November 13, 2025 • 19 mins
Restaurant value is not a price point. It is the experience. In this episode, Zack sits down with Jay Bandy, President at Goliath Consulting Group, to unpack what guests really buy and how teams can deliver it consistently. With nearly four decades in foodservice, Jay shares the practical foundations that still work: hire for warmth, train relentlessly, and build a culture guests can feel.
Zack and Jay discuss:
- Why value equals price plus experience
- Hiring signals that predict great front-of-house performance
- Training first, then hospitality
- Daily “drip” habits that shape culture
- Turning B players into A players through service vs. hospitality
Thanks, Jay!
Links:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaybandy/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/goliath-consulting-group/
https://jaybandy.com/
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Welcome to another edition of Give and Ovation, the
Restaurant Guest ExperiencePodcast.
I'm your host, Zach Goat.
Each week I chat with industryexperts to uncover their
strategies and tactics to helpyou create a five-star guest
experience.
This podcast is powered byOvation, the feedback and
operations platform built formulti-unit restaurants.
Learn what's actually happeningin your restaurant and exactly
(00:22):
how to improve while drivingrevenue.
Learn more at ovationup.com.
And today we have someone who isjust a legend in the industry,
someone who has been in thisspace for 39 years, almost 40
years, and just still crankingat it.
He was with Blimpy, he was withLee's, he's with McDonald's, and
(00:43):
now he is the president ofGoliath Consulting Group.
Jay Bandy, thank you for joiningus in Give Anovation.
How are you?
SPEAKER_01 (00:50):
Doing fine, Zach.
I appreciate you extending theinvite, and I'm glad to be here.
SPEAKER_00 (00:55):
So now obviously you've had quite an extensive
career in food and bev, but talkto me about Goliath.
What does Goliath ConsultingGroup do?
SPEAKER_01 (01:05):
We have three main things that we do.
We consult to restaurants acrossthe country.
Everything but tax accountingand legal advice, we do
everything else.
So we build restaurants, webuild brands, we help people
make more money, we consult onsupply chain strategy, you name
it, we consult to it.
(01:26):
And then we also have amanagement side to our business
that where we manage restaurantsfor ownership groups that don't
want to do the day-to-day.
And then the third part is wekind of do contract work, which
isn't necessarily consulting.
I run a restaurant group inGreenville, South Carolina,
where I'm at today.
(01:46):
I've got three restaurantsbuilt.
I've got a couple morerestaurants under construction.
The owners want somebody to runthe business.
So that's what I do for them.
So those are the three areaswhere we specialize.
Or don't specialize.
SPEAKER_00 (02:00):
So running them though, I mean, that's the big
handoff.
That's a lot of work rightthere.
SPEAKER_01 (02:05):
Yeah, it's a lot of faith as well to the ownership
that uh, you know, enlist me andmy team to run the restaurants.
But just based on the number ofyears that I've been in the
business and having runrestaurants for different people
over the course of that time, itreally helps me now of build a
team because I don't run therestaurants.
(02:27):
I lead the people that run therestaurants.
So that's the difference, right?
I try to find the best peoplethat can work with little de
minimal direction, but needleadership and need vision and
need the tools to do the jobs,and I let them do the work.
I love that.
SPEAKER_00 (02:44):
The adage of the right people in the right seats
is so oversed that it almostbecomes trite, but it's so true.
Like, you know, people say, Oh,the truth shall set you free,
right?
I mean, even Deion Sanderstalked about that in coaching uh
press conference the other day.
Like it's just one of thesethings that you throw out there,
but there's something aboutthese old adages that they stick
(03:06):
through the test of time becausethey've withstood the test of
time.
It's a foundation.
Yeah.
And one of the things I wantedto dive into with you was over
your career in F and B, whathave you seen either change or
stay the same when it comes towhat the guest really wants to
create?
What are the ingredients thatcreate a great guest experience?
SPEAKER_01 (03:28):
Yeah, I think that's definitely changed over the
years, right?
And now, even more so thanbefore, the guest is really
driven by the experience, right?
They want bartenders that reallyknow how to make drinks with a
little bit of flair.
They want an environment whichis conducive to their meal,
sometimes entertainment.
(03:49):
They want servers that aren'tfollowing the old TGI Fridays
kind of set spiel, but make itfeel personal and local.
And they also want to knowwhat's things on the menu were
put together with care, thatthere's some background and
history or localness to theingredients, etc.
