Having a consultative sales style is great, but you cannot leave out old school sales fundamentals. Many of the consultative sales seminars and sales books offered today along with many of the sales trainings at Fortune 1000 companies are very good, but many leave out one key point from old school sales. It is that during prospecting and in the sales cycle your main objective is to get to a yes, a no, or a follow up at a later date. While it is true that the consultative sales style teaches you to find out if there is a real need for your product or service, and it does help you to find ways to differentiate yourself from your competitors to build longer term relationships with customers, it doesn’t ensure you are not wasting your time. Your main goal should be to determine if the prospect is really in a position to purchase your product or service. Your time is extremely valuable. You cannot waste your time working with prospects that are just not going to turn into sales.

I have worked at Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 companies where the company sends their new or existing sales force off to consultative sales training. It can be very good training and can teach salespeople all of the skills needed in the consultative sales approach (asking questions or probing, finding the prospects real needs, presenting the solution, etc). The consultative sales style can be an education in itself. Upon completion of these trainings they can make you feel that through this technique that you could sell anything to anyone. Unfortunately, the sales training leaves out the most important piece of information in sales, identifying buyers. Having the ability or skill to identify who is ready and willing to buy your product or service is the most important skill in sales. Usually the consultative sale training is valuable, but without the skill of identifying buyers it can lead to sales disaster and a short sales career. I have witnessed sales men and sales women trying to sell their products or services to anyone and everyone using the consultative sales style, but not identifying buyers, which resulted in no sales. The smart ones figured it out. The rest well, they were forced on to other endeavors. Seasoned sales people know that not everyone is a prospect. The lesson is that not everyone wants or needs your product or service. Even if they are identified in a vertical market, doesn’t mean they are in a position to buy. Don’t waste your time on those prospects and move on.

Every sales person has played this game, including myself. I have not wanted to know the answer from a prospect, so I have dragged it out for months. I didn’t want to face the fact that if the sale didn’t go through I didn’t have enough in my sales funnel to make it up, or to make quota, or for that matter ends meat. This practice is not productive. Don’t do it. You need to know your sales cycle and what you have upcoming in your sales funnel. You need to get to a yes or a no from your prospects so you know where you stand and so you can make adjustments accordingly.

It is about time management and prospect management. In sales you don’t have the time to waste, especially in this economy. You want to know if they are really interested in your product/service and if they are in a position to buy, if not then move on. You can put them on a newsletter email list or follow up with them at a later time. But face the facts that some prospects just are not going to buy your product or service no matter what. They just aren’t in a position to buy. That is fine. Don’t take it personal and move on. If you waste too much time on the prospects that are not going to buy, you will miss out on others that will, and you will go broke. So do yourself a favor and get to the yes or the no. Don’t let it drag out. It is a fact that the longer the prospect drags their feet the less likely you will close the sale. So get to the yes or the no.

Do you ever wonder what successful high ticket consultants are doing why they’re reaping so much benefits and dollars? Do you want to become one of them? Then, these tips are for you:

Determination. Succeeding in the field of high ticket consulting isn’t easy especially if you haven’t created a huge name in this field yet. It may take years before you can get the kind of attention you need. This will require a lot of time, patience, planning, and effort. It will help if you know ahead of time how bumpy the road can get and that you’re determined to get to where you would like to be no matter what it takes.

Expertise. Do not sink your teeth into this endeavor unless you’re absolutely sure that you know the nuts and bolts of the subject matter that you’re trying to target. If you think that there are things that you still need to learn, equip yourself with the needed knowledge and get relevant experience before you even think about offering consulting services in the online arena. Doing extensive research and attending seminars offered by the experts will surely help.

A powerful website. No matter how knowledgeable and competent you are, your chances of convincing people to do business with you are relatively slim if your website is lousy or if it’s very simple. If you want your visitors to come back and if you want them to consider doing business with you in the near future, you need to make your website as explosive, powerful, and unforgettable as possible. It must have what it takes to present you as a competent consultant who can offer your customers what it takes to get them to where they would like to be.

In-depth knowledge about your competitors. Your customers are not the only ones that you need to consider when running your consulting business. You also need to think about your competitors who are out there to win the business of your prospects. Know what they’re doing and get to know the strategies that they’re using. Do not allow them to outplay you. It’s important to make sure that you top their offerings all the time.

