My routine when I arrive in a city the night before a speech is to check in the hotel, check out my meeting room for the next day, check in with my client, and if [...]]]>

View from my hotel room in Atlantic City preparing for my speech for the National Association of Fire Equipment Distributors

My routine when I arrive in a city the night before a speech is to check in the hotel, check out my meeting room for the next day, check in with my client, and if there is no reception to attend, I comfortably settle in my room and order room service.  Ahh, room service.  It was a chilly night in Atlantic City and I ordered my favorite soup – French Onion of course, and a cobb salad (without hard boiled eggs).  I was very impressed that my food arrived just as I had ordered, and surprisingly quick for the size of the casino/hotel I was staying at.  Then I looked at the crackers that were randomly scattered on a bread plate.  They were various name brand, and one of the packets was opened – like the plastic wrap was starting to disintegrate and just opened.  It was not attractive nor appetizing and I passed on all the crackers.  Not that they go with French Onion Soup, but being a carb-aholic, it must be bad if I don’t eat the crackers.  On to the soup.

I took off the cover and saw the beautiful presentation of melted cheese and then I was disappointed because the soup wasn’t hot.  It wasn’t cold, but it wasn’t hot.  Not that big of a deal, I was hungry enough not to wait for them to send up a new order.  Then, I noticed there was no soup spoon.  Have you tried eating French Onion Soup, or any soup for that matter with a teaspoon?  I know you must be thinking that I am nitpicking and these are just minor issues.  Yes, they are.  But, when they start to add it, it takes away from the nice view and the cool bathroom mirror that has a TV imbedded in it – I’ve never seen that before.  Then, while I was slurping the last of my soup, I got a call.  Normally, when I order room service and the phone rings, someone is calling to make sure I was happy with the order.  Not this time.  Apparently I made the fatal mistake of only printing my name on the receipt.  I printed my full name, room number and tip and total, but didn’t sign it.  The operator said they couldn’t accept it and I need to put a squiggly line on the last letter of my name to make it cursive…she actually said squiggly line!  Here is where she could have been the foodservice fanatic, differentiating their service from average properties. She could have asked how happy I was with my room service order.  She didn’t ask, I didn’t complain.  I almost asked her if the room service delivery guy was coming back, could he bring a soup spoon but it was too late.

The knock on door came while I was starting on my Cobb salad.  It was the same guy who delivered my food and didn’t see that I printed my name, and handed me my receipt to sign.  Here was chance number two to ask how things were – how I liked my food and was everything.  But, no such luck.  He got his squiggly line and left. 

Then, I thought someone would ask how my stay was when I checked out….nope.  So here I am not thinking of the view or the tricked out bathroom mirror/TV, but the little details that make a customer visit just a visit and not a customer experience. 

Food for thought:

1. 1.Check in with your customers and ask how everything was.
2. 2.If all things aren’t up to par, then fix it.
3. 3.Surprise your guests with an amenity to make up for anything that may have gone wrong.
4. 4.Give your staff feedback on what went right, what went wrong, and what people can do to be more of a foodservice fanatic. 

Customers are too valuable to leave them less than impressed because of a few minor details not being adhered to.

Here’s to focusing on the details to create a customer experience and I’ll see you in the Front-Row!

What are your critical issues?

It’s no secret that I love hanging out with foodservice professionals.  I love the segment [...]]]>

One of the benefits of attending the SFM Critical Issues conference in NYC yesterday was being able to call a friend and get my own personal tour of the UN before flying back to Las Vegas.

What are your critical issues?

It’s no secret that I love hanging out with foodservice professionals.  I love the segment of my speaking business that serves this industry because when they have a conference or convention, I know the content will be great, the networking will be awesome,  and I know I’m going to have some fun.  This year I attended my second ‘Critical Issues’ conference sponsored by the Society of Foodservice Management. It was great to re-connect with the people who were in my audience when I did a closing keynote at their conference in Montreal. 

The issues that are critical for foodservice professionals came as no surprise.  The economy and the trends don’t look very positive.  But what I walked away with is the idea that we have the choice to focus on our attitude, our ability to adapt, and the ability to learn something new so we can be more valuable to our employer and our clients. 