(04:10):
So that's definitely changedover the years to become more
important as opposed to justprice and the basics.
Because what have you beenseeing in terms of price and
value?
Wow, value's a tough one.
It's interesting because there'sa lot of confusion in folks not
in the industry of what valuereally means.
(04:31):
Value is not the$5 meal atMcDonald's.
Value can be a$150 meal at RuthChris.
So, you know, the value equationhas to do with price, the
experience equals value, right?
So that's what the equation is.
(04:51):
And so you can go into myrestaurant here in Greenville,
DeMarco's Italian, you can spend$100.
It's the best meal you ever had,let's hope.
And you go, that was a greatvalue because down the street,
or in Vegas, or in New York orChicago, say a meal cost me$200.
SPEAKER_00 (05:10):
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (05:11):
Right?
And maybe not as good as anexperience, and that's what
creates value.
And so people get lost in, hey,I gotta offer my meal for$7.99
or$12.99 or whatever that numberis.
Price doesn't equal value.
The experience has such a bigpart of that.
SPEAKER_00 (05:29):
And you know what's fascinating is that our our data
shows, Jay, that the biggestcomplaints that we get about
value have a direct correlationto the biggest complaints about
service.
People go in having a very goodunderstanding of what the food
is going to be like.
And everybody goes inanticipating that the service is
(05:51):
going to be on par with theprice of the food.
The problem is when you go inthere and you get the exact food
that you ordered, the exact waythat you wanted, with the exact
service that you were expecting,guess what happens?
Very little.
Because that's what people arebuying.
Now, any one of those things,there's a thousand things that
(06:11):
could go wrong that turn thatfrom a five-star experience to a
one-star experience, right?
And that's where people go toshout.
And I think one of the thingsthat I've seen, I'm curious to
get your thoughts on this, isthere's so much more power now.
You've had this kind ofcompeting priorities of the
quality of service and peoplewho want to choose FB for a
career.
(06:32):
The quantity of those people aregoing down.
And so they everything's kind oflike a stopover.
They're stopping at McDonald'son their way to something else.
Sometimes they don't care asmuch, right?
Conversely, the guest has neverhad a bigger microphone to share
about their experience.
And so those are two verycompeting things that are making
it harder and harder.
(06:52):
So, what do restaurants donowadays, Jay?
Like, how do they improve theguest experience?
SPEAKER_01 (06:57):
It's, and again, it goes back to foundation, right?
It's training, number one,because you can hire great
people.
If you don't train them, you'renot going to get good results.
But number two is you have toreally be careful about who you
hire.
SPEAKER_00 (07:13):
What are the red flags there?
I totally agree with you.
But like, what can people do toprevent a bad hire?
SPEAKER_01 (07:19):
Yeah, the bad hires is you really have to understand
the behaviors that you'relooking for in the employee that
you're hiring.
So mine's really simple forfront of the house.
Do they smile?
Do they seem to conductthemselves and be able to
communicate in a positivemanner?
Can they carry a conversation?
Do they make eye contact?
Do they kind of not slouch overwhen they walk or move?
(07:42):
Do they move with some sort ofurgency?
And that's it.
So those are my big ones, right?
I start there.
Obviously, I'm going to askthem, can you show up to work on
time and some other things?
SPEAKER_00 (07:56):
When's the last time that you like hit someone with
your car?
Just like the basic stack,right?
It's like want to avoid that.
Maybe not a delivery driver foryou, but you got a great smile.
So Uber here and we'll put youin front of the house.
SPEAKER_01 (08:10):
Hey, so front of the house, that's it.
And I coach people all the timeon don't get hung up that
they've worked in thisrestaurant or that restaurant
and they know people.
Can they smile at you?
And is it comfortable andnatural?
Because I can teach almostanyone to do anything, but I
can't teach people to smile.
SPEAKER_00 (08:30):
I absolutely love that because when I think about
what does it take nowadays to bea great employee and to really
stand out, I think about thisgreat book behind me,
Unreasonable Hospitality.
And when I had Will Goodere onthe podcast, I think one of the
things that he shared that hetalks about in the book is like
just making it cool to care,helping people feel seen, feel
(08:52):
important, feel understood.
And like when you can providethat hospitality, wow, it
creates this emotional feelingof like, oh, I'm not just
customer number 75 for lunch,but like they gave me a little
extra fries.