Internet marketing skills. Unless you plan on hiring affiliates to sell your consulting services in the online arena, you must have exceptional internet marketing skills. Promote product awareness by using exceptional product promotional tools like PPC and banner ads. You must also know the best ways to boost your page views. For that, I highly recommend content-based marketing solutions like articles marketing. There are so many things that you need to learn about internet marketing in order to secure decent sales. I suggest that you read more resources that contain comprehensive information.

8:30am to 10:00am. It’s most often a fairly relaxed start to the day – some of the 100 consultants in the building will have been working fairly late so there is no hard start time and most people arrive between 9 am and 9:30. I like the quietness of the mornings however and find the first hour before most people get in quite productive, so I usually try to get in for 8.30.

Even only a few months after starting the job, it is common for Associate Consultants (ACs) to manage their own time, and this includes your preferences for early mornings or evening work. Half an hour or so is usually taken up by checking emails and appointments for the rest of the day. I will then get everything that I need together for a catch up with my project manager at 10am: normally a description of the previous two days analysis, a synopsis of key insights learned and some ideas on what needs to be done next.

10:00am to 12:00pm. Usually once a day, or every other day, I catch up with my project manager or with a wider set of the project team. If it is a team meeting, the two or three ACs will take it in turn to informally present their recent output with senior consultants or Directors. Directors in turn offer their opinions on the output and always add several levels of insight into what we as ACs manage to glean from our own analysis – the benefit of 15+ years experience is always very evident. As well as these insights the Directors advise as to which areas warrant further research, which informs my agenda for the next couple of days.

12:00pm to 1:00pm. Lunch time! With the project under control and the next deadline a week away I can afford to take an hour for lunch. More often than not, this means going out for some sandwiches and taking them back to the social room in the office. There are normally ten or so people in the room at any one time, but with 15 new starters having just arrived, things are bit more hectic than usual. The conversation bounces between what everyone has been up to outside of work, upcoming plans, trashy news from one of the many magazines lying around the table, and occasionally discussion of an interesting project that has come up.

The make up of the firm is pretty diverse with backgrounds ranging from Theology to Microbiology, as well as the more predictable Economics and MBA students. This makes for some interesting chat. Moreover, most people at the firm have some serious get up and go about them so it’s always good to hear what people are getting up to outside of work.

1:00pm to 3:00pm. Back at my desk and after a quick web scan, back to work. After this morning’s meeting there are a couple of things to clarify from previous analyses and some new things to look at. To put it in context I am currently working on a project for a major retail client who is looking at a potential acquisition. They are in the very early stages of this process and have hired us to give a provisional estimate of the deal value – at this stage my job is predominantly to compare the cost structures of the two firms with a view to sizing the synergies that may be achieved were the companies to be combined.

As is often the case, the two companies have used their own favoured categorization methodologies for their costs; the first step therefore is to use our experience to make the cost categories comparable. After completing this yesterday, the Directors suggest we run our results past the client, and gain the perspectives of key differences in cost structures from some key industry brokers. To this end I track down a broker at one of the investment banks who has previously published research on the target company. I am pleasantly surprised to find him happy to take some time to give me his perspective on industry standard cost structures and what may drive departures from the norm. After this discussion I am pretty confident that we have painted an accurate picture of the target company’s costs structures. There are some small refinements to be made to incorporate some of the information he provided. After doing so I put together a summary of our methodology and outcomes and send it to the client for discussion later in the day.

3:00pm to 3:30pm. A round of coffees with people on my floor and enough time to send out a few emails.

3:30pm to 4:00pm. My contact at the client calls to discuss the work I sent through earlier. Our analysis indicated that the target company had lower staff costs per store than our client, driven by a lower number of staff per store, which turns out to be something that they had previously suspected but had never formalized. She also describes the benefits of higher staff numbers in terms of customer satisfaction, queue lengths etc. We discuss their previous attempts to quantify these and how these could be developed, and possible alternative methodologies. This may be something to look into further down the line. However, for now, we have an agreed set of cost estimates for the target firm and have a good idea of the cost implications should the target firm’s stores staff levels be raised to that of our client’s stores.

