The Most Important Hospitality Tool

I remember participating in a psychology study in my first year of University as a part of my Psych 101 course credit. Without knowing the terms or hypothesis of the study I was sat in front of a computer and asked to rate pictures of people as attractive or unattractive. Upon completing the task I sat down with the researcher to discuss my results. The study was on the impact of a smile on perceived attractiveness. Without realizing, I had rated all the smiling people as attractive and all the unsmiling people as unattractive. What I also didn't notice was that there were duplicate pictures of some people, one of them smiling, and one of them almost frowning. I walked back to my dorm room that day with a big smile on my face wanting to appear as attractive as possible.
A smile is a tool every hospitality personnel should have on them at all times. There are many benefits to having a smile on your face, all of which apply to the greater success of any restaurant. First, and foremost: smiles are contagious. If our goal is to make our guests happy at any cost then we should start with a smile.

"I decide to pop into little French cafe around the corner to grab a cup of tea while I’m waiting. As I sit under my little gray cloud, my pretty, young server Colette flashes me a dazzling smile that sticks there for the entire interaction. I can’t help but smile back. In fact, I even catch myself smiling while washing my hands in the bathroom. Suddenly my day doesn’t seem so bad. I finish my tea and head to my appointment equipped with a grin on my face, feeling as though I’ve slipped on a pair of rose-colored glasses. Today’s lesson? It turns out that when I smile, the world smiles back."  

- Sara Stevenson, Psychology Today 

In a fast paced environment like a restaurant, it is, often times, difficult to stop and smell the roses, we are consumed with the tasks at hand. Table 33 needs a bus, table 42 needs water, I need to take the order for table 45 and table 50 is ready to pay, 8 separate checks. The last thing any server is thinking about in this situation is their facial expression, but it needs to be on their mind and their face, as much a feasibly possible. If we can improve a guest's day just by offering a genuine smile then there is no way any guest should leave a restaurant without being smiled at by every single staff member they come into contact with. 

Smiling is like a floodgate for feel good neurotransmitters. The simple act of smiling relieves stress, improves your mood, elevates brain function, increases your immune system and lowers blood pressure.  

How do you make sure every guest leaves your restaurant with a smile on their face, their day improved just by having dined in your restaurant? You need to make sure your staff are smiling too. 

As managers in the hospitality industry we find ourselves putting out fires, or doing the best we can to stop them before they happen. We need to remember that we're not just managing a restaurant, we're managing people too. Your staff have lives and stresses outside of work and while we ask them to leave their baggage at the door, it inevitably seeps into their interactions with coworkers and your guests. Get your staff smiling by offering humorous anecdotes in pre-shift meetings, having one on one's with staff to get their feedback, and by keeping work fun, even when it's stressful. Don't forget to put a smile on your face too. Smile, and the world smiles with you.