And I know that is like huge forwhat it costs to what you get is
(09:12):
enormous.
So, what are some things interms of like when you talk
about some tactics?
Obviously, I think that we talkabout training, we talk about
the smiling.
Are there any other things thatyou've seen lately that have
really improved the guestexperience?
SPEAKER_01 (09:29):
It's fundamentals.
I don't know if there's neveranything new and shiny.
One big thing is if you wantyour guests to be nice to your
customers, if you want yourstaff to be nice to your
customers, right?
You have to be nice to yourstaff.
Oh.
And so, you know, it's creatingGo figure, huh?
(09:51):
And you know, I hear and seemanagers and owners and whoever
talk about their staff likethey're idiots.
Guess what?
You're gonna get idiots.
So one of the things I make apurpose of, especially talk to
my leaders in the restaurants,having the conversations with
them, talking to the managers.
(10:11):
How are they doing?
Do they feel good about what'sgoing on?
What can I do to help them?
And then also just help them seethe picture, right?
So I give them information thathelps make them a better
employee and potentially abetter person, right, at home
with their family, with theirspouse, with their children.
And it's creating culture.
And so there's been a lot oftalk about culture over the last
(10:34):
10 years or so.
It's always been a thing, it'sjust now a little more in the
forefront.
But if you create a culture withyour staff where they enjoy
coming to work, they are gonnasmile and they're gonna take
care of your guests.
And there's a lot that goes intothat.
There's lots of daily things youneed to do.
I just put out a uh blog lastmonth about called the drip.
(10:54):
And the drip is doing thingsdaily to improve your business,
your life, right?
And so you have to beintentional when you go in to
the restaurant to talk topeople, to see how they're
doing, to transfer some ideas tomake their life easier, to make
them better at their job, butyou have to do it every day.
SPEAKER_00 (11:13):
Well, and thinking about the power of those
consistent things, I thinkthere's one, you think about the
rock, and they show, I you know,I've I've been to a place where
I can't remember where this was,but they had these different
rocks, and they said this one is30 years, 40 years, 60 years, 70
(11:33):
years, and same-size rockdripping on it and just showing
how that changes and the powerof those little things.
And the guest notices a lot ofthose little things, Jay, right?
I mean, and those little thingsmatter because they're the
little things.
Because I could fake, hey, I'mso sorry, let me comp your meal.
(11:57):
But the genuineness of coming upand saying, like, you know,
putting the food down and thenbeing like, oh, I see that
you're, you know, going off offries, and because I got
McDonald's on the mind rightnow, it's like, these fries
don't look like they're veryfilled.
Let me be right back withanother box of fries for you,
right?
Like things like that, thatshows that they really care.
(12:19):
How do you train?
And and I'm I'm curious to hearif you've had a success story of
taking someone who was a Bplayer to an A player, because
usually what I find is that Cplayers are kind of stuck being
C players.
Unfortunately, they thinkthey're A players, that A
players are naturally alwaystrying to be A plus players, but
the vast majority are kind ofthese B players who might not
(12:42):
have the direction or might nothave the processes to push them
to be an A player.
Do you have any success storiesof pushing people who were might
have started off as B playersand getting them to be A
players?
SPEAKER_01 (12:53):
Well, it's really teams that I've done that with,
right?
Not individuals, but teams,restaurants that I've done that
with.
And it is, again, it's thatincremental helping them on a
daily basis, but alsounderstanding the difference
between service and hospitality.
So you go through steps ofservice, you greet the table, et
(13:14):
cetera.
What you were talking about amoment ago was hospitality.
Looks like your fries are alittle light.
Let me get you an extra box.
That's not service, that'shospitality.
And so once you get through thesteps of service and people are
comfortable with service, what Ido is I start talking about
hospitality.
Picking up the high chair andtaking it to the table for the
(13:36):
mother that's got two children.
And it goes on for days anddays.
All the little things that youcan do that show hospitality,
that's what the guest is lookingfor.
That's what completes theirexperience.
It's not the steps of service,you know.
Thank you, Mr.
Bandy, for coming in today.
Here's your bill.
(13:57):
It's hey, it was great to seeyou again today.
Can't wait till you come back.
How's your dog doing?
How's your wife doing?
Whatever that might be, right?
That's the difference betweensteps of service and
hospitality.
SPEAKER_00 (14:10):
Right?