4:00pm to 7:30pm. After getting to a place where we are fairly comfortable on the cost side I now move on to the revenue side of the equation: Both our client and the target have published aggressive store expansion plans. The challenge is to estimate how these will translate into revenues going forward and the size and shape of the combined store portfolio if the target were to be acquired. The head of property at the client sent through his estimate of which of the target’s stores would be suitable for conversion, and which would be sold off upon acquisition. We begin to quantify these effects and at 7.30 we have made some good progress in setting up the model which I will continue to develop tomorrow. As mentioned earlier, the further you progress, the more autonomy you have over your workload. Thus, if things are under control, you have the freedom to leave earlier some evenings and make up the work another time. When deadlines approach that freedom is often no longer there, but for now, I’ll head off to enjoy the bright lights of London.

Businesses are generally interested in marketing and advertising the company’s products directly through the use of the conventional method in order to catch the attention of potential clients. The world wide web comes with a new test to the prospective client who is free to choose the information from the myriads of site which is right there within the browser.

Targeted traffic to your money sites boost beyond any doubt with the help of search engine optimization. If your current money sites overall performance is probably not really motivating, interact with a search engine optimization consultant and find out how search engines work. How your site can stand the battle of being on top of the list to promote visibility and access to your website. It is imperative that your site should gain leverage on top of the competition when it comes to organic ranking. The SEO Consultant and his squad will work on pulling down your competitors and take you on the top spot as far as search engines are concerned and make sure you have best visual so your site can earn a lot of credibility despite stiff competition. Consider your site not being listed with Google! This situation could possibly cut down your 70% chance in making a sale!

Typically the potential customer is definitely the one receiving the benefit of online searches having a huge selection of web pages to choose from. Search engine marketing is the actual method which is involved in an extremely complex approach to greatly enhance the presence of websites. Search engine optimization is the process involved in positioning your site on top of the first page of search results.

Finding your site a spot on the top ten of the search engines and helping you maintain and improve your position to the top is what the SEO consultants are expert of. When you are on top of the first page, traffic starts to accumulate and automatically the possibility of the users turning into clients and buyers will also go up! A SEO consultant should understand first the objective and the advertising scheme of the company he is working. He should also understand the budgeting restrictions and try to make an in depth analysis of the present placement of the website and should be able to suggest the selected methods with regards to the optimization of your website as well as redesigning of your current website, in order to get improved search results. The optimization procedure takes an estimated length of time to be able to achieve the precise position in order to get a good volume of traffic. The visibility of your website will certainly generate potential customers and depending on the site content they are converted which is essential for the growth of your company.

It is really important to know the goals and objectives of the web site. They then simply assess or evaluate the strengths and availability of resources before embarking on a draft plan in order to jack up the site with visitors. A change of the site content is essential in converting a potential customer, the convincing power and the ability to make visitors press the “buy” or the “add to cart” button is what every site need. A little change might be needed when it comes to the design to make a user-friendly a website as we have to consider also the duration of the site to load. We need to keep our potential customers busy and do not have a chance to think of visiting other sites because of the longer length of time for our site to load.

You must understand that your website is going to compete and needs to survive in this competitive world it should certainly possess all the characteristics with the best of its kind. Most people are unable to do this. You need to rely on a SEO consultant to provide the maximum visibility as well as potential customers to your money site by means of applying special techniques along with eye catching keyword phrases. What are you waiting now? Work with the best search engine optimization consultant you can get. The best way is to ask your friends first if they know someone as long as you don’t compete with each other or you can try going to oDesk where you are able to get a chance to interview a lot of providers according to their skill. A tip for you to be able to screen the providers faster is by posting a job with specific skills or who passed specific exams.

The idea of paying for a full-time, salaried marketing director, is a hard pill to swallow for most small business owners, especially with the current economic crunch. That’s why thousands of companies are diving into the world of freelance marketing consultants and copywriters. By hiring a marketing consultant, a small business owner can generate fast cash-flow and refine their current ad spend. It’s much easier to justify an expense for a “ready out of the box” marketing professional than with a new hire who needs to develop and learn the trade you are in. The freelance professionals charge on an hourly basis or project basis and are motivated by performance-based incentives. For thousands of businesses, marketing consultants and “for hire” copywriters have actually become an essential part of business development strategies.

With the explosion of the internet shopping and online business in recent years, the demand for highly-talented and experienced copywriters is at an all-time high. An experienced copywriter can enhance the performance of a web-based business and drastically improve ROI by immediately increasing sales and cash flow.

