Why We 💜The Hospitality First Service Awards

This week marks the first anniversary of the Hospitality First Service Awards. We started this program as a way to recognize the critical role servers play. In virtually every scenario, a server can make or break your hospitality experience. Whether it's a warm smile, an attentive table touch at just the right time, or simply answering a question about how a dish is prepared, servers can make a world of difference to how you experience a venue. That’s why we wanted to create a program to honor the best. We also had a few things to explain: 

1. How technology like GoTab enhances the guest's service experience?
2. How does the server's role evolve in a GoTab venue, where our technology puts the guest at the center of the experience, rather than the point-of-sale system?
3. How servers actually feel about using technology in a more immersive way at the front-of-house.

As we enter this second year, the awards have become one of our workday happy places. Each week we get to hear directly from some of the hardest working people in our economy. They get to tell us about how our tech is helping them be successful at their jobs. In return, we get to honor them with a cash award and a platform that showcases their expertise. Even better, we get to deposit some unexpected cash in a hard working server’s Venmo each week.

Providing An Authentic Human Touch

We never know what a winner looks like when we make the award. But just look at these beautiful faces! Just like our operators all around the country, they represent all ages and stages, and deliver on that human connection we’ve all been craving these past few years.

Their submissions represent some of the authentic struggles our operators face each day. But just as they have done over so many ups and downs in the industry, these winners have persevered.

Lola goes above and beyond for our guests. She takes her time and walks the guest through phone ordering but also always has a tablet with her to help assist even further if needed!

Mandahk aka"MJ", is always top of sales, customers flock to her when she is at register just to hear her voice and receive a smile. MJ adapted extremely fast to GoTab, while we spent hours and days training ourselves, MJ instantly adapted to the new GoTab system and had no issues jumping in to learn or help. We are so lucky to have her on our team! Please consider her for the prize, since she is a prize to have on our staff! 

Angela Ritter has gone to great lengths to provide the best service, keeping things very friendly and affordable, to all our guests. She has also invested significantly in helping develop some staff members who are 'non-traditional' and would not normally be a great fit for our type of business, but she helps them learn and shine. Tireless and devoted. Rushes in a theater can be very demanding (pre-show opening, intermission, etc.), and some of the special events we host have had some big challenges from guests and hosts. Angela has been professional and personal, helping everyone have a memorable time at our venue while also going above and beyond (often quietly and unnoticed) to make sure things run smoothly and that everything happens with great quality.

She is able to check and double check our guest order. She greets them by name when they arrive. If there are ever any questions she calls them to find out. She does a great job anticipating guests' needs knowing what they ordered then having it ready for them when they arrive. If they order fries or burgers she makes sure they have condiments and the like just in case they are not home. She realizes that guests do not like to waste product so not having anything in there is both beneficial for the guest and for the company.

Lynn totally takes on being the best guide for how to use GoTab with all of our guests experiencing GoTab for the first time! She’s taken on the role of being our go to GoTab person in the FOH for all guests & coworker questions! She’s figured out how to make someone feel comfortable using GoTab even if they were apprehensive at first!

Just this week during a staff meeting I had Lynn present on best practice in using the GoTab experience to increase service standards. She has been a champion of the benefits to both our guests and business in increasing sales, increasing guest satisfaction and effectively comforting guests who are reluctant to use the QR system, either by helping them get started or simply offering to take their order personally. She knows how to read her tables and ensure everyone has a great experience from the time they sit down until the time they depart. She explained to our staff that encouraging guest interaction by way of Gotab ultimately helps all involved.

Happy Servers = Happy Guests

As we look forward to the next phase of GoTab, we know the Hospitality First Service Awards stories will also evolve. This fall we rolled out a new tag line for our platform - More than a POS. We think it’s a perfect representation of all of the new capabilities we’re delivering to the hospitality experience. While our technology is incredibly powerful and always evolving, we’re only as successful as the people who are using our products. Our servers push us forward to do some pretty cool things. It’s the back and forth with them, the give and take of feedback, of working with them every day, that makes our platform so powerful, unique and importantly, useful to their jobs. We like to say Happy Servers = Happy Guests and our only hope is that our tech will continue to bring a bit of happiness to our servers every single week.

Submit Your Nomination By October 18th

If you’re a GoTab server, or know a GoTab server, we encourage you to submit your nomination no later than October 18, the last day to submit nominations before we select this quarter’s grand prize winner. Submit your nomination here.