It's like the service is theright food at the right time,
and hospitality is how they feelabout it.
Correct.
And I think that there's somany, it's so powerful to equip
your team with the ability toprovide hospitality.
But to your point, it's like,are we treating them with
hospitality?
(14:31):
And so, what are some thingsthat you found from a team
perspective that allows them tofeel like they matter, that
they're empowered to dosomething better?
SPEAKER_01 (14:40):
I've got a whole PowerPoint, a deck of
hospitality things from Disneyto the Ritz-Carlton, et cetera.
And so I kind of set the stagewith a lot of my staffs and let
them see how other companies dothat.
But you know, one of the thingsI really work on is
intercommunication between themanagers of the staff and the
staff and the staff, right?
(15:02):
Of how do you talk to eachother?
Are you polite?
Are you friendly, or do you barkat people, right?
So it sounds crazy, but startingwith that communication among
the staff and the management, ifthey all kind of follow the Ritz
Carlton, we're all ladies andgentlemen serving ladies and
gentlemen, and turn that into athing that Gen Z will
(15:24):
understand, is it creates again,it helps that culture of people
being kind to each other andbeing polite, and then that
transfers over to the guestexperience.
And so it is part of buildingculture with Ritz Carlton's done
a great job, Dizzy's done agreat job.
That's why I always use thosetwo companies when I talk about
(15:44):
hospitality and service.
SPEAKER_00 (15:46):
Yeah, and I think that they really have nailed it
in so many ways, and I and Ihope that they don't lose that
magic.
Because I mean, lately I'veheard a couple of stories of
both places that are starting tocrack it around the edge.
Like someone was telling meabout how a cast member at
Disney World broke character andwas like, like, oh my gosh, like
this has been so annoying thatDisney's making us do this.
(16:08):
And it's like, wait a second,hey, I'm I'm in a magical place
here.
Like, don't break this fourthwall, you know what I mean?
But it stood out to them so muchthat they literally wrote a
letter to Disney because theywere like, hey, you got to make
sure that your people still arecaring and are providing that
Disney magic because you neverknow whose first time it is,
right?
(16:29):
Exactly.
Exactly.
Now, Jay, you've been in theindustry for a while, you've had
an incredible career, stillhaving an incredible career.
Who is someone that deserves anovation?
Who is someone that we should befollowing?
SPEAKER_01 (16:41):
Well, the obvious one is obviously Danny Meyer.
I met Danny Meyer early, earlyin my career, and still a person
I follow.
I met Danny when I was probably24 years old.
So it's been a while ago.
But definitely there's been anumber of folks, you know, over
the course of the years, butthat he's the one that really
stands out.
Even some of the vendors, likeLou Schwartz, I worked with with
(17:03):
Schwartz Picklaw, Chicago foryears.
He was just a real steward ofthe business, and he introduced
me to a lot of people back inthe day.
Yeah, and it's you just rememberthose experiences and how they
related to restaurant owners orguests.
And again, but yeah, Danny Myersdefinitely.
I've got more of his books thananyone else.
SPEAKER_00 (17:24):
I mean, what an incredible guy.
I mean, he has reshaped theentire FB industry, and so very
well deserved.
Now, Jay, how do people find andfollow you and your brand?
SPEAKER_01 (17:36):
Gladconsulting.com is one, and then I'm on
Instagram at restaurantsjb.
And also easy to find me onLinkedIn.
I post a lot of stuff onLinkedIn, just LinkedIn.
Jay Bandy's my handle onLinkedIn.
So easy to find me.
And then websites got all myinformation, phone number, email
(17:57):
address.
Easy to find me if you do asearch.
It's Jay Bandy, the consultant.
Jay Bandy, the rugby player.
We kind of dominate the firstfew Google pages.
SPEAKER_00 (18:07):
Well, I mean, I gotta say, man, you've got a
movie star name and a movie starcareer.
I mean, it's just uh it's reallygood.
Jay Bandy just seems like youshould have some kind of like
spy gadgets in your pocket orsomething.
Like you're ready to go.
I just have a pocket mic.
Oh, there you go.
I mean, count it.
We'll count it.
Count it.
Well, Jay, for giving us 14minutes spoonful from a 40-year
(18:29):
ocean of experience.
Today's ovation goes to you.
Thank you for joining us onGiven Ovation.
Zach, it's great to meet you.
Thank you so much.
Thanks for joining us today.