In addition to hearing about critical issues in foodservice, I was re-affirmed that this business, more than any other, is a relationship business.  People will step up to the plate to help you out and that is so encouraging!

Food for thought:

1. 1.Step up your relationships with your colleagues in this industry
2. 2.Focus on what is positive around you – don’t let the negative press get you down
3. 3.Be gutsy – get out of your comfort zone and learn something new!

I gotta say, while I was in New York (and staying with my friends Sandy and Doug who generously offerred their guest room to me while I was in town) I had a chance to visit the U.N.  I was able to get a personal tour from a friend of the family who works there.  I’d say this was a pretty cool front-row seat!

Here’s to finding your purpose and passion and I’ll see you in the front-row!

This is a picture of me in front of one of the mirrors at Whitney Elementary School. Everyday, the kids walk through this ‘Hall of Mirrors’ and see themselves and aspire to be one of many professions...including CHEF!

I know I’ve said this a million times, but I love foodservice people!  Recently, when I spoke [...]]]>  

This is a picture of me in front of one of the mirrors at Whitney Elementary School. Everyday, the kids walk through this ‘Hall of Mirrors’ and see themselves and aspire to be one of many professions...including CHEF!

I know I’ve said this a million times, but I love foodservice people!  Recently, when I spoke at the Women’s Foodservice Forum on finding your purpose and living your passion, my intent was to help people re-ignite their passion for their jobs.  I shared stories of inspiring women and men in foodservice who were making a difference and living and loving their lives.  Then, for the people who really didn’t know what their purpose was, I encouraged them to find a Whitney Elementary School in their hometown.  Let me tell you about Whitney. 

This is an elementary school in Las Vegas where 85% of the 600 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are living under ‘homeless’ conditions.  Sherrie Gahn, the principal, noticed that students were stuffing their pockets with ketchup packets on Fridays, so they could have something to eat over the weekend.  This broke her heart.  She then set out to find ways to feed these children over the weekend.  With her tenacity and the generous support of people in the community, each child gets a care package of food to take home every Friday.  She also wants to teach these children to be people of character and to see that their current circumstances are temporary.  They can grow up to be different than what they’ve thought of in the past.  To help these kids see themselves as more than their circumstances, she put up mirrors in the hallway going to the cafeteria.  On each mirror, there is an affirmation of possibility: “I am a Navy Seal”  “I am an Engineer” and one of my favorites, “I am a Chef”. 

I was so inspired by the story of Whitney Elementary, I mentioned to the audience that someone suggested that instead of doing a wine tasting or golf event at next years’ convention which happens to be in Vegas, how about a community outreach project?  I asked the audience ‘How cool would it be that we went to Whitney Elementary and helped them out?’  I then asked for a show of hands how many people would be on board if we did that.  Out of the roughly 300 people in the audience EVERY SINGLE HAND went up!  Then when I asked for commitments from the audience – What would you like to accomplish by the time we meet next year?  Much to my gratification, people were moved by Whitney.  Some said they were going to find a school in their area and reach out and help.  Others said they wanted to send food to Whitney.  Others said they wanted to feed all the volunteers, students and teachers when we go there next year and still others said they would get a sponsor to donate cash.  I was so inspired that I offered a free copy of the presentation (I was having it professionally recorded) to anyone in exchange for some sort of donation to Whitney Elementary School.  The outpouring has been heartwarming.  In fact, I was hired by WFF  to inspire attendees to find their passion, and at the end, I found mine. 

P.S.  If you want to help Whitney Elementary in Las Vegas, the assistant principal said besides food, these kids need underwear and shoes.  Let me know if you want to help and I’ll send you a free copy of my presentation!  Shoot me an e-mail if you have any questions: Marilyn@MarilynSherman.com.

Here’s to finding your purpose and passion and I’ll see you in the front-row!

I am putting my final touches on my presentation for the Women’s Foodservice Forum and I am so moved [...]]]>

9 year old Lin Hao is walking into the 2008 Summer Olympic games with 7’6” professional basketball player Yao Ming. Lin became a hero after he pulled two classmates from his school after a deadly earthquake.

