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Pacific Coast Hospitality

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What’s On Tap?

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Craft beer continues to be one of the hottest trends of 2016 within the restaurant industry. This has restaurant owners flocking to microbreweries local and global to take advantage of what’s offered. Once thought of as a man’s drink, women have taken a stake in the beer industry ensuring their popularity and preferred beers are made available too.

Millennials are keeping the craft beer industry in the rise, with a strong demand for authenticity, taste and a good story behind the origination of what they’re drinking when dining out.  It’s no secret, millennials loyally support businesses that make a difference.  Millennials like to feel unique, and drinking locally made, regional craft beer does just that.  Once they’ve found their favorite beers, they will return time and time again to drink it. When it’s on your restaurant’s menu, that means they’re ordering your food, because beer drinkers are often hungry too… can you hear the tab adding up yet??

Studies show that craft beer drinkers spend more money than traditional beer drinkers.  GuestMetrics shows, the average guest check that includes food and a craft beer drinker’s food and beverage check rings in at $86.00.
With the loyalty and increase in sales craft beer drinkers bring, what can you do to gain the advantages too?
Step up your drink menu! Offer small-batch beers from local brewers within your community and around the world.
Match your beer selection to the season… can we say pumpkin ale?
With your seasonal selection, offer some pairing on the menu matching what drinks best with what fare.
Bottom line: craft beer drinkers spend more money and are often more loyal customers. So, what are you waiting for?
Along with the rising trend of craft beer, PCH is part of the movement offering exciting careers with some of the west coast’s hottest crafts breweries.
Inquire today about our latest opening.

We're expanding… East!

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We’re expanding… East!
Beyond the sunny coast of California, the warm shores of Hawaii, the Emerald City of Seattle and everywhere in-between, Pacific Coast Hospitality is honored to be selected and retained by the prestigious Sun Valley Resort to locate the ideal candidate to fill their Food and Beverage Director position.  Often the setting of seasonal homes for the rich and famous, Sun Valley Resort is the largest, privately owned ski resort in America, catering to the most discerning of guests.
The seasons in Sun Valley may change, but one thing never does: The mountains come with a to-do list as tall as they are. Winter slopes and summer escapes, adrenaline junkies and those on a mission to find some peace, it’s all simple pleasures and luxurious indulgences.  Home of the first ski resort to build a chairlift, countless Winter Olympics medalists, and the largest automated snowmaking system in the world, the buzz of innovation and excellence is ever present.  Maybe it’s the 300 days a year of sunshine giving it the name “Sun Valley”, or the small town feel of Haley and Ketchum, an outdoor area of surplus options….no matter what brings guest to the mountains, alpine living and vacationing works up an appetite.
There’s no denying, the restaurant industry in Sun Valley is not missing a beat and we are proud to now be representing world class clients in this famous mountain resort mecca. With stores and restaurants all within walking distance, owned and operated by mostly locals, Sun Valley is filled with flavorful and unique dishes.  The dining scene serves up a diverse mix of saloon style rib-eyes with pride-of-Idaho potatoes, delicious Italian, Asian-fusion, contemporary comfort food or the mountain town staple beer and burger combo.
We’re proud to be trusted by companies both big and small and believe that our experience and unique recruiting process will deliver a matchless dependability for many in Sun Valley. We’re not the usual hospitality recruitment firm. We find people not typically found through traditional channels. As we know the market, make connections and serve our clients again and again, it’s time we expanded east, welcome to Sun Valley!

We’re expanding… East!

by

We’re expanding… East!
Beyond the sunny coast of California, the warm shores of Hawaii, the Emerald City of Seattle and everywhere in-between, Pacific Coast Hospitality is honored to be selected and retained by the prestigious Sun Valley Resort to locate the ideal candidate to fill their Food and Beverage Director position.  Often the setting of seasonal homes for the rich and famous, Sun Valley Resort is the largest, privately owned ski resort in America, catering to the most discerning of guests.
The seasons in Sun Valley may change, but one thing never does: The mountains come with a to-do list as tall as they are. Winter slopes and summer escapes, adrenaline junkies and those on a mission to find some peace, it’s all simple pleasures and luxurious indulgences.  Home of the first ski resort to build a chairlift, countless Winter Olympics medalists, and the largest automated snowmaking system in the world, the buzz of innovation and excellence is ever present.  Maybe it’s the 300 days a year of sunshine giving it the name “Sun Valley”, or the small town feel of Haley and Ketchum, an outdoor area of surplus options….no matter what brings guest to the mountains, alpine living and vacationing works up an appetite.
There’s no denying, the restaurant industry in Sun Valley is not missing a beat and we are proud to now be representing world class clients in this famous mountain resort mecca. With stores and restaurants all within walking distance, owned and operated by mostly locals, Sun Valley is filled with flavorful and unique dishes.  The dining scene serves up a diverse mix of saloon style rib-eyes with pride-of-Idaho potatoes, delicious Italian, Asian-fusion, contemporary comfort food or the mountain town staple beer and burger combo.
We’re proud to be trusted by companies both big and small and believe that our experience and unique recruiting process will deliver a matchless dependability for many in Sun Valley. We’re not the usual hospitality recruitment firm. We find people not typically found through traditional channels. As we know the market, make connections and serve our clients again and again, it’s time we expanded east, welcome to Sun Valley!

