As soon as your customers walk through the door of your restaurant, they form an opinion. Your greeter station is usually the first thing they see. Keeping that in mind, you want that first impression to be a good. The whole goal of a greeter is to make guests feel welcome. Often, when working in a business, you miss the little points over time. It is easy to forget the value of little things, and sometimes the hostess stand or the entryway get neglected.
It’s one thing to greet your customers and make them feel welcome, it’s another to make them feel welcomed as soon as they step in to your restaurant. An uncluttered, visually appealing hostess area with a friendly, smiling face behind it can win you a lifelong loyal customer. On the flip side, it is easy to imagine the opposite impression and impact.
Spending a few minutes to observe how your host or hostess staff interact with the customers can help. If they mumble a hello without making eye contact with guests or seem to be bothered when a customer’s arrival, patrons might feel unwelcome. It is important to stress to employees that their full attention should be directed towards customers from the second they enter the restaurant until the moment they leave. This means ending conversations with fellow employees, acknowledging customers with a warm, sincere greeting and thanking them for their business as they leave.
All Furnishings Should Flow Seamlessly
When choosing the design and decor for your restaurant you should pick pieces and position them in ways that flow smoothly, starting with the reception area. Remember, your reception area where you have your Hostess Station is the first place your customers are headed upon entering your business. Hence, keep it in an area that staff will feel approachable from any angle and doesn’t block the rest of the entry.
You want a space that is open and unobstructed, making customers feel welcome and at ease. You don’t want your patrons to feel like they’re lost or in the way of others. Think about space and seat accommodations, you also don’t want them to feel crowded or uncomfortable. Having a mobile Hostess Station can help to allow for more space and posting your host staff where most appropriate. For example, at nights when there may be more traffic, the Hostess Station could be wheeled outside the restaurant. The host placed outside may allow more space for guest while also extending your welcome to passerby traffic.
Also, in the case of any future reorganization or remodeling projects, it is highly recommended to get a mobile Hostess Station because of the interchangeable panels. The Deluxe Hostess Stand and the Rustic Hostess Station are both excellent options that allow you to change panels. All panels are brand-able allowing you to add custom artwork or maybe a logo. The panels are also interchangeable! Each of the panels can be removed by sliding them in and out of the frame. It’s simple, just like a photo slides into a picture frame, allowing for quick signage changes.
Keep it Clean
Nothing will make your customers feel more uncomfortable than foul odors, sticky floors, or a cluttered station. A fresh and clean entrance area gives the appearance of a business that is organized and pays attention to detail, also of one that cares about the health and safety concerns of its customers.
Since these are high-traffic areas, consider durable flooring and furniture that allow for quick clean-up of messes. Installing items like
Deluxe Hostess Stand with black Alicante panels and LEDs.
resilient vinyl for your floors and hostess stands that are easy to move make cleaning a cinch, helping to maintain tidiness. All of our Hostess Stations are equipped heavy duty locking casters for easy mobility. If a Hostess Stand or a Hostess Station needs to be stored away, we have covers custom for each.
It is recommended that you work on educating your employees on the significance of maintaining a clean and hygienic greeting space. An unclean work environment is the perfect breeding ground for all sorts of germs and allergens. This is the last thing you want in a restaurant, which only emphasizes the need to keep it clean at all times. Cleaning menus is often a task host staff take on. Making sure employees understand the value of cleaning every page of a menu before it gets given to a new guest is important. Nothing is less appetizing than parts of a past guest’s appetizer making its way to your clean table via the menu missing out on a good clean.
Design vs Functionality
Since the reception area is always buzzing with activity, it is imperative that it not only be attractive and inviting, but functional as well. When choosing your Hostess Stand, look for originality and an eye-catching design. Match your decor to your customers likes — and your brand.
NEW! Rustic Hostess Stand with antique tobacco pine panels.
Use colors and decorations to show off your restaurant’s personality, or feature brand-specific touches in artwork and design. We carry the Deluxe Hostess Stand for more traditional and modern themes. Then, we have the Rustic Hostess Stand or Station for a more vintage or rustic feel. You can pick from hundreds of styles and shades of panels that can be easily changed at any time. Hostess Station is the only known company around to offer this feature and can match almost any interior color.
Before picking a Hostess Station, plan in advance how you will minimize visible clutter. You will want to choose a stand that is roomy enough for your employees to move around freely with plenty of storage space to keep things neat and tidy. For example, the spacious work surface within the Hostess Station. Another example is planning us of the low shelving underneath. The lower shelves and storage space are perfect for storing electronics, personal property, extra supplies and other necessary items.
We are Here to Help
The hostess area is the physical space whose environment directly reflects your restaurant’s values, from the sincerity of the staff to the atmosphere of your business. To create a truly stunning restaurant hostess area focus on the basics. If you direct your energy into creating a comfortable, upscale and functional space you will reap the rewards. Making patrons feel comfortable and welcome will add to the feeling of coming back for great food and great drinks.
Call us if you need help with your reception space of your restaurant! We are excited to discuss which Hostess Station would work best for your business’s needs. Learn how our products can spruce up your reception area and keep everything running smoothly. We look forward to helping you!