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Doctors of Dining
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Business New Haven
11/13/2000
By: Priscilla Searles
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Everyone has at least one restaurant horror story - and most of us have had a number of less-than-memorable experiences at an eatery we were looking forward to.
So what do you do when the food is horrid or the service non-existent - get mad that you have to pay, complain, or just never go back again? Most of us are in the “I'm never going to that place again” category.
Andre Mack and Ray Bromell did more than get mad; they formed a company to do something about the problem. In May 1999 they opened the Connecticut Restaurant Authority. Headquartered in New Haven, its mission is to provide effective solutions to problems that keep restaurants from operating at full capacity every hour of operation.
The pairing of Mack and Bromell seems logical when you look at their backgrounds. Mack waited tables for ten years through high school, college and graduate school, and also managed a restaurant for a major chain. Bromell also waited tables in addition to being a cook in several restaurants, again through college and graduate school, as well as managing a McDonalds.
“The result of my background,” explains Mack, “was that I recognized the need restaurants have to accurately measure service and to retain both employees and guests. A major goal of our company is to help restaurant increase income from sales and manage the service aspect of the business.”
The partners divide responsibilities, with Mack serving as director of operations and administration and Bromell as executive director of sales and marketing.
“In the beginning we both had to do a little of everything. Our startup costs were about $4,000 for computers and other equipment and some advertising,” says Mack. “We promoted the company by going door to door, or restaurant to restaurant. We also went to the Connecticut Restaurant Association.
“Response to our service has been good - so good that we are about to expand into New York, Massachusetts and New Jersey,” Mack says. The company now has people who make sales calls and someone who keeps its Web site up-to-date with new services and products.
The company provides several levels of service, including restaurant service output-measurement. That's sounds complicated, but as Mack explains it, “This service is designed to measure service everywhere a guest receives service in a restaurant, from the time you enter to the time you leave - checking your coat, seating you, bathrooms, table service, attitude of employees, you name it.
“It is the equivalent of a manager going to every table and asking every guest their reaction to every aspect of the service. The purpose is simple: to improve their service and the overall dining experience they provide guests,” he adds.
Mack points out that people are quick to spread the bad word about a restaurant but the good word seems to take longer to proliferate.
“There are other companies out there that measure service, but what separates us from the rest is the usefulness and accuracy of our results,” says Mack. “Other services don't necessarily measure anything, something that can be tracked.
“An example would be a simple card on the table that may or may not be passed on to management,” he says. “If they get it at all, they look at it, read it and throw it away. At end of month we'll come to you with specifics and numbers. We can pinpoint problems in service. We give restaurants a report every month and a grade showing if they have made improvements. We use a mathematical formula to calculate guest responses to service. It's measurable.”
Local business-development is an important aspect of the business. “It positions restaurants as host sites for events such as business luncheons and family gatherings,” Mack explains. “This service brings business to the restaurant. Some of the tools we use are direct mail, birthday clubs and promotional post cards, to name few.”
An additional service provided by the company is front-of-the-house interactive seminars, designed to show restaurant managers how to retain employees. According to the National Restaurants Association,” says Mack, “it costs management $2,494 when a member of the staff leaves - and $24,497 if the person is a manager. This [encompasses] training costs and various taxes and insurance. It's very expensive for a restaurant to have high turn-over.”
According to Mack, Connecticut Restaurant Authority seminars are designed to create a team of sales and service-oriented employees that are knowledgeable of the industry. “The seminars are conducted by industry professionals, many of whom have owned restaurants and others are Ph.Ds in the hospitality and tourism fields.” The result of this kind of close scrutiny may be a better dining experience for all the rest of us.
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