FOUR HABITS TO APPLY WHEN IT COMES TO GUEST SERVICE FEEDBACK

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With an increasing number of apps like Yelp, Yellow Pages and other review sites, guest service has lost any context for face to face transactions, and has more and more become a “spectator sport”.

When guests are unsatisfied, it’s no longer a private matter.  Outsiders are now witnesses to what once could have been a private matter, but now posted up across apps and other online mediums for all to see.

The transparency of the increasing online world provides both a challenge and an opportunity for restaurants alike.

To embrace the change implement these four guest service habits:

Habit: Follow up with all complaints.
Good or bad, get to replying on all online review mediums.  Every restaurant must commit to answering diner complaints wherever they appear, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Yelp, TripAdvisor other local review sites, discussion boards, and even new chat-based tools like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger.
Your guests are selling your brand, so make sure you thank them! Plus, for the reviews that are less than singing your praise, offering an apology and a bonus for giving your place another try… this will speak volumes to all the outsiders reading along.

Habit: Reply to all complaints and feedback quickly.
Did you know, 40 percent of consumers who complain on social media expect a response within one hour, according to Hug Your Haters data.

The guests who keep your business afloat want to hear from you! For many business owners, this may require assigning an online community manager to not only market your business, but to follow up with all comments and reviews left in a timely manner.

Habit: Keep it positive, Polly.
Let’s say, someone just blasted on your world renown menu items via social media… sure it might not seem fair for all onlookers to see such terrible feedback about the menu you’ve worked endlessly to perfect, but it’s their right.

Some will love what you offer and others will be haters. Here’s the bottom line, no matter how ugly, harsh and sometimes downright ridiculous these guest reviews may be, keep positive. Don’t take the criticism personally… acknowledge it and move on.

Habit: Know who complains.
Women complain about restaurants 62 percent more than do men, and women complain about restaurants more than about any other type of business, according to research fom Hug Your Haters.
Whether they are good, bad or crazy, the vast majority-95 percent-unhappy guests will never complain in a way the restaurant can find it. They may say something privately to their friends, but they won’t “raise their hand.” Take it from the facts, this means that the guests who do take the time to complain are doing restaurants an enormous favor by pointing out how the business can improve.
Embrace the feedback, make changes for the better and keep on!

KEY HIRING ESSENTIALS TO AVOIDING TURNOVER

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From what goes on the plates to who serves it, it all comes down to who you hire.  What are they like? How do they interact with the guest? What’s their reaction to conflict? One bad hire can infect and affect an entire staff and bring a line of issues for yourself and your guest.
Beyond a bad hire ruining a guest experience, the cost of a bad hire is high.  According to the Council of Hotel and Restaurant Trainers, the average cost wasted on a bad hire is $20,000 per manager and $2,225 per hourly employee. Let the numbers speak for themselves.
So before your cash goes down the drain and a bad reputation spreads from poor guest experiences, consider these 2 key hiring essentials – it might just save you both time and money!
Hire the candidates with a level of high engagement. 
What’s the employee’s engagement level? It’s a candidates market and individuals are looking for the greatest and newest opportunities consistently.  Beyond the hire that stands out on paper with the skills to perform well, who are the ones with a genuine interest in the food and beverage industry as a whole? They are the ones likely to be satisfied in your working environment and therefore a steady employee.
More than just engaged in the industry, hire the candidate with shown social engagement skills too.  When employees are socially engaged in their career, guests notice it too. So what’s “socially engaged” mean? We’re talking about the candidates who like to lend a helping hand to their fellow co-workers, find importance in celebrating accomplishments and are not out to just make a buck or two…We’re talking about the ones who speak with the guest dining and are eager to ensure their experience is the best and most welcoming possible. Whether you’re after a close knit family culture, a strong team emphasis or any other cultural work ideas, hire the candidates who have shown you the social skills to meet your goals.  Your guest and other employees will thank you for the engagement levels each new employee possesses.
Hire the candidate you have screened fully.
It’s the 21st century and that means a whole new world of opportunity to automate the age-old hiring process.
From online applications to personality test, take advantage of the tools available to help “do the legwork” for you to weed out the candidates who don’t make a qualified fit.  Find out more than just previous work history and education… discover their character and outlook on work with a variety of online questionnaire surveys.
There’s far more to screening a candidate for hire beyond a one-time face to face interview.  In fact, it’s the hires that you interview one time with just a paper application who are costing you the big bucks we call turnover.  One example to setting an automated screening process to help eliminate high turnover rates could include setting up online surveys for previous employers and references to reply with detailed information on each candidate’s performance.
There’s more to the age-old practice of hiring than ever before… what are you doing to make it not only hard for candidates to want to walk away from your company after their hire, but before even accepting the position to ensure you’ve got the right hire?

