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RESTAURANT

IMPLEMENTATION GUIDE PHASE III

IHOP SERVICE EXCELLENCE RESTAURANT IMPLEMENTATION GUIDE

Table of Contents

Welcome........................................................................................................................................................ 1

Implementation Documents ......................................................................................................................... 1

Summary of Implementation Stages ............................................................................................................. 1

The Restaurant Implementation Critical Path ............................................................................................... 2

Train-the-Trainer Meeting ............................................................................................................................. 3

Zone Charts .................................................................................................................................................... 4

Pre-Shift Meetings ......................................................................................................................................... 7

The Team Member Bulletin Board ................................................................................................................ 8

Staffing Service Excellence ............................................................................................................................ 8

Uniforms and Appearance ........................................................................................................................... 10

Swapping Out of Tableware Items .............................................................................................................. 10

Service as Good as Our Pancakes ................................................................................................................ 11

Team Member Training Meeting ................................................................................................................ 11

Team Member Training Meeting Outline .................................................................................................... 12

IHOP Service Excellence 101 Training Materials ......................................................................................... 20

Key Metrics Assessments ............................................................................................................................ 23

Implementation Posters .............................................................................................................................. 25

Service Excellence 101 Passport Completion .............................................................................................. 26

Service Excellence 101 Passport Administration Plan Worksheet .............................................................. 27

IHOP SERVICE EXCELLENCE PHASE III RESTAURANT IMPLEMENTATION GUIDE

1 © 2012 IHOP IP, LLC.

Welcome to the IHOP Service Excellence Phase III Restaurant Implementation Guide!

The first action that you should take in order to successfully implement IHOP Service Excellence into your restaurant is to read this guide. This guide provides all of the information that you will need to implement the Service Excellence Program, including how to use the other documents and tools provided in your implementation kit.

It is important that the restaurant management, most especially the General Manager, leads and remains engaged in and close to the IHOP Service Excellence implementation process. Service Excellence will make significant and positive changes to IHOP guest service in a short amount of time. Your direct involvement in introducing, implementing, and enforcing Service Excellence communicates the importance of the program to your team members and is the key to Service Excellence in your restaurant.

Implementation Documents

In addition to this Implementation Guide, here is a list of the documents that you will need for Service Excellence implementation.

1. The Phase III Restaurant Implementation Critical Path 2. IHOP Service Excellence 101 Training Materials

• Trainer’s Guide

• Learner’s Guide

• Training DVD

• Team Member Pocket Guides

• Passports

• Training Tracking Sheet 3. Service Excellence Implementation Posters 4. Key Metrics Assessments

Summary of Implementation Stages

Service Excellence is implemented in three (3) stages:

Stage 1 Pre-Implementation This is a one week “pre-work” process that includes evaluation of and working toward operations readiness, determining and addressing staffing needs, implementing a few Service Excellence components and activities into your restaurant, and GM attendance of a Service Excellence Train-the-Trainer meeting.

Stage 2 Implementation This is a one week process that includes a team member training meeting, wrapping up any readiness loose ends, coaching of team members, and bringing the restaurant to full, 100% implementation of Service Excellence with a weekend “Go-Live”.



Stage 3 Post-Implementation The continued refinement, coaching, training, and assessment that takes place after Going Live to ensure the long-term practice and success of Service Excellence.

The Restaurant Implementation Critical Path, provided in your implementation kit, contains detailed tasks, activities, and other information to help the restaurant management to effectively manage and complete all of the requirements during each of the implementation stages.

The Phase III Restaurant Implementation Critical Path

The critical path is a line by line checklist and guide to instruct you and help you prepare for and implement Service Excellence. Throughout each of the three stages of implementation, check and update the status of your progress on the critical path daily to ensure that you are on track and on time.

Below is an example of the Service Excellence Restaurant Implementation Critical Path that is provided for you in your implementation kit.



Train-the-Trainer Meeting

The Restaurant General Manager, along with the Franchisee Representative for the organization, is expected to attend a Service Excellence Train-the-Trainer Meeting. This meeting will be conducted by the FBC and will provide you with basic Service Excellence training including how to train and implement Service Excellence in your own restaurant. The Train-the-Trainer Meeting agenda is as follows:

• Welcome & Introductions

• Service Excellence Training – Why Service Excellence – SE Terminology – Greeter & Scout roles – Servers/Neighbors role – Service Assistant role – Food Runner & Expeditor roles – The 6 Service Excellence Pillars (including the Training Video)

• The IHOP Service Excellence 101 Training Tools – Walk through of the tools provided – How to use them

• Restaurant Training & Implementation “How To” – Walk through of the tools provided – How to use them – Restaurant Implementation process and expectations

• Service Excellence Quiz

• Service Excellence Observation and/or Roleplay

• Q&A

• Closing NOTE: This Service Excellence Train-the-Trainer Meeting should not be confused with the Team Member Service Excellence Training Meeting which is to be conducted by the Restaurant General Manager for your individual restaurant.



Zone Charts

A crucial Service Excellence tool is the laminated Zone Chart. The laminated Zone Chart shows the dining room zones and the server stations within each zone. It also shows each table’s pivot point. Maintaining the Zone Charts is the responsibility of the Greeter. If no Greeter is scheduled for the shift, the maintenance of the Zone Charts is the responsibility of the shift manager or supervisor.

The restaurant manager must create their restaurant’s laminated Zone Charts. This entails modification of the restaurant’s existing seating charts to indicate server stations, service zones, and each table’s pivot point.

Effective server station and service zone planning is integral to ensuring that we provide Service Excellence to each and every guest in a timely and responsive manner that will result in guests leaving happy and returning more often.

Server station planning is the process of mapping out how guest seating will take place throughout the shift.

A Server Zone is the grouping of 2 to 3 server stations used to assign and indicate direct “Service Neighbors.” Each server is paired with one or more Service Neighbors within a Zone. The servers working within each Zone are “Neighbors.” This means that, although they have an assigned station, each Server within the Zone is also accountable for assisting all Servers within their Zone. This will ensure that all guests within the Zone receive the best possible service throughout their visit.