If you like this episode, leaveus a review on Apple Podcasts or
your favorite place to listen.
We're all about feedback here.
Again, this episode wassponsored by Ovation, a two
(18:49):
question SMS based actionableguest feedback platform built
for multi unit restaurants.
If you'd like to learn how wecan help you measure and create
a better guest experience, visitus at ovationup.com.
Welcome to another edition of Give and Ovation, the
Restaurant Guest ExperiencePodcast.
I'm your host, Zach Goat.
Each week I chat with industryexperts to uncover their
strategies and tactics to helpyou create a five-star guest
experience.
This podcast is powered byOvation, the feedback and
operations platform built formulti-unit restaurants.
Learn what's actually happeningin your restaurant and exactly
(00:22):
how to improve while drivingrevenue.
Learn more at ovationup.com.
And today we have someone who isjust a legend in the industry,
someone who has been in thisspace for 39 years, almost 40
years, and just still crankingat it.
He was with Blimpy, he was withLee's, he's with McDonald's, and
(00:43):
now he is the president ofGoliath Consulting Group.
Jay Bandy, thank you for joiningus in Give Anovation.
How are you?
SPEAKER_01 (00:50):
Doing fine, Zach.
I appreciate you extending theinvite, and I'm glad to be here.
SPEAKER_00 (00:55):
So now obviously you've had quite an extensive
career in food and bev, but talkto me about Goliath.
What does Goliath ConsultingGroup do?
SPEAKER_01 (01:05):
We have three main things that we do.
We consult to restaurants acrossthe country.
Everything but tax accountingand legal advice, we do
everything else.
So we build restaurants, webuild brands, we help people
make more money, we consult onsupply chain strategy, you name
it, we consult to it.
(01:26):
And then we also have amanagement side to our business
that where we manage restaurantsfor ownership groups that don't
want to do the day-to-day.
And then the third part is wekind of do contract work, which
isn't necessarily consulting.
I run a restaurant group inGreenville, South Carolina,
where I'm at today.
(01:46):
I've got three restaurantsbuilt.
I've got a couple morerestaurants under construction.
The owners want somebody to runthe business.
So that's what I do for them.
So those are the three areaswhere we specialize.
Or don't specialize.
SPEAKER_00 (02:00):
So running them though, I mean, that's the big
handoff.
That's a lot of work rightthere.
SPEAKER_01 (02:05):
Yeah, it's a lot of faith as well to the ownership
that uh, you know, enlist me andmy team to run the restaurants.
But just based on the number ofyears that I've been in the
business and having runrestaurants for different people
over the course of that time, itreally helps me now of build a
team because I don't run therestaurants.
(02:27):
I lead the people that run therestaurants.
So that's the difference, right?
I try to find the best peoplethat can work with little de
minimal direction, but needleadership and need vision and
need the tools to do the jobs,and I let them do the work.
I love that.
SPEAKER_00 (02:44):
The adage of the right people in the right seats
is so oversed that it almostbecomes trite, but it's so true.
Like, you know, people say, Oh,the truth shall set you free,
right?
I mean, even Deion Sanderstalked about that in coaching uh
press conference the other day.
Like it's just one of thesethings that you throw out there,
but there's something aboutthese old adages that they stick
(03:06):
through the test of time becausethey've withstood the test of
time.
It's a foundation.
Yeah.
And one of the things I wantedto dive into with you was over
your career in F and B, whathave you seen either change or
stay the same when it comes towhat the guest really wants to
create?
What are the ingredients thatcreate a great guest experience?
SPEAKER_01 (03:28):
Yeah, I think that's definitely changed over the
years, right?
And now, even more so thanbefore, the guest is really
driven by the experience, right?
They want bartenders that reallyknow how to make drinks with a
little bit of flair.
They want an environment whichis conducive to their meal,
sometimes entertainment.
(03:49):
They want servers that aren'tfollowing the old TGI Fridays
kind of set spiel, but make itfeel personal and local.
And they also want to knowwhat's things on the menu were
put together with care, thatthere's some background and
history or localness to theingredients, etc.
(04:10):
So that's definitely changedover the years to become more
important as opposed to justprice and the basics.
Because what have you beenseeing in terms of price and
value?
Wow, value's a tough one.
It's interesting because there'sa lot of confusion in folks not
in the industry of what valuereally means.
(04:31):
Value is not the$5 meal atMcDonald's.