Still, many business owners are unaware of the role that quality copywriting and marketing strategy plays in their ultimate success. It’s easy to brush aside important collateral as “non-necessities” during cash-flow crunches. Items such as postcards, brochures, sales letters, cards, and other promotional materials are still of tremendous importance for branding and market development. On the other side, you require online content and “credibility” through social networking web sites, internet forums, and blogs. These two marketing landscapes (traditional and new media) are the life of your business and should be considered as such in every decision.

So hire a freelance marketing consultant or copywriter (whichever suits your needs) and lower your overhead costs. You can employ your existing staff in other departments and simply outsource your marketing research and strategy to a consultant who does not need to be at your physical location to do an amazing job and generate results. This will likely improve turn-around time on your projects, generate professional results, reduce costs, and streamline your inefficient “in house” marketing operations. So what are you waiting for? Call a marketing consultant and grow your business today!

Buying your first home early has a compounding wealth effect, resulting in a happier life and an increased social security for your family.

Home Loans accompany a lot of first-time homebuyer benefits as they can get extra tax breaks on the reimbursement of interest of the Home Loan just as a tax reduction on the principal amount of the loan. Also,Guest Posting the houses that are bought under the loan connected plan of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana get a cut on the Goods and Services Tax (GST) rate from 8% to 12%. An extra interest sponsorship has been accommodated loan residency of 20 years against the restriction of 15 years. Thus, alongside various advantages for newbies, there are a few factors that can influence your loan endorsement measure. Anyway, how to get a loan for a house? Here we go with a couple of Home Loan tips that first-time buyers can consider prior to applying for a loan.

Plan the loan sum that you can afford:

You may have a fondness to a level someplace close to your working environment, yet the costs may beg to be spent. So it is important to channel your choices according to your spending plan and stick to them. Thusly; your individual accounting records also can be dealt with.

Aggregate assets for the initial installment:

Banks assume a vital part while purchasing a house yet they just money about 85% of the loan sum especially the first-time home buyer lenders. For example, if your loan sum is Rs 60 lakh, you will get the greatest measure of Rs 51 lakh as a loan from the bank. The remainder of the cash must be paid through upfront installment. It is by and large encouraged to create a greater initial installment as it can decrease the EMI trouble. So it is crucial to plan funds well with the goal that your standard costs are not hampered.

Have the basic knowledge of home loans and your eligibility:

Think about the loan essentials and eligibility models while applying for a loan in advance to abstain from any last-minute amazements. On the off chance that you are uninformed of the financial methods, it is energetically prescribed to be exceptional to stay away from any disparities without a second to spare.

A similar investigation of the various rates that are offered by the banks ought to be done to get the best offer. Preferably, the bank where you have a Salary Account is ideal to pick as they know about the compensation subtleties, consequently making loan endorsement simple and helpful.

Apply for a pre-endorsed home loan:

The pre-approved loan is an authorization letter that is given by the bank subsequent to approving your whole reports about the loan sum that you are qualified for. The legitimacy period for the authorization letter is a half year inside which the loan application ought to be made.

Getting a pre-approved loan helps first-time buyers to choose their financial plan for the property, in this manner making the interaction of filtration simpler. A pre-supported loan additionally helps in cutting out an arrangement for the initial installment that they should accumulate to decrease the EMI sum.

Choose residential projects that are supported by the banks:

Picking the bank-endorsed properties guarantees that the property is liberated from any encumbrances. Banks support a loan ordinarily subsequent to having an exact security check of the property records and authority endorsements to stay away from any developer tricks. Undertakings that have been endorsed by the banks are simple for loan endorsement and payment.

Know about the tax benefits:

It is critical for first-time homebuyers to realize the greatest tax breaks that they can guarantee from the principal home loan. Home loans add to a significant piece of duty investment funds and it is fundamental for guarantee the due benefits during expense forms.

In conclusion:

There are not many banks that assist you with applying for a first-time frame home buyer loan on the web. Before you conclude any home loans you ought to negotiate as you can save a ton with the compelling arrangements. Whenever you have put something aside for the upfront installment, you should keep a corpus sum to the side to get set your goods, appliances, and for your interiors. At long last, with these tips, you can understand your fantasy about claiming a home workout as expected.

Have the basic knowledge of home loans and your eligibility:

Think about the loan essentials and eligibility models while applying for a loan in advance to abstain from any last-minute amazements. On the off chance that you are uninformed of the financial methods, it is energetically prescribed to be exceptional to stay away from any disparities without a second to spare.