The Manager should consider the following when mapping server stations and zones:

Start with total number of tables in your restaurant. Server stations might generally be made up of 4 or 5 tables per station – depending on table size.

Balance potential guest count (number of seats) as well as sales dollars. Four 4-tops can be very different in volume from four 6-tops – especially when the restaurant is at peak capacity. An example of balance by potential guest count would be one station of 5 tables of 2 tops which, combined, have a 10-guest capacity, and another station made up of two 4-tops plus one 2-top table which will also equal a 10-guest capacity.

Prepare the station chart according to the number of Servers you plan to schedule each shift, starting with a 3 or 4 Server station floor, and graduate up to the maximum number of servers and stations you would schedule based on your highest volume shifts. This could possibly be a 20-Server station floor chart or higher depending on the design of the building and volume you anticipate.

Plan zones by grouping two neighboring server stations into a single Zone. For example, 8 server stations would be mapped into 4 zones. If there is an odd number of server stations, one of the zones will be made up of three stations versus two. For example, 9 service stations would also be mapped into 4 zones; 2 Servers as neighbors in each of 3 Zones and the 4th Zone would have 3 Servers as neighbors.

Consider the number of guests/tables each of the Servers can handle according to their individual skills and level of experience.

Team Servers with more experience with Servers of less experience as neighbors.



Consider travel patterns, or “geography”, as well when mapping out zones so that it is as easy as possible for the neighbors within the zone to travel throughout the entire zone.

It is extremely important that a solid plan for Server Zones and stations be set up properly from the start because once the table rotation has been established it will remain the same for the entire business “rush”.

Here are a few examples of completed Zone Charts:



You will need a set of 3 laminated Zone Charts for each zone layout.

Copy 1: Mark as the MASTER COPY (under the laminate). This is the copy that the designated shift manager or supervisor uses to assign the server stations by writing the server names in wax pencil or with a dry- or wet-erase marker over their assigned station. This copy is kept at the hosting podium. The Greeter uses a wax pencil or dry- or wet-erase marker to track and manage table status on this copy as follows:

Note: Ideally, the “dirty” status will rarely be used as we meet the time standards for turning a table from occupied to released. Copy 2: This copy is to be posted in the Expeditor station that is expected to remain open for the entire shift. The Greeter writes in the server names over their assigned station in duplication of those indicated by the shift manager or supervisor on the MASTER COPY. The Greeter then posts this copy in the Expeditor station near the passbar.

Copy 3: If a second Expeditor station is expected to be used during the shift, the Greeter writes in the server names over their assigned station as indicated on the MASTER COPY and then posts this copy in the second Expeditor station near the passbar.



Why do we need Zone Charts in the Expeditor station?

Zone Charts play a key role in helping the Expeditor to organize the food runs and in streamlining guest requests given to the Food Runner(s) when the food is delivered to the table. Before leaving the passbar, the Food Runner must know four things: Table #, the pivot point of the table, who the Server is and who their Neighbor is. If a guest asks a Food Runner for a side of hash browns, or if there is a problem with the food, the Food Runner wastes no time “finding out” who the Server or their Neighbor is. They simply look at the Zone Chart. Additionally, the risk of the Food Runner looking confused or fumbling communication at the table when receiving a request is eliminated. IT SAVES TIME!

When not in use, the Zone Charts should be kept in a binder or folder in a designated space in the hosting podium or cashier stand. Initial preparation of the Master Zone Chart is the responsibility of the shift manager or supervisor. The other two charts are the responsibility of the Greeter. If no Greeter is scheduled for the shift, the shift manager or supervisor is responsible for completing and posting all three charts.

Pre-Shift Meetings

If not already doing so, please establish pre-shift meetings. Pre-shift meetings are an effective and valuable way of communicating a consistent message to all team members, at the start of each shift, each and every day. The primary purpose of pre-shift meetings is for the manager to share the focus of the upcoming shift with their team members. Pre-shift meetings are held with multiple team members at once, in small or larger groups, and are an efficient way to quickly deliver and discuss many topics. Pre-shift meetings also provide an excellent opportunity for a manager to publicly recognize individual or team achievement, rally the team toward success, and drive excitement and positivity before the team members begin their work for the day.

Pre-shift meetings are especially important during the implementation of Service Excellence.

Select one or more Service Excellence focus topics each day which cover specific terms, tasks, communications and concepts (recommendations are provided on the Critical Path). A Service Excellence pre-shift meeting should, at minimum, cover the following each shift, each day:

a. Checking team member appearance & uniforms b. Verifying that each Team Member has their Service Excellence Pocket Guide c. Briefly review the prior day’s Service Excellence focus topic(s), resulting team performance, and any

resulting data (VOG, table turn times, etc.) d. Recognize individual and team Service Excellence successes. e. Discuss and demonstrate one or more new or re-visited Service Excellence focus topic. f. Rally and rah-rah-rah!



A pre-shift meeting should generally be approximately 5 minutes in duration. However, due to the number of, and attention needed for the topics, you can feasibly expect pre-shift meetings to take a bit longer during Service Excellence implementation.

It is important that you write down your pre-shift meeting agenda. This not only allows improved planning of the meetings, but also helps ensure that the same message can be delivered to each team member on all shifts. It also allows easy reference back to what was covered the previous day. During Service Excellence implementation, the pre-shift meeting agenda should be posted on the team member bulletin board for their reference following the pre-shift meeting(s).

Remember: Make it Positive! Make it Fun! And, don’t forget to follow up throughout the shift.

Team Member Bulletin Board

Use of your team member bulletin board for Service Excellence communication is extremely beneficial before, during, and after implementation. Identify a place where you can post Service Excellence information.

To start, you may want to post an announcement from the Franchisee to the team members, provide an implementation timeline or calendar, and post current Voice of the Guest scores and table turn times, etc.

Later, implementation updates including pre-shift meeting notes and implementation results (such as VOG scores and table turn times, etc.) can be posted.