Value can be a$150 meal at RuthChris.
So, you know, the value equationhas to do with price, the
experience equals value, right?
So that's what the equation is.
(04:51):
And so you can go into myrestaurant here in Greenville,
DeMarco's Italian, you can spend$100.
It's the best meal you ever had,let's hope.
And you go, that was a greatvalue because down the street,
or in Vegas, or in New York orChicago, say a meal cost me$200.
SPEAKER_00 (05:10):
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (05:11):
Right?
And maybe not as good as anexperience, and that's what
creates value.
And so people get lost in, hey,I gotta offer my meal for$7.99
or$12.99 or whatever that numberis.
Price doesn't equal value.
The experience has such a bigpart of that.
SPEAKER_00 (05:29):
And you know what's fascinating is that our our data
shows, Jay, that the biggestcomplaints that we get about
value have a direct correlationto the biggest complaints about
service.
People go in having a very goodunderstanding of what the food
is going to be like.
And everybody goes inanticipating that the service is
(05:51):
going to be on par with theprice of the food.
The problem is when you go inthere and you get the exact food
that you ordered, the exact waythat you wanted, with the exact
service that you were expecting,guess what happens?
Very little.
Because that's what people arebuying.
Now, any one of those things,there's a thousand things that
(06:11):
could go wrong that turn thatfrom a five-star experience to a
one-star experience, right?
And that's where people go toshout.
And I think one of the thingsthat I've seen, I'm curious to
get your thoughts on this, isthere's so much more power now.
You've had this kind ofcompeting priorities of the
quality of service and peoplewho want to choose FB for a
career.
(06:32):
The quantity of those people aregoing down.
And so they everything's kind oflike a stopover.
They're stopping at McDonald'son their way to something else.
Sometimes they don't care asmuch, right?
Conversely, the guest has neverhad a bigger microphone to share
about their experience.
And so those are two verycompeting things that are making
it harder and harder.
(06:52):
So, what do restaurants donowadays, Jay?
Like, how do they improve theguest experience?
SPEAKER_01 (06:57):
It's, and again, it goes back to foundation, right?
It's training, number one,because you can hire great
people.
If you don't train them, you'renot going to get good results.
But number two is you have toreally be careful about who you
hire.
SPEAKER_00 (07:13):
What are the red flags there?
I totally agree with you.
But like, what can people do toprevent a bad hire?
SPEAKER_01 (07:19):
Yeah, the bad hires is you really have to understand
the behaviors that you'relooking for in the employee that
you're hiring.
So mine's really simple forfront of the house.
Do they smile?
Do they seem to conductthemselves and be able to
communicate in a positivemanner?
Can they carry a conversation?
Do they make eye contact?
Do they kind of not slouch overwhen they walk or move?
(07:42):
Do they move with some sort ofurgency?
And that's it.
So those are my big ones, right?
I start there.
Obviously, I'm going to askthem, can you show up to work on
time and some other things?
SPEAKER_00 (07:56):
When's the last time that you like hit someone with
your car?
Just like the basic stack,right?
It's like want to avoid that.
Maybe not a delivery driver foryou, but you got a great smile.
So Uber here and we'll put youin front of the house.
SPEAKER_01 (08:10):
Hey, so front of the house, that's it.
And I coach people all the timeon don't get hung up that
they've worked in thisrestaurant or that restaurant
and they know people.
Can they smile at you?
And is it comfortable andnatural?
Because I can teach almostanyone to do anything, but I
can't teach people to smile.
SPEAKER_00 (08:30):
I absolutely love that because when I think about
what does it take nowadays to bea great employee and to really
stand out, I think about thisgreat book behind me,
Unreasonable Hospitality.
And when I had Will Goodere onthe podcast, I think one of the
things that he shared that hetalks about in the book is like
just making it cool to care,helping people feel seen, feel
(08:52):
important, feel understood.
And like when you can providethat hospitality, wow, it
creates this emotional feelingof like, oh, I'm not just
customer number 75 for lunch,but like they gave me a little
extra fries.
And I know that is like huge forwhat it costs to what you get is
(09:12):
enormous.
So, what are some things interms of like when you talk
about some tactics?
Obviously, I think that we talkabout training, we talk about
the smiling.
Are there any other things thatyou've seen lately that have
really improved the guestexperience?
SPEAKER_01 (09:29):
It's fundamentals.
