Find out how to create a guest experience that will keep customers coming back from the VP of Operations at Sticky’s Finger Joint, Jamie Greer.
Give An Ovation is the podcast where we interview restaurant owners, operators, and experts, to get their strategies and tactics so that youi can deliver a 5-star guest experience. Available on all major podcasting sites.
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Jamie Greer is the Vice President of Operations at the fabulously successful Sticky’s Finger Joint based in New York City. With previous experience at Legends Hospitality and Magnolia Bakery, Jamie Greer brings over a decade of experience and insights from one of the most loved brands in NYC to this edition of Give an Ovation. (Jamie is also an Ovation customer – read the case study here!)
Here’s one featured takeaway from this episode and Emily’s answers to the questions host Zack Oates asks each guest:
Featured Takeaway: Understand What Your Guest Wants
“As operators, to provide the best guest experience, you need to be available, flexible, and really open to feedback. You need to be able to listen to what your guests want. People are extremely aware of everything that’s going on around them these days. Whether that be from a cleanliness standpoint, different protocols that are happening in the store, who is touching what, at what time… everyone is looking at everything. So you really need to be on your A- game at all times.” – Jamie Greer
1: What is the most important aspect of the guest experience today?
Allowing your customers to feel heard. “Everyone wants to be heard, everyone wants to feel special. And it’s our job to give them a platform to speak to us on and listen to it.
Be honest about with yourself about the feedback that you receive, and really think, ‘Can we change something? What could we have done better? What did this guest bring to our attention? And do other guests feel that way?'”
2: What is something successful you have seen or tried lately?
Menu innovation. “Recently we evaluated – what are our options? What do people want, and how can we stay true to our brand? So we introduced boneless chicken thighs… It was a really fun project to work on, it really made sense for our brand, and made sense for our operation. It also made sense for our guests. People are loving it!”
3: Who is someone in the restaurant industry that deserves an Ovation?
Everyone in the industry, but especially Jamie’s team at Sticky’s. “It hasn’t been easy… It’s really been them every single day, making the connection, serving food, creating that guest experience and keeping it real with our guests.”
For more from Sticky’s, you can find them on Instagram or visit stickys.com.
Thanks for reading! Make sure to check out the whole episode, as well as other interviews with restaurant gurus by checking out “Give an Ovation: A Podcast For Restaurants” on ovationup.com/podcast or your favorite place to listen to podcasts.