Staffing Service Excellence

There are six new service roles with Service Excellence: Greeter; Scout; Service Assistant; Expeditor; and Food Runner. These are not new jobs. Rather, they are roles that define a more clear division of duties which, in turn, enables the team members to more effectively and consistently be where they need to be when they need to be there - doing what they should be doing to enhance the guest experience.

Most of the time, these new roles can be filled with your existing team members through repositioning or cross-training.

The Greeter: Greets and coordinates the seating of the guests, manages the Zone Charts, and thanks & invites our guests back upon their departure. This role can generally be fulfilled by an existing Host or Hostess.

The Scout: Seats the guests, ensures Guest Right of Way, communicates table status to the Greeter, assists with Table Release, and offers hospitality to our guests waiting to be seated. This role can usually be fulfilled by an existing Host or Hostess.



The Service Assistant: Finishes bussing and re-setting of tables according to SOP after guest departure, communicates Table Release to the Scout or Greeter, assists with table Manicuring. This role can generally be fulfilled by an existing FOH Combo.

The Expeditor: Ensures guest’s orders are prepared and plated correctly, garnishes and prepares plates for efficient delivery by seat, calls for Food Runners, ensures food is loaded for delivery by seat order, and makes certain meals are delivered quickly and complete. The Expeditor is also the communicator between the Servers and the Cooks. Through repositioning or cross-training, this role can generally be fulfilled by an existing Host, Hostess, Server, or Cook.

The Food Runner: Responds to the Expeditor’s call for a Food Runner immediately, delivers food to the guest quickly and by order of seating - announcing meals as they are placed in front of the guest. Through repositioning or cross-training, this role can generally be fulfilled by an existing Host, Hostess, Server, or Expeditor.

Ideally, during high volume periods, each of these roles would be performed by separate and dedicated team members. For example, on a Saturday 1st Shift, during the breakfast and lunch peak times, it is beneficial to have a dedicated Greeter and at least one dedicated Scout. This way, there is always someone at the door to greet each guest, to maintain the wait list, to track table status, and to manage seating. Additionally, there is also always someone else on hand to escort the guests to the tables, to monitor the dining room for table status, and to communicate table status updates to the Greeter for more effective seating planning. Having a dedicated Expeditor for each open passbar to garnish and organize food for delivery and a Food Runner to deliver the food during this period helps to keep the Servers in the dining room spending more time with, and giving more attention to our guests. When volume dictates, we strongly recommend scheduling dedicated team members to perform each Service Excellence role.

During lower volume periods, a single team member may perform more than one of these roles simultaneously. For example, if a Tuesday 2nd shift is a lower-volume period, a Greeter may also perform the role of the Scout and the Servers might also perform the roles of the Expeditor and Food Runner.

Though, in most cases, these new roles can be filled with your existing team members through repositioning or cross-training, there may be a need for hiring of new team members. You will need to carefully evaluate your staffing needs.

• Identify, based on your restaurant’s volume, when you will need to schedule Greeters, Scouts, Service Assistants, Expeditors, and Food Runners.

• Identify which of these roles can/will be performed by existing team members during those times.

• Determine if any existing team members can be repositioned or cross-trained to perform the new roles during those times without adversely affecting current or ideal staffing levels.

• Determine how many, if any, new team members must be hired and trained to perform the new roles that cannot be fulfilled using existing team members.


10 © 2012 IHOP IP, LLC.

If possible, update your schedule templates to include the new Service Excellence roles. If you cannot make changes to the scheduling template, indicate who will be performing which role, and when, by making notations on the posted hardcopy of the team member work schedules.

Management should make best efforts to re-organize duties that keep you in the BOH so that you can be in the FOH as much as possible during Service Excellence implementation and beyond.

Uniforms & Appearance

Now is a great time to address appearance and uniform standards. Verify that each team member is in FULL compliance with SOP appearance and uniform standards.

For Servers, also check the following:

• Apron pockets should contain no more than an order pad booklet, 2-3 ink pens, 1 highlighter pen (for VOG surveys), and the server’s “bank” and/or tips. No straws. No cellphones. No keys. All other server belongings should be stored elsewhere – not in the apron pockets.

• The order pad booklet should be clean and in good condition. Personal photos, stickers, or other enhancements are not visible.

• Pens given to guests for credit card payment should be professional, (in good condition and not branded with outside advertisement) and should be black or blue ink.

Shirts for New Roles:

• If the Service Assistant is selected from the Host or Server team members, it is recommended that they wear a Host shirt in their role as Service Assistant. If the Service Assistant is selected from the Combo team members they may wear their Combo shirt or be outfitted with a Host shirt for their role as Service Assistant.

• The Expeditor may wear a Server shirt or a Host shirt (or a white or black chef coat or cook shirt).

• The Food Runner may wear a Server shirt or a Host shirt.

Swapping Out of Tableware Items

With Service Excellence, each guest is to be seated at a perfect table that looks as great and is as clean during peak periods as it would be during slower periods. To achieve this, we will implement Service Excellence Table Release Standards.

An important part of proper and efficient Service Excellence Table Release is having a sufficient supply of all “table top items”, also known as tableware items, to not only properly set each table per SOP, but also a backup supply which remains filled, clean, and ready to “swap out” instantly for dirty and/or used ones left behind by the guest. This enables team members to quickly re-set each table to perfection for every guest, every time. For example, if a guest uses some of the strawberry syrup from the syrup


11 © 2012 IHOP IP, LLC.

caddy, we will remove the used syrup pitcher from the table and replace it immediately with a full, clean pitcher of strawberry syrup. If the caddy itself became sticky from dripping from the syrup pitcher, we would remove the entire syrup caddy and replace it with a full, clean caddy.

