One of the first things that business and business marketing professors teach their incoming students is the importance of knowing what business you are in. Some businesses are a little easier to discern, for example, a small business owner opening an auto mechanic shop is in the business of fixing cars. On the other hand, some are a little more difficult to hone in on. For example, consider a restaurant. At first glance a restaurant is in the business of providing food. But a closer examination reveals that a restaurant is really in the entertainment industry. You might say, “Now wait,” but it’s true. People have many options for obtaining food, and if restaurants were just about feeding people they would be at a sore loss to grocery stores, especially those with vast service counters and growing options of prepared food. Therefore, understanding that a restaurant is in the entertainment industry will help managers and owners focus on what really matters. Of course the taste and quality of the food is important, but improving other factors such as environment, ambiance and service can also be quite impactful.

First impressions are significant. If a guest walks into a restaurant and sees chaos surrounding the reception area and host stand, some may be turned off enough to simply leave. Guests have come to be entertained, to relax, to celebrate a birthday, to reconnect with a spouse, or other important occasion. They certainly didn’t come to face the headache of crowds, noise and chaos. Such a scenario can be easily adverted with a simple guest paging system. JTECH’s GuestPass™ pagers encourage people to move away from the reception area and host stand and find a more comfortable place to wait for their table. By subconsciously encouraging guests to move out of the entryway, guest pagers clear the way for new incoming guests looking for an evening of entertainment, not just full bellies.