Good service - learning the art of listening

David Leach is the restaurant manager of the Fountain at Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire. He's been in the catering industry for 20 years and has very firm views on what makes for good service.

According to David, the two things front of house staff must have is a smile and the ability to listen to everything the customer says and wants.

"The reason that most customers are disappointed is largely due to people not listening - either at management level and

therefore not providing what the customer wants, or by staff not listening to what the customer has to say, which results in confused service," he says.

"The most important thing any member of staff can do when dealing with a complaint is listen, find out exactly what's wrong and then put it right. Always keep them informed and always tell the customer what's going on: 99 times out of 100, they'll be perfectly understanding if you explain what's happened.

"If, however, their food takes half-an-hour and they haven't been informed, they would be justified in getting upset."

So how does David motivate his staff, many of whom are young and new to the job?

"Keep them smiling, keep them happy, set them little challenges, give them little incentives. For example, sometimes the person who sells the most bottles of wine in one evening will take a bottle home for themselves. People like little incentives.

"The most important thing about training is checking that people understand what you're telling them, and why you do a certain thing a certain way. It helps them understand it and they respond by doing a better job."