For this swap-out process, you will need to establish a “refill station”. This is a place in your restaurant’s service station or BOH where all used tableware items such as syrup pitchers and caddies, sugar caddies, salt and pepper shakers can be dropped off for cleaning and refilling and full, clean tableware items can be picked up for table resetting. If necessary, the drop-off/refill location and clean tablewares location can be in different spaces, but keep in mind that they should be fairly close to each other to allow for quick and seamless swap-out. Additionally, there should also be a designated location for storage of clean, dry coffee pots as well to aid in timely table release.

Service as Good as Our Pancakes

Service Excellence does not replace our existing service procedures and guidelines. Rather, Service Excellence is an enhancement to Service as Good as Our Pancakes. Service Excellence does not stand alone. It is a system that supplements the Platinum Rule, the Three Tenets of Guest Service, and the Guidelines to Great Service.

As it is not intended as a complete process and, instead, it builds on our existing service expectations, there are some aspects of Service Excellence that will present more of a challenge than others if Service as Good as Our Pancakes expectations are not all in practice. For example, if Servers are not currently asking guests in advance which condiments they would like with their meal and/or are not delivering them before the meal the team could very well have more difficulty with tackling the Service Excellence standards for food deliveries and manicuring.

Take this opportunity to ensure that your team members already provide Service as Good as Our Pancakes according to our existing service procedures and guidelines. These can be found in the IHOP 101 Team Member Training Program materials.

Team Member Service Excellence Training Meeting

The restaurant General Manager will be conducting a Service Excellence training meeting. This meeting should be approximately 4 hours long and should include all FOH team members.

Be sure to spend time studying the Service Excellence documents and training materials to ensure that you are a Service Excellence “expert” and can thereby effectively explain and demonstrate the components of Service Excellence to your team members.

Rehearse your meeting ahead of time to practice your timing and how you will deliver each of the subjects in the outline. The section delivery times provided in the outline below are estimates. You can take more or less time to cover a section as long as all of the subjects are sufficiently covered.


12 © 2012 IHOP IP, LLC.

TEAM MEMBER TRAINING MEETING OUTLINE Refer to the SE 101 Trainer’s Guide for additional detail.

WELCOME (10 minutes)

• Explain why IHOP, and specifically your restaurant, is implementing the Service Excellence program and how it will benefit your restaurant and its team members. – Walk through the Service Excellence points found in the Service Excellence 101 Trainer’s

Guide pages 3-4.

• Express your own commitment to Service Excellence.

• Explain to the group that they should feel free to write down any questions – tell them that most will be answered as we go, but opportunities for questions will be given later on.

• Distribute the IHOP Service Excellence 101 Team Member Pocket Guide to the team members

IHOP SERVICE EXCELLENCE TERMS INTRODUCTION (20 minutes)

• Be brief – simply define the terms (definitions for each of these terms are found in the Service Excellence 101 Trainer’s Guide pages 6-9). – Complete Communication with Interest – Guest Right of Way – Zone – Zone Chart – Neighbor (Service Neighbor) – Pivot Point – Seat Handling – Service Excellence Warm Welcome – Full Hands In – Full Hands Out – Ticket – Call the Run

• One-Handed Runner & Two-Handed Runner • One-Handed Follow & Two-Handed Follow

– Answer the Run • First Round (Beverage) • Guest Request • Got It

– Body Carry – Manicure – Unobtrusive Manicuring – Team Manicure – Table Organizing (Pockets for Bussing) – One-Handed Bus/Manicure – Team Bus – Drop and Go - What Do You Need


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– Table Release

• Explain that you will explain these terms in more detail and that the picture of what they mean and/or look like will become clearer as you talk about each of the Service Excellence roles.

THE SERVICE EXCELLENCE ROLES (5 minutes)

• Service Excellence consists of important changes and enhancements made to each Team Member’s role. It is not intended as a complete process or job description and does not eliminate any standing SOPs or current service expectations.

• Explain that this specifically means that Service Excellence role sand practices do not replace our current Service As Good As Our Pancakes standards. The Service Guidelines, Platinum Rule, and the 3 Tenets still exist and you will still be expected to follow them.

• Explain that Service Excellence is in addition to our existing service standards and consists of subtle changes and enhancements to what each of our Team Members do in order to elevate the level of service we provide our guests, while addressing our guests’ concerns about our speed and cleanliness.

• State that the roles are divided into three main areas: 1) The Host Station, 2) The Dining Room, and 3) The Expeditor (or Expo) Station

• Explain that these are new ROLES – not new jobs. Most often, the new roles will be performed by existing team members as part of their current job.

• Explain to the team members that that they are all being trained in all of the roles because they not only need to understand how Service Excellence works as a complete “system”, but also because they will often be performing multiple roles.

Example, if you are a Server now, and in that role you also greet the guests at the door and escort them to their table, you are currently expected to follow the Host/Hostess Guideline when you do so. With Service Excellence, you will also be expected in these cases to perform the role of the Greeter and Scout when you greet and seat the guests.

AREA ONE: THE HOST STATION (30 minutes)

Explain and/or describe the following. Do keep in mind that many of the subjects below were introduced or covered already during the terms introduction. Review everything but don’t spend a lot of extra time on the items that you have already covered in detail before.

GREETER (See SE 101 Trainer’s Guide pages 10-13 for more detail and talking points for each subject listed below or use the actual Trainer’s Guide pages 10-13 to deliver training of the Greeter role)

• Complete Communication With Interest: Make eye contact; hear and acknowledge guest’s response before continuing with another statement or question. This means a two-way interaction with the focus being on the guest and what they have to say.

• Prepare and maintain Zone Charts.

• Communicate wait list priorities (table needs) to Scout.

• Communicate special table setup needs (high chairs, boosters, etc.) to the Scout.


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• Ready menus, handouts, etc. to hand to the Scout as you call the guests.

• Direct Scout where to seat the guests.

• Introduce guests to the Scout.

• Never allow guests to be seated at a table which has not been released according to SOP and Service Excellence Table Release standards.

• Update table status on the Master Zone Chart.

SCOUT (See SE 101 Trainer’s Guide pages 14-17 for more detail and talking points for each subject listed below or use the actual Trainer’s Guide pages 14-17 to deliver training of the Scout role)

• Complete Communication With Interest.