4 Ways to Improve Your Hospitality Hiring Process

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Hiring the right people and limiting employee turnover are two of the biggest challenges every hospitality manager faces. Bad hiring decisions can affect customer satisfaction, team morale, & increase turnover. Fortunately, making good hiring decisions will have the opposite effect. Use these 4 tips to be sure that you’re investing your time training people who plan to stick around and will be a positive addition to your team.

 

Cast a Wide Net: What’s the first step to be sure you attract the best candidates? Be sure they know about the opening. Don’t just post a position to your website & hope for the best. You want to get your job listing in front of as many job seekers as possible. Tell current employees, put notices where your target employees would see them, add the listing to online career boards in your area, and post on job boards specific to your industry like Hcareers.com. The more applications and resumes you receive, the better your chances of finding a stand out candidate.

 

 

Interview Each Candidate Consistently: Every candidate brings something different to the table. There are those with stellar resumes but a more reserved personality, and those who will walk into an interview & win you over with their confident demeanor before you even glance at their experience. It’s important to know exactly what qualifications are needed to effectively fill your opening & then interview each candidate consistently to find the best fit. Don’t let a big personality win you over without asking them the same questions as everyone else to be sure the skills are there as well.

 

Consider Your Current Staff: A team that works well together is the key to a successful business. You need to hire a team player who fits in with the way your current staff works. Be sure to ask questions in the interview about the candidate’s past team performance and be on the lookout for too many answers that begin with “I” rather than “we”.

 

 

Emphasize Long-Term Benefits: This is the best way to find employees who will stick around. Interviewing and training new employees takes time and costs your business money, so you want to be sure you’re investing in people who are in it for the long haul. But potential employees want to know what’s in it for them too. You should discuss benefits such as vacation time & health insurance. Great employees are also looking at long term goals, so consider implementing mentoring and professional education opportunities as well.

 

 

PUTTING “HOSPITALITY” BACK INTO THE RESTAURANT INDUSTRY

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Whether you own the finest dining in town or the cafe on the corner, what’s happened to hospitality in the restaurant industry?
True hospitality in a lot of cases is simply a lost art.  Not so long ago you would have been greeted at the door of anyplace, the gas station attendant would wash your windshield and the host would happily take your coat upon arrival for dinner.
For every owner, front of house host and server, we know what you see when dining out the good, bad and ugly of hospitality. So if it’s been seen, what’s the hold up to putting it in play on the job?
Perhaps the answer lies in the basics of hiring and what we do with new staff once we’ve hired them. Restaurants are very much transient employers. People come and go and, unfortunately, service is negatively affected by turnover. Unless you have figured out that regular and consistent training is the absolute foundation of your restaurant and your first priority, your guest experience will be inconsistent at best.
The key in hiring is to look for approach, attitude and true desire to serve over prior experience. If these core values are present and you take the time to develop and train your fledgling staff, your customers will notice and reward your restaurant with their business. Once you believe in and practice effective consistent training and recognize and reward your standouts, your restaurant will have a lasting powerful advantage over your competitors. This is a simple concept, yet too often overlooked with all the other important details in running restaurants.
Don’t let hospitality be a lost art in your restaurant. Develop a new game plan that begins with your staff understanding and practicing the nuances of what service really means and what your guest seeks. Train consistently, over deliver on each guest’s expectations and take pride in sustaining the magic.

PUTTING "HOSPITALITY" BACK INTO THE RESTAURANT INDUSTRY

by

Whether you own the finest dining in town or the cafe on the corner, what’s happened to hospitality in the restaurant industry?
True hospitality in a lot of cases is simply a lost art.  Not so long ago you would have been greeted at the door of anyplace, the gas station attendant would wash your windshield and the host would happily take your coat upon arrival for dinner.
For every owner, front of house host and server, we know what you see when dining out the good, bad and ugly of hospitality. So if it’s been seen, what’s the hold up to putting it in play on the job?
Perhaps the answer lies in the basics of hiring and what we do with new staff once we’ve hired them. Restaurants are very much transient employers. People come and go and, unfortunately, service is negatively affected by turnover. Unless you have figured out that regular and consistent training is the absolute foundation of your restaurant and your first priority, your guest experience will be inconsistent at best.
The key in hiring is to look for approach, attitude and true desire to serve over prior experience. If these core values are present and you take the time to develop and train your fledgling staff, your customers will notice and reward your restaurant with their business. Once you believe in and practice effective consistent training and recognize and reward your standouts, your restaurant will have a lasting powerful advantage over your competitors. This is a simple concept, yet too often overlooked with all the other important details in running restaurants.
Don’t let hospitality be a lost art in your restaurant. Develop a new game plan that begins with your staff understanding and practicing the nuances of what service really means and what your guest seeks. Train consistently, over deliver on each guest’s expectations and take pride in sustaining the magic.