A similar investigation of the various rates that are offered by the banks ought to be done to get the best offer. Preferably, the bank where you have a Salary Account is ideal to pick as they know about the compensation subtleties, consequently making loan endorsement simple and helpful.

Apply for a pre-endorsed home loan:

The pre-approved loan is an authorization letter that is given by the bank subsequent to approving your whole reports about the loan sum that you are qualified for. The legitimacy period for the authorization letter is a half year inside which the loan application ought to be made.

Getting a pre-approved loan helps first-time buyers to choose their financial plan for the property, in this manner making the interaction of filtration simpler. A pre-supported loan additionally helps in cutting out an arrangement for the initial installment that they should accumulate to decrease the EMI sum.

Choose residential projects that are supported by the banks:

Picking the bank-endorsed properties guarantees that the property is liberated from any encumbrances. Banks support a loan ordinarily subsequent to having an exact security check of the property records and authority endorsements to stay away from any developer tricks. Undertakings that have been endorsed by the banks are simple for loan endorsement and payment.

Know about the tax benefits:

It is critical for first-time homebuyers to realize the greatest tax breaks that they can guarantee from the principal home loan. Home loans add to a significant piece of duty investment funds and it is fundamental for guarantee the due benefits during expense forms.

In conclusion:

There are not many banks that assist you with applying for a first-time frame home buyer loan on the web. Before you conclude any home loans you ought to negotiate as you can save a ton with the compelling arrangements. Whenever you have put something aside for the upfront installment, you should keep a corpus sum to the side to get set your goods, appliances, and for your interiors. At long last, with these tips, you can understand your fantasy about claiming a home workout as expected.

There is no doubt that a busy commercial kitchen can be a hot one. With so many ovens and stoves being used simultaneously, and so many people running around in a busy kitchen, there is certainly a lot of heat generated.

One of the ways that Chefs and cooks keep cool in a hot kitchen is by wearing a uniform. These Chef coats,Guest Posting cook shirts, Chef pants and hats are made of special fabric which is heat and flame resistant, and is usually made from 100% cotton or cotton/polyester mixed fabrics and are highly breathable, and able to keep the wearer cool in a hot environment. Their design helps provide ventilation and air flow and helps them to be comfortable while working. Since working in a hot kitchen can generate sweat, the hats worn by these staff members, such as beanies and skull hats, are highly absorbent and will prevent any such contaminants from falling into the food they are preparing.

In addition to providing the kitchen staff with suitable clothing like breathable and comfortable Chef coats and Cook Shirts, what else can a restaurant or hotel owner do to keep a hot kitchen cool? Here are a few suggestions.

HVAC Units – HVAC units are heating, ventilation and air conditioning units which are installed in the restaurant and provides temperature control and ventilation even to the back of house areas such as the kitchen. Such systems which are efficiently and effectively installed by a professional, can even prevent dust and other contaminants from entering the restaurant from the outdoors, and also helps keep the food in the kitchen under the right required temperatures. These systems also prevent any food odors from travelling out of the kitchen and spreading around the restaurant.

Air curtains – Air curtains are ideal for those areas which have strong breezes such as restaurants close to the beach or those is cooler climates. They are automatically activated when a door is opened and the air flow works as a block between the door and kitchen, preventing any insects etc from entering inside, so that you can keep the doors open to let in the cool air and still prevent outside contaminants from entering your kitchen.

Screens – By installing screens it allows the restaurant to keep their doors open to let in the cool breeze in, while still preventing unnecessary pests and insects from entering the premises. When installing screens though it must be remembered that they must be made to fit snugly into the window or door frame and not leave any gaps around it, which will allow for insects and other pests to enter.

Exhaust Hoods – Good quality exhaust hoods can keep the kitchen very much cooler, by removing any heat and smoke from the inside. Many commercial kitchens install exhaust hoods for this purpose.

In addition to these areas which a restaurant owner or management can help with to keep the kitchen cool during hot days, kitchen staff have also found innovative ways in keeping cool in a hot kitchen. These are:

Constantly hydrating – Hydration is very important for those working in a hot environment and it is highly recommended that kitchen staff constantly drink sufficient amounts of water to keep their bodies from dehydrating under such conditions. Not drinking enough water can also make workers dizzy and faint, and hence it is important to stress the need for regular hydration among employees.