• Communicate wait list priorities (table needs) Service Assistant (or Server).

• Address or communicate special table setup needs (high chairs, boosters, etc.) to Service Assistant (or Server).

• Escort guests to their table, engaging them in light conversation as you go.

• Announce Guest Right of Way.

• Allow guests to be completely seated before presenting them with the menus.

• Tell the guest’s their Server’s name and invite them to enjoy their visit.

• Scout for status of tables and communicate updates to Greeter.

• Provide hospitality to waiting guests between seating & scouting activities.

• Assist Service Assistant (or Server) with Table Release between seating, scouting, & hospitality activities.

• Never seat guests at a table which has not been released according to SOP and Service Excellence Table Release standards.

AREA TWO: THE DINING ROOM (60 minutes)

Explain and/or describe the following:

SERVERS (See SE 101 Trainer’s Guide pages 18-28 for more detail and talking points for each subject listed below or use the actual Trainer’s Guide pages 18-28 to deliver training of the Server role)

• Know your Zone & know your Neighbor.

• Provide support, assistance, and hospitality to your Neighbor and all of the guests in your shared Zone.

• Complete Communication With Interest: Make eye contact; hear and acknowledge guest’s response.

• Use IHOP Service Excellence Warm Welcome. – Let the guest know that there is someone else (your neighbor by name) to help them if

you are not available. – Offer to take the food order when you take the drink order.


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– Demonstrate an example.

• Coffee Pot first round beverage signal: Coffee pot removed once 1st round beverage order has been taken.

• Use seat handling from pivot position when taking orders and entering into the POS.

• Work with Neighbor (and/or other Server) to consolidate trips in order to free-up hands for food runs, manicuring, or bussing.

• Answer the Run: “First Round”, “Guest Request”, or “Got It!”

• Use “Pardon my reach.” when you must reach past guests.

• Place plates on table correctly: Main entrée plate directly in front of the guest 1” from table edge in SOP position.

• Unobtrusive Manicuring: Perform throughout the dining room as you travel.

• Minimize interruptions

• If there’s doubt as to whether or not the guest is finished with an item, simply say “May I?”, along with a hand gesture toward the item.

• If the guest acknowledges the items being removed with a “thank you” the ideal response is simply, “My pleasure.” – no additional comments needed.

• Full Hands In – Full Hands Out: Have a “ticket” to and from the dining room.

• “Drop & Go” –>” What do you need?”: Eliminate lines at the dish station and free one another up for other activities.

• Check Back - Check Down 100%. – Demonstrate an example.

• First action for bussing is to organize items at the table edge into “pockets” of like items for ease of one- or-two-handed pass-by bussing.

• Assist with bussing/re-setting for Table Release. Address Table Release priorities communicated by Scout (or Greeter) first.

• Address special table setup needs (high chairs, boosters, etc.) requested by Scout (or Greeter).

• Communicate Table Release to Scout or Greeter.

• Announce Guest Right of Way.

SERVICE ASSISTANT (See SE 101 Trainer’s Guide pages 39-44 for more detail and talking points for each subject listed below or use the actual Trainer’s Guide pages 39-44 to deliver training of the Service Assistant role)

• Each table must be perfect per SOP (see Table Setup Laminate) and these Service Excellence Table Release Standards: – Clean & sanitize highchairs and booster seats before removing them from the table. – Wipe the wall, booth ends, and other surfaces surrounding the table. – Clean markings and fingerprints from windows and wipe the windowsills. – Make sure the floor area is clean. – Clean the seats and crumb-catching troughs. Seats must be dry before seating new guests. – Syrup pitchers are full and syrup pitchers and caddy are clean to the touch. Syrup order left

to right = Old Fashioned first if not served hot; place all others alphabetically by flavor name.


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– Salt and pepper shakers are full, clean to the touch with the top is shining, and the flat surface of the lid is facing forward.

– Sugar caddy is full, clean to the touch, and fingerprint free. Caddy packing order left to right = Yellow sweetener (if used); Pink sweetener (if used); Blue sweetener (if used); Sugar.

– Table, including edges, is clean and dry. – Placemats, if used, are 1” from the edge of the table and are aligned across from each other. – Flatware is set 2”from and at a 90° angle to the table edge on the right-hand side of where

the guest’s main meal plate would be placed [on and lined up with the placemat edge if placemats are used].

– Coffee pot is thoroughly rinsed and wiped down, the outside is shining and dry, the lid top is shining, and the lid is placed facing the handle spout-down with the thumb tab aligned with the handle.

– Coffee pot set in Table Release position per SOP.

• Communicate Table Release to Scout (or Greeter).

• Monitor table status to anticipate guest departures.

• First action for bussing is to organize items at table edge into “pockets” of like items for ease of one- or-two-handed pass-by bussing.

• Address Table Release priorities communicated by Scout (or Greeter) first.

• Rotate the order in which you bus, re-set, and release tables by server station

• Address special table setup needs (high chairs, boosters, etc.) requested by Scout (or Greeter).

• Unobtrusive Manicuring: Perform throughout the dining room as you travel. – If there’s doubt as to whether or not the guest is finished with an item, simply say “May I?”,

along with a hand gesture toward the item. – If the guest acknowledges with a “thank you” the ideal response is simply, “My pleasure.” –

no additional comments needed.

• Full Hands In – Full Hands Out: Have a “ticket” to and from the dining room.

• No bus tubs allowed in the dining room.

AREATHREE: THE EXPO STATION (30 minutes)

Explain and/or describe the following:

EXPEDITOR (See SE 101 Trainer’s Guide pages 29-34 for more detail and talking points for each subject listed below or use the actual Trainer’s Guide pages 29-34 to deliver training of the Expeditor role)

• No guest’s food is to be delivered to them if it is incorrectly prepared, incorrectly plated, or unpleasing to the eye.

• Garnish plates correctly.

• Verify that a table’s order is complete before Calling the Run.

• If incomplete, use “Stand” or “Go”.