I am putting my final touches on my presentation for the Women’s Foodservice Forum and I am so moved by the story Lin Hao.  He’s the nine year old boy who became famous when he was honored at the summer olympics by walking in with China’s most famous NBA player Yao Ming.  Lin was honored to walk in the opening ceremonies because he survived a deadly earthquake at his school and went back in to rescue two of his classmates that were unconscious.  That’s not the most fascinating part for me – the best part of the story is why he did it.  When asked by reporters to explain his heroic actions, he said: “It was my job….I’m the hall monitor”.  How cool is that?  What does this story have to do with foodservice?  Well, in my presentation on “Discover Your Purpose: Find Your Passion” I will talk about how to be purposeful and passionate in their foodservice positions.  In this economic tsunami that we are in, we all need a little perspective that hopefully ignites our passion for why we got into the foodservice business to begin with.  Imagine if everyone got back to appreciating their job and having an enthusiastic attitude about work? Imagine if everyone did their jobs without complaint…like hall monitor!

Tim Sanders delivered an outstanding keynote presentation today. He talked about gratitude and how he remembers employees coming in on their first day at Yahoo where Tim did new hire orientation.  The newbies were SO excited about free coffee!   Then, over time, their attitudes shifted.  It’s time to shift our attitudes back!  We can’t control the economy, we can control our attitude.  We need to re-focus on what we love about foodservice and what we are grateful for. 

I love what I do – and I can’t wait to speak tomorrow morning.  Attitude and gratitude – no economy can take it away from me.

Here’s to your passion and your success – I’ll see you in the front-row!

What an amazing full day of professional development for WFF here in Texas.  Over 1400 women and a smattering of men are fully engaged in this conference and I absolutely had to laugh at how the Gaylord [...]]]>

With over 1400 women attending the conference, there were creative ways to make attendees comfortable using the facilities.

What an amazing full day of professional development for WFF here in Texas.  Over 1400 women and a smattering of men are fully engaged in this conference and I absolutely had to laugh at how the Gaylord Texan handled the restroom situation.  When I went into the ‘alternative restroom’ I not only had to laugh, but I had to take a picture.  This says it all!  It reminds me of the women’s conference where they had the Women’s Restroom, and over the traditional Men’s Restroom sign, they put “Assertive Women’s Restroom”. 

Yes, there is an air of humor in the serious business of foodservice.  I always say, when they’re laughing their paying attention which means they just might learn something.  One of the stories I heard from the keynote speaker was the time she was interviewing for a job and the word was she was not going to be offered the position.  She happened to be at a plated luncheon at an event where the CEO of the company she wanted to work for was present.  She sneaked in early, saw the place settings with name tents at each seat, and switched them around so she would be seated next to the CEO.  If you have heard my speech on “Why Settle for the Balcony? How to get a Front-Row Seat in Life!” you know that this move would qualify under the ‘Be Gutsy’ strategy!

Robin Roberts had talked about positioning yourself for success…well, that’s one way to do it!  It worked by the way, and she got the job.

The most moving, goose bump moment for me came after the last workshop of today.  Karen Tassan approached me and said some very complimentary things about my speaking from a couple of years ago.  I was very honored she took the time to acknowledge me, and when I asked her about her journey and passion (still gathering stories for my speech for Wednesday) she floored me.  In 2001 she was a bar manager and decided to go to training to become a flight attendant.  A friend of hers encouraged her to become a pilot instead.   She took his advice and went from zero hours to obtaining a commercial pilot’s license in 5 1/2 months (normally it’s a 7 month process).  She became a fight instructor and trained people on a flight simulator.  One day in 2003, one of her students went back to his hotel and talked about how Karen was a phenomenal instructor to three other pilots staying at the same hotel.  They decided to invite her to dinner and the next day they hired her…get this…as the corporate pilot for Yum! Brands.  I was amazed how this women who had a friend who knew her better than she knew herself and steered her toward her passion. She loves to fly jets.  She is an amazing example of taking a risk, changing directions in her life, and working very hard to accomplish an amazing feat.  Congratulations Karen -  you inspire me!

