Never underestimate the skills that someone in the restaurant business possesses. These are skills that become embedded into your brain. You never lose them and you apply them to every aspect of your life; including any other job field you find yourself in. These skills have taught me how to help people and I use them every day at William Mattar Law Offices. Here are my top 4:
- People want you to listen to them. I mean REALLY listen to them. Some times it may just be for them to tell a little bit of their story. Other times, they want you to know that they are happy, upset, confused or annoyed. The less interested you seem, the more they will notice and feel unappreciated. Every customer should be appreciated and listened to. In return, you will build a relationship with this person and make your job a pleasurable experience.
- Multi tasking is everything. You cannot control the situations you are put in. Instead, you must learn to adjust to those situations and mentally put things into a checklist of importance. Your #1 priority is always the customer’s needs. What do you need to do right away to make them happy? After that, worry about your own duties. Knowing that you helped someone will put you at ease to finish any other task at hand.
- A lot. It’s contagious, uplifting and simple. I challenge you to try what I like to call “the grocery store experiment”. Next time you find yourself in a hectic grocery store after work with people pushing other people out of the way to get what they need and get out as quickly as possible- try smiling at as many people as you can. See what happens. That’s all I will say.
- Focus on your family. Your career is important but you need people to share that importance with. And a strong family bond helps to produce better teamwork with co workers as well as productivity and a true passion for what you are doing with your time Monday through Friday.