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The Customer is Always King (or Queen!)

Ok. Tell me you've never heard this before. In any type of position where you are serving the public, you realize that the guest will be paying the bill at the end of the night. So what is going to guarantee the guest will walk away happy? Excellent service - before excellent food.

What?! you say. It's true. If a guest enjoys the taste of the meal but suffers deplorable service, the likelyhood of the guest returning drastically declines. Depending on the severity of the bad service, the guest may not even pay the check. However, a well-trained and prepared server can prevent such service from ever occuring.

Below are eight traits of a good server. Read the list as a server, then read the list again as a guest.

Trait	Why it is important
Reliability	A server needs to arrive on time, in uniform and ready to work. Late or unprepared servers place unnecessary stresses and demands on the rest of the staff who have to pitch in to perform the missing members tasks.
Cooperation	A good attitude is key for a server. This trait often determines the outcome of any questionable circumstances. An attitude of cooperation with the guest can diffuse a situation before it ignites.
Personality	"He's got a great personality!" Commonly known as the kiss of death if describing a blind date, but the phrase amounts to great praise in the case of a server. Guests will often migrate towards a server that they share an affinity for and return to the restaurant again and again!
Healthy	Besides the obvious need for good health as we discussed - to no end - in Sanitation, the server needs to be able to perform basic job duties. If not, the serving team suffers and the guest's experience is not optimum.

Next.. .

Rule #1: Mise en place, mise en place, mise en place!	Rule #4: Service in Style
Rule #3: 2 Ways to Clean Up!