Guest Service

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At approximately 11:15 p.m. on Friday night, March 31st, 20+ members of two singing groups, their crews and some family members, entered Steak N Shake #261 in Indianapolis.  Just a few minutes earlier the group was forced to leave another location of Steak N Shake because “we don’t have any servers.” That prompted a high rate of curiosity as we approached #261.

However, from the moment we entered #261, we were presented with outstanding service in several aspects.  There were two servers on duty, one of whom might have been the night manager plus one cook.  There were two other small groups of patrons in the restaurant.  The servers quickly assured that tables were ready and got the group seated at five different booths/tables.

With the efficiency of a staff working a rush hour crowd, the two servers quickly dealt with menus and drink orders. Just as quickly, food orders were taken.

And then we waited.  During that time, I thought about -- and commented to my table mates about how long it might take to get all these orders.  But we didn’t wait!  The ticket times – and the coordinated delivery of everything correctly for each table was amazing – less than 10 minutes!

Mistakes did occur – but they were minor and handled promptly with correction and apologies.  Minor in that I don’t think any orders were incorrect, they were missing napkins or silverware.  Overall attentiveness was extremely high – but not overboard.  I noticed several of the group ordered shakes with their meals.  My table told the server we wanted to order shakes “to-go” later.  And she remembered.  After clearing plates, she was back quickly with “Are you ready to order your shakes now?”  And they were delivered in minutes!

My view of customer service is tied to expectations.  Sometimes it is simply the transaction being processed accurately, timely, and politely.  Nothing more.  I’m not expecting to be “wow’d” by my dry cleaner, or my pizza delivery company, or my bank teller.  Under some circumstances, for example, if something goes wrong, there might be an opportunity for the “wow!”

I suspect that Steak N Shake might face this type of challenge on a regular basis – a large group appearing late at night when on many (or most) nights, it’s relatively quiet with a low level of customer volume.  But they were prepared and they responded with amazing service.  I’m not sure what the discussion was on one bus, but I know on our bus we all “raved” about the Steak N Shake service at location #261

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