Walk-in freezers and coolers – Almost all commercial kitchens have walk-in coolers and freezers where they store the fresh meats, vegetables and other food items that should be kept under specific cool temperatures. One way that many kitchen staff keep cool on hot days is to visit the walk-in freezer or cooler often, and cool down a bit. Just remember not to get yourself locked inside though!

Other methods – Some kitchen staff even resort to more unique methods to keep cool, such as cooling a wet towel in the refrigerator and wrapping it round their necks. Others may roll up their sleeves, or the legs of their pants, or even resort to wearing very unique clothing for uniforms, such as shorts. Shorts and cook shirts or t’shirts have become very popular among kitchen staff who work in very hot climates and exotic locations.

Those working in the cooking industry certainly command a lot of respect and honor for their jobs, due to the long working hours they have to endure as well the harsh and sometimes quite difficult circumstances under which they carry out their jobs of providing exquisitely tasting food to their customers. These people hardly have time for their own meals during a busy work day, and simply make do with a quick salad or sandwich while working. So, the next time you come across a Chef or cook, give them an appreciative smile for the hard work they do, to give us an exceptional dining experience!

There is no doubt that in the food preparation industry, hygiene and cleanliness are important factors. Most countries have laws and regulations with regard to hygiene, which need to be strictly followed by restaurants and hotels, failing which the result could be that the establishment is shut down or heavily fined for negligence. It is not only providing the staff with uniforms such as Chef coats and hats, but so much more goes into creating a clean and sanitary environment fit for preparing food.

Keeping the kitchen area clean and sanitary is not just the responsibility of a few staff,Guest Posting but everyone should be held accountable for it, from the General Manager of the establishment to the Head Chef to the dishwasher. Even the smallest breach in hygiene standards can cause a huge problem for the business, and hence strict adherence to the highest standards of cleanliness is vital.

Here are some general rules followed by kitchens all over the world, in order to ensure a clean and sanitary environment for preparing food.

Personal hygiene – One of the most important aspects of preventing contamination of food is to ensure that all staff handling any type of food adhere to strict personal hygiene rules. Since all types of microorganisms can be transferred from a person’s hands to the food they are preparing, it is imperative that staff members know the importance of always keeping their hands clean. For this, the management should provide soap or handwash in several areas of the kitchen, so that regular handwashing is promoted among the staff, such as before starting work, before performing a specific task, after ending a particular task, when switching stations, if they have touched any part of their body or any outside surface etc. After washing, hands should be dried using a clean towel, which is changed regularly. Hair can also contain microorganisms that can contaminate food, and hence highly absorbent chef hats should be provided for all staff, to prevent both sweat and hair from falling into food.

Clothing – Many contaminants can be transferred to food through the clothes a person wears, which is why when it comes to kitchen staff, standard uniforms are provided for them to change into when working, and no one is allowed to work wearing their normal outside clothes. Things such as dirt, dust, germs, fur and so much more can get attached to clothing when they are outside and then transfer into the food they are preparing. Hence kitchen staff should be provided with chef coats, pants, cook shirts, aprons, as well as chef hats in order to prevent contamination of food.

Food storage – Food should be stored in a proper manner in clearly marked containers, and it should be remembered that different types of food should be stored separately. For example, raw meat and cooked meat should never be stored together, and the same goes for raw meats and vegetables. Staff should ensure that containers have air tight lids, and that all food items stored should have the date purchased clearly marked on them. Food should be stored under specific temperatures suitable for each different item.

Defrosting – Sudden temperature changes can cause bacteria to form on food, and hence when defrosting food, it should be done in refrigerated cabinets so that the process is gradual.

Cross contamination – It is important to have clearly marked separate utensils for different types of food in order to prevent cross contamination, such as chopping boards, knives etc. One way this can be easily done in by color coding the equipment in the kitchen, so that everyone is aware of which item should be used with what types of food.

Freeze food – It is important that every commercial kitchen has blast chillers and blast freezers which are able to freeze food items rapidly ensuring that no bacteria form on them, especially soon after cooking. The ‘cook and chill’ method is used in many kitchens around the world.

Serving food – Once the food is prepared it should not be touched by hands since the food can get contaminated. Proper utensils should be used to plate the food and servers and waiters should be trained to serve food without touching it.

Cleaning – The entire kitchen and all equipment should be thoroughly cleaned and sanitized (especially oven and sinks) both before start of day and at end of day to ensure proper standards of hygiene. In addition, a weekly deep clean of the kitchen should be carried out by staff, and a deep cleaning of the kitchen by professional cleaners should be done at least once every six months.