Another inspiring person here at the WFF conference was a man I heard speaking on a panel about thriving in difficult times.  He owns a company with 77 units ( 76 franchise, 1 corporate).  He has created a unique brand and has done very well in the short five years he has ventured out with ‘Which Wich?’. This is an amazing story about a young guy who believes that if you “Align yourself with the right people, the numbers fall into place.”  During the Q and A, I asked “With a name like Which Wich? you must have a lot of passion for this industry.  How do you energize and ignite the passion with your people?”  His answer was all about walking in the shoes of the customers and walking in the shoes of his operators.  So the culture was enhanced by the custom of rewarding high performers with a pair of shoes.  Apparently, you can go online and order a customized pair of sneakers from NIKE.  With rewarding people with this gift, they go online and customize their own pair of shoes.  They get psyched about this reward and I heard that 100% recipients choose to customize their NIKE shoes with  the company colored, Charlie Brown inspired, yellow and black.

I met the owner, Jeff Sinelli after his panel presentation and asked him where this passion came from.  He had an experience as a 12 year old buying all his supplies for a lemonade stand.  He wanted to sell frozen lemonade for what was supposed to be a very hot day.  He prepared his ingredients and froze the lemonade in tupperware the night before.  Little did he know that lemonade in tupperware expands and he created a horrible product that he had to sell the next day.  Not only did the frozen lemonade not turn out as expected, but the weather turned out to be 34 degrees – not the hot thirst-provoking day that he anticipated.  But, at the end of his day, he had $100 in his pocket and a dream was born.  Without ideal product, and ideal logistics, he proved to his 12 year old spirt that he could sell if he did it with a smile on this face.  28 years later, he is the owner of a brand that carries that same spirit.  I loved his enthusiasm for his brand especially when he encouraged all the attendees to show up in their brand next year (he had on yellow and black sneakers, yellow pants and a black Which Wich? polo.  Good for him – and congrats to the education committee for brining in such inspiring examples.  Go to www.whichwich.com for his amazing story and see what he is doing with this incredible sandwich shop.

One more full day of professional development until I speak on Wednesday morning and I can’t wait!  Here’s to living your brand and I’ll see you in the front-row!

If you are a women in foodservice, and you want to grow in your personal and professional development, then you need to be involved with the Women’s Foodservice [...]]]>

President & CEO of Blueberry Business Group Ltd. Debra Bachar has 25 years of experience, wisdom and passion for foodservice. That qualifies for being a foodservice fanatic!

If you are a women in foodservice, and you want to grow in your personal and professional development, then you need to be involved with the Women’s Foodservice Forum.  I am in Dallas, Texas preparing for a speech at the WFF’s 20th annual Leadership Development conference.  I will be speaking on ‘Discover Your Purpose – Find Your Passion’.  It will be a motivational talk that is customized for the foodservice industry, so I was doing my homework and talking to people as they arrived at the conference.  I had a wonderful conversation with Debra Bachar, the CEO and President of Blueberry Business Group.  I figured since she has been in the foodservice industry for 25 years, she has to be living her passion.  So I asked her what does it take to have sustainable success in foodservice? 

“Passion is a decision” she said.  “You can emotionally repurchase your company and see the potential in your company and your customers.” 

I really liked her response because she believes what I do when it comes to success.  It’s about choice.  You choose to be re-engaged.  You choose to be re-energized.  You choose to have enthusiasm for meeting the needs of your customer. 

But what about the economy?

We’ve been hearing it a lot lately.  In fact, I had a chance to talk to Genny Maiden, Owner and President of Terrapin Peak Enterprises who had a foodservice fanatic front-row attitude for sure.  She was in corporate foodservice for 30 years, but always wanted to open a bed and breakfast.  She was laid off in November which simply meant that her plans for her B & B were moved up!  She jumped in with both feet after the layoff, and is now enjoying living her passion full time.  With word of mouth advertising, her ‘Terrapin Peak Bed, Breakfast, & Beyond’ has already doubled their sales. 

Sherri Hager, VP of Sales for BarrierSafe Solutions International was in on the conversation about being laid off.  Although Sherri has recently taken on additional responsibilities and is doing very well at BarrierSafe, she commented on Genny’s inspiring story and summed it up perfectly;

“It’s never too early to start laying the foundation for your passion.”

Finally, I spoke to Kat Cole, VP Training and Development for Hooters of America who talked about having such passion for this association.  When you get involved and you get connected, you get so much in return.  She suggested that your sense of purpose should come from more than just one thing. 

