Throughout Corporate Executive Chef Sam Austin’s 15-year tenure in senior living foodservice, he has taken the time to sit with residents during meals to ask their unflinching opinion in an effort to continually improve service. It may not be as easy an undertaking as it sounds because you’re on the hook to follow through, Austin says.
“You have to listen and act,” he says. “You can’t just give them lip service. I’ve been in senior dining for 15 years and I think that’s one of the biggest mistakes that people make.”
Below he outlines the steps he takes to stay responsive to customer requests.
Make yourself available
When getting feedback, Austin prefers face-to-face conversation. On a regular basis, Austin makes a point to visit residents at one of his facility’s dining rooms during a meal service. When the feedback that he receives is negative, he listens to what the resident has to say and doesn’t make excuses. When he can find a solution on the spot, it can lead to stronger customer satisfaction, he says. “Often times, if you can fix a problem right then, it doesn’t go any further,” he says.
Stay flexible on menus
Austin often receives specific menu requests from residents and keeps his menu planning and purchasing fluid enough to accommodate residents with a fast turnaround. For example, when a resident told Austin that she loved barbecued beef, he added it to the menu the following week. He is able to respond to requests quickly because he plans out the menus on a weekly basis and can easily swap a cut of pork for a cut of beef. When the barbecued beef was served on the dinner menu, the resident was ecstatic, Austin says. “Keeping them happy and giving them what they want just makes my life easier,” he says.
Lead by example
Austin adheres to the theory that the best way to get good service from employees is by setting an example. When a resident mentioned that her favorite tea is often out of stock, he special ordered a case and gave her a box to keep in her apartment. “When the staff sees you do that, they buy into it,” he says. “That’s one of the biggest things that I work on is the culture of the staff. You have to teach that culture of giving, listening and try to make [residents] satisfied.”