Friday, January 10, 2025
Ok, so that sounds like a loaded statement, but when I get a new manager I ask them what those three things are. They always say something about staff and food, but this is different. The three things that you control are Music, Temperature, and Lighting. And they all play a huge part in the guest experience.
When we opened one of my restaurants, we had issues with the dimmer switches on the lighting system and so for the first three weeks that we were open, the lighting looked like Walmart. Bright and Florescent. Not the vibe that we wanted for a classy Jazz Club. We finally got it handled and the difference was amazing. But that’s only part of it. At my wine bar, we have everything on a dimmer, but it needs to be adjusted as the evening goes on. At lunch, it’s fine that it's bright along with the natural daylight, but in the evening we want that classy, sexy vibe of dimmed light. But if the manager is not paying attention, at nine PM it's still too bright in the dining room. The lighting sets the mood and the tone. If you have spent a lot of money on interior design, you want to show it off in the proper lighting. Our Jazz club has the little rechargeable flicker candles on the tables so the soft lighting makes the place even more attractive. Now, it’s not so dark that people need a flashlight, but dim enough to set a 1930s club mood. And my managers are constantly watching to make sure that the lighting is just right.
Now, if you have a pizza place, maybe lighting doesn’t make a lot of difference, but turning the lights down a little in the evening can enhance the experience and make the guests feel more comfortable.
Now, you would think that the Temperature part would be easy, but where I live it's 80 degrees one day and 60 degrees the next. I came in recently and we had a cold snap and the air conditioning was still on from three days before. When people are wearing their jackets at dinnertime…something is wrong. The weather changes and the guest will come in and complain that it’s not warm enough because they just came in from outside where it’s 40 degrees. That’s ok. Find a happy middle ground and be sure to adapt to the weather. It’s one of the things on our manager's checklist every day. Three things…first thing in the morning.
Finally, there is music. Wow, what a difference the correct music and volume can make. I returned to one of my restaurants recently and the bar and dining room were about ¾ full. The lighting was just right, the music was upbeat and loud enough to set the vibe, but not so loud that you couldn’t hear yourself. There was a really nice energy in the room and it was a function of the right lighting and the right choice of music. It is critical to have it part of the experience, but not a deterrent to guests enjoying themselves. Now, one of my restaurants has over $100,000 worth of specialty acoustics. In that space, the sound is always perfect. But other spaces have flat walls and surfaces that the sound bounces off of. If that is your situation, you might need to adjust the volume or add sound-reducing panels to help even things out. (by the way, we had high-quality photos of our food reproduced on sound panels so we are adding to the experience and helping control the noise) But, when we get a table that maybe is being a little loud, we turn the volume on the music down so they are not driving the overall noise level up.
In the Jazz Club, everything is run through an APP and so the manager out-front, can adjust the sound in the back without having to be in the room on their phone.
Finally, the choice of Music is also critical. We had a manager once who was into heavy metal and so they put a heavy metal channel on the music station. We discovered it and put an end to Def Leppard at Lunch. You need to read the crowd and have music that appeals to your core audience. We try to have preassigned playlists with a well-curated choice of artists. This appeals to the largest segment of our customer base. And as the evening moves on, we soften things a little and move beyond the livelier vibe of Happy Hour.
Finally, we have set stations that play. No longer are the managers or staff allowed to put Rap or Hip Hop on when we close and they are cleaning up. Because they don’t remember to change it back, we just told everyone to not touch that dial! I was working recently before we opened and became aware that the lyrics to a song that was playing were basically pornographic. Had I not been there and listening, who knows what our guests would have heard!
Take the time to look at and control those three things. It makes all of the difference.
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Father of Five , married to the love of his life for over 40 years and a business Card that reads; “The Idea Guy”, Steve lives in a world of creativity. He attended the University of Maryland where he majored in mass communications that help to fuel that creative streak. His Foray into Hospitality and his creative ideas and concepts has allowed him to have fun all of his professional career. He has owned five award winning restaurants and that has fueled his passion for “thinking out side of the box”. His restaurants have received accolades including “Top 100 in America” and Steve was named the State of Maryland’s “Restaurateur of the Year”. Steve has a passion for Philanthropy and his Restaurant Group has helped to raise over 7 Million Dollars for Charities. He is passionate about writing, public speaking and Maine Lobster with drawn butter.