Less Restaurant Consumers in 2008

After the stock market tanked in October, 2008, Colorado Springs restaurants were ghost towns for awhile.  We stopped eating out as much, which is better for our waistlines anyway, and apparently a lot of other people decided also that eating at home saved money.  I’m sure it was a very scary time for restaurant owners as they tried to keep their employees working with virtually empty dining rooms.  The good news was that when you went out to eat, you were seated right away, but at a huge cost to the local economy. 

Do You Think Service Has Improved?

Now, it is June, 2010, and when we do go out to eat we see more people in the restaurants, but I don’t think it’s at the same level it was during the summer of 2008.  I know we personally have cut down on how often we eat out and we made that decision first in an effort to eat healthier and also to save more money as we build our assets to get to retirement.  The thing we have noticed is that restaurants also seem to be appreciating their clientele more.  Service is much better in general than it was 2 years ago.  I don’t think we are the only ones not eating out as often so restaurants are competing for less customers.  If we get bad service we will think twice about going back.  If we get great service, we notice, and appreciate the effort of the servers and the training they are obviously getting to help them serve customers better.

Let’s Keep Good Service Going

When the economy is roaring, all boats float.  But when times get tough, you get to see who is left standing - those who understand what business is about and understand the value of their customers.  We aren’t past seeing changes yet.  In the long run, everyone will have a new perspective of what is important in life and I think we’ll be better for it.  Restaurants are not the only businesses affected by less business.  The real estate industry has definitely lost a lot of jobs.  We are seeing tightening across most industry segments.  As things improve and people “go back to normal”, I don’t think normal will be the same as it was 3 years ago.  We can all hope the lessons of providing good service continue to be kept top of mind.

Here’s a neat tool to help you get a REAL person when you call companies trying to avoid talking to you.  Now instead of just repeatedly hitting zero like I usually do, you’ll know what to do.  After all, it costs money to provide customer service and heaven forbid companies putting that in their operating budget.  I found one on the list that I need!  I’m sure you will too.  Click here.