Friends of Branded!
Happy Saturday, and I hope you had a great week.
A few weeks ago, I shared that I was taken to the woodshed by my dinner companions as a result of my not being remotely current when it came to the TV shows I’m watching (b/c I haven’t been much of a TV watcher lately other than sports, news and anything shown on Disney+, Nickelodeon, and the Cartoon Network).
Well, with my daughter now being at sleepaway camp for the very first time (thank you Brant Lake Sports Academy for creating such a an amazing and much-needed program for girls that want to grow, compete, laugh, and play), my wife and I were afforded the opportunity to explore some great TV shows and what I was told I’ve been missing for years.
Right, wrong, or otherwise, the first show on our list to checkout was Ted Lasso and let me tell you something, I think this show just might make it! 😊
To my dinner-mates who were pushing me to re-engage and get caught-up on TV shows (with the added hope that it might create more current references in the H^2), this one’s for you – we all need a Coach Beard!
For those that have never seen an episode of Apple TV+’s Ted Lasso (a list I was on as recently as last week), Coach Beard is the assistant coach & best friend to the lead character and Head Coach for AFC Richmond, Ted Lasso. He provides a grounded counterpoint to Ted’s optimistic approach to coaching and to life. He’s a loyal friend, a deep thinker, and despite his colorful character, he’s a source of both wisdom and stability, offering a more complex perspective on the show’s themes of resilience, forgiveness, and redemption.
My biggest takeaway from binge-watching Ted Lasso this week - we all need a Coach Beard in our life!
The importance of such a person of course isn’t remotely limited to the hospitality industry, but I’ll say that when it comes to industries that are people-driven, team-centric, fast-paced and where there are many moving parts, tight margins, and dependencies, that’s where having a Coach Beard will prove most valuable.
Do I have your attention? Let’s dive into this!
Restaurant owners are often like the character Ted Lasso, they’re driven by passion, vision, and team culture. I know a lot of technology entrepreneurs who resemble the description I just provided of restaurant owners.
We all know that success requires more than optimism, and this is where my very own PRB (Professional, Respectful, Best interests of the team) comes into play. We all want and need support, but we also need honest reality checks. Loyalty isn’t about agreement; it’s the trust and confidence that disagreement is welcomed and embraced. Healthy tension and conflicts are good things for business and that’s the value of having people with different & complimentary skillsets.
Running a restaurant isn’t a one-person show and that’s why every operator needs a Coach Beard, someone who knows the game, and in restaurants that includes, but isn’t limited to the nuances of scheduling, food cost controls, and backend systems. The person who will focus on and speak up about inefficient processes, menu problems or staffing issues.
Owners are often focused on the brand, the guest experience, and the big picture to drive growth, but it’s Coach Beard that is your tactical expert and ensures the day-to-day runs efficiently and that includes what the guests don’t see, the kitchen workflow, the supply chain & management of inventory and financial planning. Restaurants, like other businesses, can experience stressful service rushes and any number of external challenges. Coach Beard is your anchor, your calm in the storm and the person that keeps you grounded (in good times and bad).
Your Coach Beard is not likely to be the loudest or most inspirational member of your team, but he / she knows the game, sees the angles, and improves the odds of turning vision into reality.
Given Branded’s focus not only on emerging restaurants, but also on emerging technology companies, there are solutions that will get you the honest feedback you need as an operator.
I’m not prepared to call our friends at Ovation the Coach Beard of ResTech (although you can certainly do that if you wish Mr. Oates), but this platform is Branded’s recommended solution for guest experience management.
Regardless of the feedback platform a restaurant operator selects, operators need honest feedback and I’m sorry (not sorry), but you’re NOT going to get that by having a member of your staff ask your guest for it.
How many times have you been at a restaurant where your experience was less than and a member of the staff comes by your table to ask you how everything is going? More often than not, the feedback you give will be less than honest and therefore completely worthless to the operator. I didn’t perform well enough in my Psychology (PSYCH 105) class during my freshman (frosh) year in college (go Wes!) to present myself as an expert in human psychology, but it doesn’t take a doctorate to know that people have a discomfort with confrontation and therefore out of politeness would rather say “everything was great” even when it wasn’t.
Societal nicety and the desire to avoid conflicts are key drivers in operators not getting accurate guest feedback and while a disastrous guest experience might be shared or probably even noticed by the staff, it’s the many mediocre or slightly disappointing experiences that go unreported and therefore not addressed or learned from.
Being asked publicly at the table by a server or manager creates a feeling of pressure and guests don’t want that. You need to offer them an anonymous and digital channel if you want them to be candid. You also need to make it frictionless and as simple as possible. Honest feedback thrives in a safe and frictionless environment.
So, whether we’re talking about tech-solutions that will get you the honest feedback from your guests or a Coach Beard that will be the logic to your intuition or the strategy to your vision, truth matters, and you should do everything possible to make sure you’re getting exactly that. The truth can of course sometimes hurt, but it will also set you free! Hearing the truth can be painful at first, however facing the truth, ultimately liberates you b/c it allows you to act with clarity, make better decisions and grow.
We should all want a Coach Beard in our lives and in our businesses (just don’t drink the tea Coach Beard prepares unless you’re prepared for a mind-altering experience).
Wising you a wonderful July 4th Holiday Weekend!
It takes a village.
