My name’s Ryan Gromfin, I’m an author, speaker, restaurateur and I’m the founder of www.TheRestaurantBoss.com as well as www.RestaurantProfitandPerformance.com.

I can’t tell you how many times I hear from clients who tell me – my staff just doesn’t get it. They don’t get it.

And it doesn’t matter what that it is. I totally understand, I’ve been in your situation, I’ve had the staff that just don’t get my vision and my passion for the experience I’m trying to create for my guest, whether it be a five-star/five-diamond restaurant or a quick service greasy spoon burger restaurant in the mall.

I’ve worked in all of them and I’ve had this problem in all of them. So if you’re watching today, I get what you’re feeling.

I want to explain to you something that I call the 90% factor. This is a rule that I have that basically says that any message that you describe, any skill that you try to teach to a service or team member – they’re only going to absorb 90% of it. And so in this particular example, oftentimes the reason your staff doesn’t get it is because we’re either not onboarding them properly, not sharing our message with enough passion for them, or they haven’t experienced it. They haven’t truly experienced what we’re trying to convey to them, what we’re trying to get them to convey to the customer, to the guests.

I want you to think about that 90% factor for a second. I want you to think about the fact that if you are trying to create this experience, flavor of food or the style of service and it’s just not happening; if you’re telling your staff what you want and you’re doing it in a dull, drab and boring way over a meeting.

Let’s say that you’re giving 50% of the energy, they’re only going to take 90% of that, so they’re only going to take what? Is that like 42% of that or something? Who knows… but the point is, they’re only going to take a little bit. And then by the time they express that to their customers—to their guests? They’re only going to express about 90% of it as well. And then if they’re training someone else, they’re only going to express about 90% of it as well.

Which is why when I’m on these videos, I have to bring like 120% energy here. I have to use my hands, and I have to get excited and smile because the camera is taking 10% of my energy away. And then by you watching it you’re only going to absorb 90% of that in there by the time you tell your staff what I told you, 90%!

So the point is just forget about the numbers and the specifics. By the time my message gets through the camera to you and to your staff, they’re only taking out like 70%.

When you’re explaining things, when you’re onboarding your staff, when you’re training your staff, you have to make sure that whatever message you’re trying to convey, you’re doing it with 120% passion – with energy, with enthusiasm, with excitement to them. Because it’s going to happen, it’s gonna derogate, it’s going to slide down. So your message is going to be dull by the time it gets out there.

One of the best ways that we can get our message across is through experiences, did you notice when I said those three things earlier I talked about experiences? What I mean by that is you have to be very clear on what you want because you’ve had the experiences. You felt it on the other side.

But your staff doesn’t likely go out to eat at the same restaurants you do, they probably haven’t travelled as much as you do, they probably haven’t experience the world, or the country, or your area like you have. They probably haven’t experienced what you’re trying to convey.

So give them those experiences. If you can’t afford to send them to other restaurants, into your competitors, into other places in your area, then let them come into your restaurant.

I would always treat my staff to a dinner or lunch at our restaurant and when they were guests, they were truly a guest. They were truly treated the same as they would guest. They made reservations the same way so they felt what it felt like to be a guest. And let me tell you, I would love the conversations I had with them the day after their experience at a restaurant. Because they would point out the things that were great, but they would also say I really wish this was different and really wish that was different. And it was through that experience that they felt that.

So if you’re ever complaining or if you’re feeling like your staff just doesn’t get it, increase your level of energy. Increase your passion. Increase the way that you communicate. What it is that you want them to understand?

To them it starts at the onboarding process. It starts the minute you hire them. If you’re passing the baton to someone else and they’re trying to express things, this ain’t going to work.

You have to be in charge of the onboarding process. You have to walk your staff around the restaurant and exude the passion that you want them to carry on to the guests, then they can be trained in the tactical skills from someone else.

It continues on with the training. But most importantly let them feel it in their bodies, the experiences that you’re trying to create by either sending them out to other restaurants, or inviting them into your own.

I hope you enjoyed this week’s training. I hope this helps you have your staff get it a little bit more. And I look forward to seeing you again next week for another great training.