Keeping Your Customers Safe Hotel and restaurant operators should maintain social distancing standards by communicating with their guests about what is being done to minimize exposure to COVID-19. Social distancing standards will put additional burdens on the employer to make sure that a employee isn’t interacting with a customer for over 10 minutes, per the CDC, especially since interactions between employee and customer are sometimes likely to be less than six feet apart. While these social distancing strategies will help improve safety for employees and customers, they will also have a dramatic impact on the customer experience. Speed of service could decrease due to extra precautions being taken in the back- and front-of-house, especially with fewer lines or POS positions open. Operators could also direct guests to pick up their food from the counter without having wait staff handle it, which would also impact the server-guest relationship. Customers will have high expectations for safety practices, such as frequent sanitizing, glove use, restroom cleanliness and contactless hand sanitizers. Provide visual cues, such as signage or the presence of hand sanitizers or wipes for customers, and promotions on what you are doing front-of-house and back-of-house to keep employees and customers safe.
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