• Communicate “go” items (drags) and timing estimate to Food Runner.


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• Whenever possible, hot food should be organized by seat for delivery while it remains in the passbar under the heat lamp and should be loaded for delivery by the Food Runner directly from the passbar.

• Correctly Call the Run: # of One- or Two-Handed Runner(s) and/or Follow(s) needed.

• Acknowledge Food Runner responses.

• Assist the Food Runners with correctly loading food for delivery to the guests by seat position.

• Communicate to the cook team on behalf of the Servers. Speak only to the Wheel Cook.

FOOD RUNNER (See SE 101 Trainer’s Guide pages 35-38 for more detail and talking points for each subject listed below or use the actual Trainer’s Guide pages 35-38 to deliver training of the Food Runner role)

• Follow and/or announce “Guest right of way” in the dining room.

• Answer the Run: “Got It!”

• Load and deliver guests’ food by seating position from the pivot point.

• Know the following before leaving the window: – Table # – Seating position #s from the pivot point – Who the Server is – Who the Server’s Neighbor is

• Announce food as it is placed in front of the guest (no auctioning).

• Use “Pardon my reach” to set plates past a guest.

• Acknowledge guest requests (if the server is not on hand when the food is delivered) and communicate the requests to the Server or their Neighbor (and the Expeditor as needed).

• Complete Communication With Interest.

TEAMWORK IS A MUST (1 minute)

• Explain one more time to the team members that that they are all being trained in all of the roles because they not only need to understand how Service Excellence works as a complete “system”, but also because they will often be performing multiple roles. – Though Service Excellence generally assigns specific tasks and activities to each role for ease

in understanding and to help the service process flow smoothly, no one is “forbidden” to assist with any Service Excellence task or activity and no one should ever “wait” for someone else to “get to it”.

– As before, each team member is expected to support each team member as needed, when needed, to ensure that our guests are taken care of.

THE SERVICE EXCELLENCE PILLARS (30 minutes)

• Explain that though every component, activity, and role that was just covered is important to Service Excellence, the Six Pillars of Service Excellence are the crucial results of Service Excellence that we must achieve and that each of the details and pieces of Service Excellence lead to.


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• Show the Service Excellence Training Video.

• Review each of the six pillars as follows:

Pillar 1: A Warm, Two Part, Service Excellence Welcome – PART 1: Introducing Server’s Neighbor

– Neighbors are identified by assigned “zones” of 2-3 servers/stations. – Neighbors assist each other with service of guests in the entire zone and with

consolidation of service tasks and activities to achieve more in fewer steps and trips. – PART 2: Offer to Take the Meal Order with the Beverage Order

– Along with the initial Server or Neighbor approach of each table within 30 seconds of seating, this can speed up the dining experience by an estimated 3-5 minutes, reducing guest wait and table turn time.

Pillar 2: Plate Announcing vs. Plate Auctioning

– Achieved through a process of requesting runners for food delivery based on number of hands needed to professionally and correctly deliver orders according to guest’s seat position at the table.

– Includes writing down orders, POS entry, and loading for delivery by seat. – Helps eliminate unprofessional, precarious, and cross-contaminating overloading of

plates for delivery which also helps reduce dirty uniforms by eliminating plates being carried against the body.

– The correct meal is placed confidently and directly in front of each guest. – Increases perception of competency and professionalism and provides one more chance

to correct errors before the guest is left to begin enjoying their meal. Pillar 3: Check Back, Check Down

– Presenting the check to the guest at the close of the first check back allows the guest the opportunity to pay and leave at their convenience rather than ours.

– Can speed up dining experience by several minutes.

Pillar 4: Service Excellence Table Release Standards – Fosters a clean and visually pleasing dining environment by ensuring a perfectly clean

and fully set table for every guest every time – regardless of day or time of day. – SOP placement of the coffee pot on the table as the final action of Table Release serves

as a clear Table Release Signal to that the table is ready for new guests to prevent seating at tables that are not clean or fully set.

– The Table Release Signal, in conjunction with the zone chart, is also used to efficiently track table status and, subsequently, more effectively plan and coordinate guest seating and reduce perception of wait times.

– Tends to reduce time required for end of shift sidework as tablework and overall dining room cleanliness are maintained throughout the shift.


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Pillar 5: Table Manicuring – Maintains a clean and visually pleasing dining environment throughout guest’s visit

through unobtrusive removal of any items from the table that the guest is no longer using - from empty plates, empty glasses, and condiments to straw wrappers, napkin bands, and empty creamer cups.

– Promotes increased availability of service and assistance for the guests as more team members pass and/or “touch” the table more frequently.

– Supports speed and ease in execution and compliance with Table Release Standards by significantly minimizing the amount of items that need to be removed from the table upon guest departure.

Pillar 6: No Bus Tubs in the Dining Room

– Possible due to practice of Table Manicuring which virtually eliminates the need for “bussing the table” once the guests have left the table.

– Improves the perception of cleanliness and improves the dining atmosphere for the guest in the areas of both noise level and appearance.

SERVICE EXCELLENCE QUIZ (20 minutes)

• Verbally quiz the participants using the Service Excellence Quiz from the SE 101 Trainer’s Guide pages 55-60.

THE IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS (5 minutes)

• Briefly cover your restaurant’s schedule and timeline for implementation.

• Explain what you and the restaurant team will be evaluating and working on over the next upcoming days before go-live.

• Describe the team member expectations for the go-live.

• Briefly explain what will happen with continued training and post-implementation work.

CLOSING (10 minutes)

• Questions and Answers

• Thanks

Ideally, you are able to have one team meeting. However, it is also acceptable to conduct multiple duplicate meetings to ensure that all team members are given the opportunity to attend. The key is for the restaurant’s GM to lead each meeting to ensure message consistency and to personally address any questions or concerns.


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IHOP Service Excellence 101 Training Materials

For ease in training Service Excellence to your team members, the team member training materials for Service Excellence have been designed in the same format, and to be used in the same way, as the IHOP 101 Team Member Training Program. As a reminder, refer to the IHOP 101 Training Others module for detailed instructions on using the IHOP 101 materials to train your team members.

