Early in my restaurant career I was fortunate enough to work for an incredible General Manager. I was too green to realize just how good he was. Working with numerous GM's over the next 30 years made it evident just how good he was.
He was a character. Tall and wiry. A voice that could boom when he needed it to but was normally soft spoken. He wore 1/2 lense reading glasses and peered over the top of them when you were a smart ass. In those days I was often a smart ass. A pencil thin mustache and a brown leather coat completed the look. I later learned that the women at the nearby bank referred to him as "Guido the Killer Pimp". Visually fitting, sure. But not altogether accurate.
Not all GM's are good ones. You may think that since they've attained their position of top dog that they would all be polished industry professionals. That they already held the requisite skills of managing the front of house and back of house staffs, as well as, dealing with customers. You would be wrong.
Some GM's attain the position because they deserve it. They run a tight ship. Staff doesn't hate them. Maybe even likes them a little and definitely respects them. Things run as they should in a restaurant that is running on all cylinders. It's clean. Food quality is high. Service quality is high. And there are consistently cheeks in the seats.
Others get the job by default. Promoted in house because the position needs filled and they are the best, quick, option. They have neither the experience, the training, or the decision making ability to do the job effectively. The staff figures it out quickly. Then it snowballs. Food quality suffers. Service quality suffers. And fewer cheeks are filling the seats.
Many others don't deserve the opportunity yet. But given time can grow into the job. You need a deft hand. Knowing when to push, when to step back. Delegating and trusting are essential. Micromanaging can create sense of lack of trust and increase stress in an already stressful work environment.
"Guido", my GM in the first paragraph, was adept at handling staff issues incredibly well. I'm not sure if it was practiced, or natural, but he could deliver bad news with a bit of a smile. The joke was that you had to be careful asking him for raise because you might end up asking him to lower your pay instead. I once saw a busser leave his office, after a butt chewing, and declare, as he pointed at "Guido", "I love that man!" And it wasn't sarcasm.
He was that way with customers too. That same deft touch could disarm even the most irate guest. The key was in his simple philosophy. "The customer is NOT always right. They're just never wrong." A bit puzzling at first. But, when he explained it, it made sense.
The crux is that even if the customer actually is wrong, and often they are, you can't make them feel that they are. Pointing out that they're wrong makes a person feel foolish or embarrassed or angry. A guest made to feel this way will not leave your establishment as a happy guest. Better that they leave feeling heard and respected than foolish, embarrassed, or angry.
"The customer is not always right" also serves to embolden the staff by protecting both the server and the kitchen. It shows that a manager has their back.
When someone complains that their 1/2 eaten, medium rare steak is not medium rare, even though it is, many managers crumble immediately. Just because the guests idea of Med Rare is actually Med Well doesn't matter. At this point, an ineffectual manager collapses like wet toilet paper. They quickly comp the meal and have the kitchen cook another steak "On the Fly!". As such, the check total is reduced thus reducing the servers tip and increasing food cost.
"Guido", using the "Client isn't wrong" model, still got the steak replaced "On the Fly" but rather than comping it, he would buy the table a big honking slice of dessert to share. The result being the check total wasn't reduced, So the tip wasn't either. The food cost hit was just the loss of one steak and a big dessert rather than two steaks. And, the guests last memory of the night was that free, sweet, dessert.
The customer, who was wrong, wasn't made to feel like an idiot for not understanding steak temperatures and what their preference was actually called. He wasn't told he was wrong. But he wasn't told he was right either. Because he wasn't. It's a nuanced position, for sure. But it's also useful. Happy guests are repeat guests. Happy servers will go through a wall for you. And a happy food cost makes a lot of other people happy too.
I lost track of "Guido" years ago. Not sure where is career travels took him. But his lesson of "The customer is NOT always right. They're just never wrong." has traveled with me for over 30 years now. It's a useful phrase. And he was right.
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