s customers to our doors, so it matters what we do next to make them stay, order more, keep coming back and recommend us online and to their friends. Trust is the key. There are three pillars of trust that will lead to these outcomes, and improve our trustworthiness with customers in a meaningful and real way. 1. Reliability Reliability is how consistently we show up as a business and how consistently our people show up to give service. When someone researches your venue online, reads the ratings and looks at your menu, how well do they see that promise being met in reality? Are you putting your best foot forward by making your venue welcoming? Are your people welcoming customers within the first 30 seconds to reassure them they’ve made a good decision by choosing your venue over the dozens of others they researched? Are the choices you have on your menu available when they come in with their hunger up? Does the online portrayal of the experience match the actual one? I’m also going to ask you something controversial: When was the last time you trained your people to deliver a consistent level of great service that is the lived experience of your venue’s brand? In other words, does your staff know how you do service? How consistently do their actions demonstrate that knowledge? You might think, “Hospitality workers come and go, they just want to come in and do their job and get paid; they don’t last long, so what’s the point in adding to my already high overheads by training them?” But what if not training them costs you more? You can’t measure that loss in customers who never come back, who never complain to you in person or online (but do to their friends), or who find an alternative to frequenting regularly. Profit is lost when we have a continual need to find more and more new customers, and increases when we can extract greater value from those who are already our customers. Does your team know how to make suggestions, such as a complementary order option to increase the order value that doesn’t sound like ‘would you like fries with that’? Do they engage in light conversation to get to know the customer and uncover: Whether they have a local business? What brings them in? Do they live or work in the area? Do they build on this knowledge every time a customer comes in? When we know our customers, we can let them know about booking our venue for conferences, meetings or celebrations. We can let them know about upcoming events or membership specials. If we’re churning through staff, any knowledge they gain is lost when they leave. Improving our team’s interpersonal skills is still good business practice. 2. Credibility Customers want to know they are going to a place where the chef, owner or venue has a solid track record. How are your Google reviews? Customers want to know what their peers are saying. Social proof is an influencing technique that enables customers to make a buying decision more easily. So is authority: not being in authority but being an authority. It’s why chefs are named or a venue’s story is on their website, and why the story of where our ingredients are sourced is on menus.  This demonstrates we know what we’re doing, and we’re doing it with purpose. Is there a staff uniform? Even if not logo’d, is there a consistent dress code for staff so customers know whom to thank or whom to ask when they need help, or want to order or pay? 3. Intimacy When our customers open up to us and share information that they know we’ll keep confidential, it’s rare and something to be treasured. We know we’re doing lots right. Have we built customer relationships to the point where they like and trust us sufficiently to tell us a bit about their lives? It’s up to us to be warm and friendly, to demonstrate a genuine desire to welcome them back again and again. We’ll know because they’ll begin to bring friends, colleagues, and relatives to our venues, and when we’re told that “so and so” told them to come here. Referrals are the best source of new business. “Free” marketing and loyal trade. If this sounds old-fashioned, so be it. Solid business practices worked years ago and still work now because they’re eternal business truths. In a world of AI, booking apps and QR codes, stand out because of the way your venue interacts with your customers – without them, there is no business. Further reading: The happiness formula that drives retail customer satisfaction and loyalty