TRAINER’S GUIDE

The Trainer’s Guide is the foundation of the training materials. It is a portable aid that guides the Trainer through the teaching process of the competencies and skills that the Learner must master in order to successfully complete the Service Excellence training module.

The Trainer uses the Trainer’s Guide to train the Learner using a hands-on approach - one topic at a time. The Trainer’s Guide is designed to be easy to use and to provide the Trainer with clear direction that matches the Learner’s Guide. It contains prompts and points that the Trainer can use to facilitate learner interaction and understanding. It also contains answers for the pre-practical quiz found in the Learner’s Guide.

The Trainer’s Guides are intended to be re-used with each new Learner.

LEARNER’S GUIDE

The Learner’s Guide is a portable, visual aid that provides trainee focus and supports the Trainer-led portions of the training. In essence, it is the Learners’ map for their learning journey.

The Learner’s Guide is given to the Learner at the start of the module and guides the Learner through the key competencies and skills that must be mastered for successful completion of the module. It also provides the Learner with a visual reference for what the Trainer is teaching them.

The Learner’s Guide is simple and bulleted to aid retention, singling out key learnings for emphasis of what is the most important. It also includes a pre-practical exam that is used to evaluate Passport completion readiness.


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The Learner’s Guide is intended to be collected back from the Learner, to be re-issued each day during training, and also to be re-used by the next Learner.

TEAM MEMBER POCKET GUIDE

The Team Member Pocket Guide is the take-away tool for each Learner. Given to the Learner during their training, it is used to reinforce key learnings and provides a place for the Learner to make important notes and add key restaurant-specific information.

The information in the Pocket Guide is simple and bulleted and mirrors the key information found in the corresponding Learner’s Guide. It is foldable to “pocket size” for portability and convenience and eliminates the need to print a complete Learner’s Guide for each team member.

The Team Member Pocket Guide is kept by each Learner and can be used both during the training and as a reference after the initial training has been completed.

TRAINING VIDEO

The training video is provided in DVD format. The DVD contains video segments pertaining to each of the 6 Pillars of Service Excellence. These video segments are designed to demonstrate clearly what successful performance of Service Excellence looks like.

The video segments are intended to be viewed by the Learner as training progresses. For example, before actually practicing the Service Excellence Warm Welcome, and as a supplement to the Trainer’s instruction, a Server would watch the “Pillar 1 - A Warm, Two-

Part Service Excellence Welcome” section of the video. As an alternative, the DVDs may be watched from start to finish, and then re-watched by segment to reinforce learning.

THE PASSPORT TO SERVICE EXCELLENCE

The Passport provides a fun and convenient document that contains a Team Member pledge and the practical exams for all Service Excellence roles. It is used to evaluate, record and celebrate each Learner’s progress, achievements and successes.

The Passport is introduced and explained to the new Team Member at the start of their training. At this time, the Learner will complete the first page of the Passport, taking “The IHOP Pledge”. They should be given an opportunity to view the practical exams inside the Passport to get an idea of how their learning progress will be measured.

The main function of the Passport is the practical application examinations. These exams are based on the competencies and skills the Team Member must master. In other words, you are evaluating the tasks they are required to perform in each of the Service Excellence roles, and the steps that make up those tasks. As a Learner completes their training for each role, the manager or *FOH Certified Trainer uses the Passport to evaluate the Learner’s ability to successfully demonstrate and perform what they


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have learned. (* see additional instructions under the SE 101 Passport Completion section at the end of this guide)

The Learner is asked to perform the role for which they just completed training while the evaluator observes.

When the Learner successfully performs or demonstrates the listed competency, skill or task correctly, the evaluator checks the box for that competency, skill or task.

If the Learner does not successfully perform or demonstrate one or more of the listed competencies, skills or tasks correctly, the evaluator does not check the box and additional training is provided to the Learner for that competency, skill or task.

If additional training was necessary and once it has been completed, the evaluator asks the Learner to once again perform the role for which they just completed training while the evaluator observes and re-assesses their performance.

Note: additional training and assessment does not all have to be done during the same training session or on the same day that the original practical exam was administered. The number of training hours and the days over which the Learner is trained and assessed should be performed at the appropriate pace for the Learner and according to their individual learning needs.

Once all of the boxes are checked by the evaluator, validating that all of the listed competencies, skills or tasks were demonstrated or performed correctly, the evaluator congratulates the Team Member on their successful completion of the module. Then, the Manager, Trainer and Team Member sign and date the Practical Exams. Once the exams are signed, the Team Member is considered to have completed their training and they are ready to deliver Service Excellence.

TRAINING TRACKING SHEET

Each team member’s completion of Service Excellence is to be recorded on the IHOP 101 Program Training Tracking Sheet. The updated spreadsheet is to be maintained and stored in the restaurant’s OAR Binder. Be sure to use the Training Tracking Sheet that has been updated to include Service Excellence training completion.


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Key Metrics Assessments

The Key Metrics Assessments have been developed as a tool to assist the Franchisee, as well as his or her management team, in measuring the rate of success in the key areas relevant to Service Excellence. When used correctly, these measurements can aid the management team in identifying potential areas of improvement within the operation. Additionally, accurate use of these sheets and can provide “instant” coaching opportunities for the management team as they observe their team members performing each of the outlined tasks.

WHEN TO USE

It is important that the Key Metrics Assessment Sheets be utilized during the initial pre-work of the restaurant implementation as well as during and after the actual Service Excellence “Go-Live”. Over a one week period of time, the expectation is that the Key Metrics Assessment Sheets be filled out during at least one weekday during the peak period on day shift, another during peak period on night shift, and another during peak period on late-night or “3rd shift”. Similarly, the expectation is that during that same week’s period of time, the Key Metrics Assessment Sheets be filled out during at least one weekend day during the peak period on day shift, another during peak period on night shift, and another during peak period on late-night or “3rd shift”. The sheets can be filled out by the Franchisee or his/her representative, by the Restaurant Manager or Assistant Manager, or can be completed by a Crew Chief, FOH Certified Trainer, or even other key team members once they have been provided the complete and proper training on how to perform and utilize the assessment.