Washing dishes – Washing dishes should be done in a proper manner, and an essential piece of equipment for any commercial kitchen is a dishwasher. Using the right detergents and cleaning fluids is vital to ensure there is no transfer of bacteria from food scraps.

As mentioned earlier, it is every staff member’s responsibility to ensure a clean and hygienic environment for food preparation if they want to see success in their business, and hence proper training should be given to all staff with regard to standards of cleanliness and hygiene, as well as cleaning methods and techniques. Simply providing staff with chef coats and chef hats and other uniforms is not enough to ensure a high standard of cleanliness, but every other aspect of it should be fulfilled as well. This is what creates an exceptional dining experience for customers.

There is no doubt that a kitchen is one of the busiest sections of any restaurant or hotel, and Chefs and other kitchen staff have very long working days, sometimes stretching from between 12 to 16 hours per day. This is one of the reasons that they are provided with comfortable uniforms which include chef shirts made of breathable fabrics, and comfortable and durable chef shoes which allow them to work on their feet for long periods of time.

However,Guest Posting there are certain times of the year and definitely certain times of the day that are much busier for kitchen staff than other times. These of course can vary depending on where you are located and what type of restaurant you run, but in general there are specific periods when most restaurants and hotels get really busy with an overflow of customers. Usually in the hospitality industry and specifically the restaurant business, the period from April to August and November to January 1st are some of the busiest periods of the year.

The months from April to August are usually busy because this is when the weather is fabulous and everyone wants to be out and about. In addition, these are months that many tourists visit as well, hence the crowds can become larger, making restaurants busy throughout the day. For those establishments located in other areas, the busy months may vary, for example those located near a ski resort will be busy during the winter months and not so much during other months of the year. The fact is that whether it is peak season or not, a restaurant can’t close down just because they don’t have busy days. As a solution for this many restaurants create seasonal menus, which are far different and contain different types of food fit for each season, and also try to earn revenue by creating take out or delivery during the slower periods.

Some of the slower days in the restaurant business are during Thanksgiving and Christmas, since most people have their celebrations centered around family and home. Although we may usually think that Christmas is a busy time of the year, it is not, because people prepare their festive feasts at home to invite close family and friends.

If you consider the weekly routine for a restaurant, some of the slowest days are Mondays and Tuesdays, and this is one of the reasons that most restaurants who are open throughout the weekend are usually closed on Mondays. Some of the busiest days of the week are Friday through Sunday, which is when people tend to go out after a hard week of work or study to enjoy and relax. These are the days when the kitchen staff roll up the sleeves of their cook shirts, put on their chef shoes and prepare for long days and nights.

Of course, around the world, there are certain days that are very busy for restaurants and hotels, since these festivities call for a night out of celebration with either family or friends. These are the days when it is almost impossible to get a restaurant reservation at the last minute, and bookings are made well in advance. Usually, restaurants also create special menus during these times to cater to the specific festivity and to tempt in the customers into their establishment. Competition is high of course during these times, with everyone trying to best the other in terms of what they offer, the ambiance, food choices etc. These are:

Mother’s Day and Father’s Day – Many people bring in their parents on Mother’s Day and Father’s Day making these days relatively busier than the normal work day for restaurant.
Valentine’s Day – Valentine’s Day is another one of those holidays where you won’t be able to get a table at a restaurant if you decided to do something at the last moment. With so many people making special arrangements for their loved ones and partners, restaurants are bombarded with special requests. The businesses themselves go out of their way to arrange something extra special for their patrons such as roses and chocolates for the ladies, and even make available special expensive wines and champagnes on this day.
Easter – Easter brunch is a very popular meal out for families and can be considered a busy time for most restaurants and hotels.
New Year’s Eve – This must be the busiest day of the year for any restaurant or hotel, and people make bookings for tables weeks before the date. Many establishments have special parties organized for which they sell tickets at rates that are usually higher than normal, and kitchen staff can expect to be working all day and night during this holiday.

Whatever the holiday it is, you can bet that no one from the kitchen department will be celebrating it with their loved ones, as they understand their responsibilities to their job mean making such sacrifices. Unlike in other vocations Chefs and kitchen staff need to be available during these busy holidays to make your day and my day so much more enjoyable and better. They will simply put on their cook shirts and shoes, their chef coats and hats and get on with their job.