Be engaged in your company, have a passion for something in case your job is eliminated and join then volunteer for an association like the Women’s Foodservice Forum.  I am so grateful to be speaking for my fifth year in a row for WFF.  The people are truly amazing, and the dynamic, professional women mentioned in this blog are just a handful I was hanging out with before the convention has even started!  I love to hang around foodservice professionals, and this association is awesome.  For more information, go to www.womensfoodserviceforum.com. Then, next year, you too can hang out with such dynamic professionals.  Come next year for sure – you can hang with me because it’s in Las Vegas!

To your passion and purpose – Marilyn Sherman

P.S. I’ll see you in the front-row!

After speaking to a foodservice company in West Virginia, I had a bit of a wait at the Dulles International Airport in Washington D.C. I was [...]]]>

This is a picture of a near empty restaurant at the Dulles Airport. Read below why I was turned away and spent my money at another restaurant that day.

After speaking to a foodservice company in West Virginia, I had a bit of a wait at the Dulles International Airport in Washington D.C. I was still high from speaking at a director’s retreat and had collected commitments and evaluations from the attendees.  I saw the above restaurant that was near my gate, and all I thought about was how relaxing it would be to sit at one of the 4 empty…did I say empty? booths at this restaurant.  I wanted to spread out my paperwork while I ate lunch.  So – when the hostess came up to me and asked if I wanted to come in for lunch, I said yes and I would prefer to sit in one of the empty booths.  You can guess what she said…but before I tell you, please note that there is one patron sitting in the restaurant in view and off to the right is the only other customer sitting and eating lunch at the bar.  Without a moment’s hesitation, she said; “No, you need to sit in one of these tables, those booths are reserved.”  I asked her who they were reserved for and she said “Parties of four”.  I looked over my shoulder, down the corridor, and all around.  “So, you’re saving those booths for all of these customers?”  (I was a bit sarcastic as it was obvious that there were no customers coming in anytime soon.  She didn’t think I was funny and walked away – off to do who knows what when you only have two customers. 

So I took a picture of this place, shaking my head.  I was thinking that this is 2009.  People are begging for customers to frequent their restaurants – and here was a woman turning down business.  I left, found a friendly place where the host sat me, recommended a fabulous salad, and even checked on me periodically to make sure I was cool as I was going through my paperwork.  I thought about the woman earlier, was it her fault?  Or was it a manager who trained her the rules of the restaurant:  “Booths are only for groups of four – don’t give them away to single patrons”.  But, did that manager empower her to make a decision when the restaurant is empty?  To listen to the needs of the customer and consider bending the rules?  There is a difference between training and education.  She was trained to follow the rules, but not educated  to know when those rules become a detriment to the success of the restaurant.  By the way, when I walked by after my lunch at their competition’s place, there were customers in there – all two of them.

This incident reminded me of a time when I was doing some training on the road in Honolulu with some other trainers.  We were famished after a  long day of customer service training and decided to splurge with a nice dinner out.  We were in a high end restaurant and the three of us were seated right away.  One of my companions was especially hungry and has a thing for bread.  He couldn’t wait to dig into the basket of fresh baked breads that were sure to arrive soon at  our table.  He could smell the bread but didn’t see any come out to us.  Our drink orders were taken, but no bread.  Finally, he spotted where the waitstaff was going to pick up the baskets, took it upon himself to get us one.  When our well-trained yet not-educated food-server came back, we told her not to worry but we had gotten our own bread.  Her response made me laugh.  If the owner heard her answer, he or she would have cringed.  She said; “We are not supposed to give you your bread until after you order your food.  Apparently, people order more food while they are still hungry, and we want you to order as much as possible.  So that’s why I didn’t get you your bread yet. “  Clearly, she was told in a training session or meeting about check averages are higher if you wait on the bread delivery.  However, she was obviously not educated enough to determine what is knowledge for the restaurant team and what is clearly not for public consumption! 

Foodservice fanatics are committed to making a profit in their restaurant by feeding the needs of their customers while having rules that sometimes need to be flexible.  Foodservice fanatics are also owners and managers who educate their staff – not just train them! 

1. -See you in the Front-Row!  Marilyn Sherman