HOW TO USE

The Key Metrics Assessment Sheets are relatively easy to use but will require some training, the use of keen observation skills, and a bit of time to complete accurately.

For each of the Service Excellence tasks outlined, the individual filling out the sheets will observe the required amount of tables, or interactions, or tasks and simply note if the task was performed correctly or incorrectly according to the Service Excellence standard.

For example, in the illustration below, the observer is measuring the number of times that the servers correctly perform the Service Excellence Warm Welcome. During the first observation, the server correctly performed the SE Warm Welcome, and therefore the top box on number 1 has been marked with an “X” to indicate that the task was performed in keeping with the SE standard. Similarly, during observations 2, 3, and 4, each of the servers that were being monitored performed the SE Warm Welcome accurately. However, during observation number 5, the server did not correctly deliver the SE


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Warm Welcome to the guest and therefore the “X” was placed in the lower box indicating “Not SE Warm Welcome”. Observations number 6 and 7 were performed correctly, however number 8 was not, and so on. The observer would continue until the full number of observations, in this case 10 in total, have been completed and the performance noted.

In the example above, the SE Warm Welcome was performed correctly in 8 out of the 10 observations and therefore we can measure the rate of accuracy to be 80% during this particular time period.

You will also note that there is a space to provide the specific time period measured; in the example above it was 12:00pm thru 12:35pm. The observer should note the beginning and ending times for the observation period when completing the sheets. There is also a space provided to record the “Total Number of Guests in a 30 Minute Window”. This information should be taken from the Micros ‘System Time Period Summary’ report and should reflect the 30-minute window that is closest to the time frame during which each metric was assessed.

In the example below, the person completing the assessment is measuring the Key Metric of “Unobtrusive Table Manicuring”. In this case, they are taking note during 25 interactions as to whether or not the Servers (and/or other Team Members) are removing items from the table, or manicuring, in an unobtrusive manner and without excessive interruption to the guests’ dining experience.

Once again, we can see that the person completing the assessment has observed that during interactions number 1 through 5, the Servers or other Team Members have correctly manicured items off of the guest’s table in an unobtrusive manner, and in keeping with Service Excellence standards, and therefore the top box was marked for each of these observations. However, during interactions number 6 and 7 either the manicuring was obtrusive, meaning it caused unnecessary interruption to the guest’s dining experience, or that manicuring did not occur at all and an opportunity to keep the guests dining area clean was overlooked. Therefore the bottom box was marked in numbers 6 and 7 to note that the SE Unobtrusive Manicuring standard was not upheld during these interactions.


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After completing all observations, in this case 25 in total, and noting whether or not the Service Excellence standards had been observed, it was determined that during the time period between 12:00pm and 12:20pm, while the restaurant was serving 37 guests in a 30 minute window, that Unobtrusive Manicuring occurred at a success rate of 80%.

Once the Key Metrics Assessment Sheets have been completed, the franchisee and his/her management team should utilize them to identify areas within the operation that may potentially need additional focus in terms of meeting the Service Excellence standards. Additionally, they should be used to recognize and reward positive performance among the Team Members and also to coach in other areas where performance might fall short of the goals.

Implementation Posters

The Service Excellence Implementation Posters are designed to be posted temporarily, through the three implementation stages, to serve as reminders of some of the key actions of Service Excellence. Post them after your Team Member Introduction to Service Excellence training meeting and keep them posted for 2 or more weeks after implementation.

The six posters included in your implementation kit are as follows:

• Table Release Standards

• Calling the Run

• Answering the run

• Full Hands In - Full Hands Out

• Check Back -> Check Down


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Service Excellence 101 Passport Completion

As with any other training of a new product, procedure, system, or program, it must be validated that each team member understands and can perform Service Excellence. Stage 3 Post-Implementation includes this validation using the Service Excellence 101 Passport.

The Service Excellence 101 Passport enables you to effectively evaluate each team member’s Service Excellence performance, to identify any additional training opportunities, provide that training as needed, and then once again re-evaluate and validate the team member’s abilities. You will notice that the Service Excellence Passport also includes existing Service as Good as Our Pancakes tasks and activities. As Service Excellence is an enhancement to Service as Good as Our Pancakes, and the two programs work together to deliver an exceptional dining experience to every guest, you will be evaluating performance of not only the new Service Excellence components, but performance of existing service standards and guidelines when completing the Service Excellence Passport. In other words, the Service Excellence 101 Passport practical examination measures the entire guest service experience.

To ensure that a Service Excellence Passport practical exam is administered to each team member in a timely fashion, it is good idea to share the load. As part of the restaurant’s initial Service Excellence Stage 3: Post-Implementation, your FOH Certified Trainers may assist in administration of the Service Excellence Passport practical exams (this does not apply for the standard IHOP 101 Passport which the restaurant manager is required to administer). Moving forward, beyond initial Service Excellence implementation, the restaurant manager must administer the Service Excellence Passport practical exams to any new team members according to the existing IHOP 101 Passport completion requirements.

In the weeks following implementation, the GM can first administer the Service Excellence Passport to the other management team members and the FOH Certified Trainers. Then, in turn, administration of Service Excellence Passports to the remaining individual team members can be assigned to them. You can use the worksheet below to assign administration of the Service Excellence Passports to individual team members.


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SERVICE EXCELLENCE 101 PASSPORT ADMINISTRATION PLAN WORKSHEET

General Manager Team Member Due Date Trainer 1: Trainer 2: Trainer 3: Trainer 4: Trainer 5: Trainer 6: Trainer 1: Trainer 2:

Team Member Due Date Team Member Due Date Trainer 3: Trainer 4:

Team Member Due Date Team Member Due Date Trainer 5: Trainer 6:

Team Member Due Date Team Member Due Date