I don't know if there's neveranything new and shiny.
One big thing is if you wantyour guests to be nice to your
customers, if you want yourstaff to be nice to your
customers, right?
You have to be nice to yourstaff.
Oh.
And so, you know, it's creatingGo figure, huh?
(09:51):
And you know, I hear and seemanagers and owners and whoever
talk about their staff likethey're idiots.
Guess what?
You're gonna get idiots.
So one of the things I make apurpose of, especially talk to
my leaders in the restaurants,having the conversations with
them, talking to the managers.
(10:11):
How are they doing?
Do they feel good about what'sgoing on?
What can I do to help them?
And then also just help them seethe picture, right?
So I give them information thathelps make them a better
employee and potentially abetter person, right, at home
with their family, with theirspouse, with their children.
And it's creating culture.
And so there's been a lot oftalk about culture over the last
(10:34):
10 years or so.
It's always been a thing, it'sjust now a little more in the
forefront.
But if you create a culture withyour staff where they enjoy
coming to work, they are gonnasmile and they're gonna take
care of your guests.
And there's a lot that goes intothat.
There's lots of daily things youneed to do.
I just put out a uh blog lastmonth about called the drip.
(10:54):
And the drip is doing thingsdaily to improve your business,
your life, right?
And so you have to beintentional when you go in to
the restaurant to talk topeople, to see how they're
doing, to transfer some ideas tomake their life easier, to make
them better at their job, butyou have to do it every day.
SPEAKER_00 (11:13):
Well, and thinking about the power of those
consistent things, I thinkthere's one, you think about the
rock, and they show, I you know,I've I've been to a place where
I can't remember where this was,but they had these different
rocks, and they said this one is30 years, 40 years, 60 years, 70
(11:33):
years, and same-size rockdripping on it and just showing
how that changes and the powerof those little things.
And the guest notices a lot ofthose little things, Jay, right?
I mean, and those little thingsmatter because they're the
little things.
Because I could fake, hey, I'mso sorry, let me comp your meal.
(11:57):
But the genuineness of coming upand saying, like, you know,
putting the food down and thenbeing like, oh, I see that
you're, you know, going off offries, and because I got
McDonald's on the mind rightnow, it's like, these fries
don't look like they're veryfilled.
Let me be right back withanother box of fries for you,
right?
Like things like that, thatshows that they really care.
(12:19):
How do you train?
And and I'm I'm curious to hearif you've had a success story of
taking someone who was a Bplayer to an A player, because
usually what I find is that Cplayers are kind of stuck being
C players.
Unfortunately, they thinkthey're A players, that A
players are naturally alwaystrying to be A plus players, but
the vast majority are kind ofthese B players who might not
(12:42):
have the direction or might nothave the processes to push them
to be an A player.
Do you have any success storiesof pushing people who were might
have started off as B playersand getting them to be A
players?
SPEAKER_01 (12:53):
Well, it's really teams that I've done that with,
right?
Not individuals, but teams,restaurants that I've done that
with.
And it is, again, it's thatincremental helping them on a
daily basis, but alsounderstanding the difference
between service and hospitality.
So you go through steps ofservice, you greet the table, et
(13:14):
cetera.
What you were talking about amoment ago was hospitality.
Looks like your fries are alittle light.
Let me get you an extra box.
That's not service, that'shospitality.
And so once you get through thesteps of service and people are
comfortable with service, what Ido is I start talking about
hospitality.
Picking up the high chair andtaking it to the table for the
(13:36):
mother that's got two children.
And it goes on for days anddays.
All the little things that youcan do that show hospitality,
that's what the guest is lookingfor.
That's what completes theirexperience.
It's not the steps of service,you know.
Thank you, Mr.
Bandy, for coming in today.
Here's your bill.
(13:57):
It's hey, it was great to seeyou again today.
Can't wait till you come back.
How's your dog doing?
How's your wife doing?
Whatever that might be, right?
That's the difference betweensteps of service and
hospitality.
SPEAKER_00 (14:10):
Right?
It's like the service is theright food at the right time,
and hospitality is how they feelabout it.
Correct.
And I think that there's somany, it's so powerful to equip
your team with the ability toprovide hospitality.
But to your point, it's like,are we treating them with
hospitality?
(14:31):
And so, what are some thingsthat you found from a team
perspective that allows them tofeel like they matter, that
they're empowered to dosomething better?
