this is paramount in ensuring your customers receive a great experience. Everyone knows that people will shout about bad experiences far quicker than they'll dish out praise, and in our world of social media, negative feedback travels so much further - and faster!

How can you offer the best customer service? Customer service is all about communication - how do you communicate with your staff? How do your staff communicate with your guests and with each other?

To keep uniqueness, you need something that makes people see that your restaurant is special and then, make emphasis on that. That is called "USP" (unique selling point), and if you don't have one, you should definitely start working something out.

How do you know what makes a restaurant gain a repeat diner? My solution would be to look at which ones you would return too.

The key to success in the hospitality space has got to be understanding your market; I mean REALLY understanding your market!

One of the most common questions I get asked by others that want an insight into my background as a chef is where I trained and studied. It's a question that is so frequently asked, but I feel is simply the wrong one to gauge judgement of a chef's calibre or attitude to his or her trade.

Restaurant marketing has changed over the years, word-of-mouth is no longer enough, and traditional advertising isn't valid, or affordable for a small business. Here are 15 modern marketing strategies that won't cost a fortune. You won't need to do all of the below to deliver a successful marketing campaign, but a combination of a few of them is the best approach.

Building a great team is an essential part of any business - but what does this take? I think there are six steps to building a great team, and if you follow these, you will create the best team.