SPEAKER_01 (14:40):
I've got a whole PowerPoint, a deck of
hospitality things from Disneyto the Ritz-Carlton, et cetera.
And so I kind of set the stagewith a lot of my staffs and let
them see how other companies dothat.
But you know, one of the thingsI really work on is
intercommunication between themanagers of the staff and the
staff and the staff, right?
(15:02):
Of how do you talk to eachother?
Are you polite?
Are you friendly, or do you barkat people, right?
So it sounds crazy, but startingwith that communication among
the staff and the management, ifthey all kind of follow the Ritz
Carlton, we're all ladies andgentlemen serving ladies and
gentlemen, and turn that into athing that Gen Z will
(15:24):
understand, is it creates again,it helps that culture of people
being kind to each other andbeing polite, and then that
transfers over to the guestexperience.
And so it is part of buildingculture with Ritz Carlton's done
a great job, Dizzy's done agreat job.
That's why I always use thosetwo companies when I talk about
(15:44):
hospitality and service.
SPEAKER_00 (15:46):
Yeah, and I think that they really have nailed it
in so many ways, and I and Ihope that they don't lose that
magic.
Because I mean, lately I'veheard a couple of stories of
both places that are starting tocrack it around the edge.
Like someone was telling meabout how a cast member at
Disney World broke character andwas like, like, oh my gosh, like
this has been so annoying thatDisney's making us do this.
(16:08):
And it's like, wait a second,hey, I'm I'm in a magical place
here.
Like, don't break this fourthwall, you know what I mean?
But it stood out to them so muchthat they literally wrote a
letter to Disney because theywere like, hey, you got to make
sure that your people still arecaring and are providing that
Disney magic because you neverknow whose first time it is,
right?
(16:29):
Exactly.
Exactly.
Now, Jay, you've been in theindustry for a while, you've had
an incredible career, stillhaving an incredible career.
Who is someone that deserves anovation?
Who is someone that we should befollowing?
SPEAKER_01 (16:41):
Well, the obvious one is obviously Danny Meyer.
I met Danny Meyer early, earlyin my career, and still a person
I follow.
I met Danny when I was probably24 years old.
So it's been a while ago.
But definitely there's been anumber of folks, you know, over
the course of the years, butthat he's the one that really
stands out.
Even some of the vendors, likeLou Schwartz, I worked with with
(17:03):
Schwartz Picklaw, Chicago foryears.
He was just a real steward ofthe business, and he introduced
me to a lot of people back inthe day.
Yeah, and it's you just rememberthose experiences and how they
related to restaurant owners orguests.
And again, but yeah, Danny Myersdefinitely.
I've got more of his books thananyone else.
SPEAKER_00 (17:24):
I mean, what an incredible guy.
I mean, he has reshaped theentire FB industry, and so very
well deserved.
Now, Jay, how do people find andfollow you and your brand?
SPEAKER_01 (17:36):
Gladconsulting.com is one, and then I'm on
Instagram at restaurantsjb.
And also easy to find me onLinkedIn.
I post a lot of stuff onLinkedIn, just LinkedIn.
Jay Bandy's my handle onLinkedIn.
So easy to find me.
And then websites got all myinformation, phone number, email
(17:57):
address.
Easy to find me if you do asearch.
It's Jay Bandy, the consultant.
Jay Bandy, the rugby player.
We kind of dominate the firstfew Google pages.
SPEAKER_00 (18:07):
Well, I mean, I gotta say, man, you've got a
movie star name and a movie starcareer.
I mean, it's just uh it's reallygood.
Jay Bandy just seems like youshould have some kind of like
spy gadgets in your pocket orsomething.
Like you're ready to go.
I just have a pocket mic.
Oh, there you go.
I mean, count it.
We'll count it.
Count it.
Well, Jay, for giving us 14minutes spoonful from a 40-year
(18:29):
ocean of experience.
Today's ovation goes to you.
Thank you for joining us onGiven Ovation.
Zach, it's great to meet you.
Thank you so much.
Thanks for joining us today.
If you like this episode, leaveus a review on Apple Podcasts or
your favorite place to listen.
We're all about feedback here.
Again, this episode wassponsored by Ovation, a two
(18:49):
question SMS based actionableguest feedback platform built
for multi unit restaurants.
If you'd like to learn how wecan help you measure and create
a better guest experience, visitus at ovationup.com.
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