*This was not officially used or approved by the corporation, nor the franchise.

Aces in their Places

Round Table for Dummies

Drafted and Written By Annie Baker-Bauer

Table of contents 

Preface………………………………………………………………………………………..2

Cashier………………………………………………………………………………………..3

Driver…………………………………………………………………………….……………7

Kitchen……………………………………………………………………………..………10

Management………………………………………………………………………………12

Opening Procedures…………………………………………………………………..20

Closing Procedures……………………………………………………………………..21

.

Preface

Hey there!

My name is Annie, and I have compiled this booklet over my 5 years of working at Round Table Pizza. I was promoted to Shift Supervisor within 6 weeks of my employment and since then have learned so much about the company and what matters the most to run a successful shift. I care about your success, and I want you to always have a booklet to refer to when you are curious or confused about something. 

If you’re reading this, then you’re probably a new employee training, a nervous employee training for management, or maybe you’re already a polished and decorated employee who just wants to make sure they know they are doing everything they can to succeed. Wherever you are in the process, this little booklet is meant to show you how the managers of my time worked and there are also some little tricks and tips we use to be as time and cost-efficient as possible.

I have gathered help from coworkers who have taught me everything I know and have come and gone. There is a lot of valuable insight in this booklet and I hope it helps. 

Good luck!

Annie Baker-Bauer

P. S. Most of this was written before COVID-19, so it will not include much information on policies related to times of pandemic.

Chapter 1 – Cashier 

Whether you’re 16 and you just got hired, or you’re a driver or manager and you haven’t worked a cashier shift in actual months, this chapter is for you. Trust me, we’ve all been to that point where even us managers forget what we’re supposed to do when it’s just us up there with the sharks. It’s okay! At least you remembered that you have a resource to check what your duties are. 

Prioritizing 

Most of the time on the weekdays when you’re a cashier, you’re the only one up in the front, occasionally with the help of your manager. You’ll usually have extra help on weekends or otherwise days that are expected to be busy. Remember: your manager has their own duties to accomplish, so you must properly prioritize your duties in the front of the house to make sure you complete everything smoothly. 

Cashier duties include but are not limited to: 

• Cleaning Tables 
• Ringing up customers 
• Cleaning the salad bar 
• Keeping your drawer organized 
• Answering phones
• Making boxes
• Running pizzas
• Cleaning windows
• Refilling cheese, peppers, and napkin dispensers
• Making 2oz. Cups of ranch and marinara
• Online orders
• Sweeping
• HACCP 
• Sanitizing menus, chairs, tables

These duties fluctuate depending on what time of day it is. This list is a basic list of things that need to be done, and knowing this list is one thing, but the most important thing is what you do with the information and how you prioritize things. Prioritizing goes hand in hand with teamwork when it comes to them being the key to your success. 

List your priorities’ importance as such:

1. Running pizzas
2. Customers at the register
3. Answering phones
4. Online orders
5. Cleaning tables
6. Cleaning salad bar
7. HACCP
8. Making boxes
9. Refilling cheese, peppers, napkins
10. 2 oz. cups
11. Cleaning windows
12. Keeping your drawer organized
13. Sweeping

Items 1-3 on this list are all tied for First Place in my eyes.  What I mean by this is that if you are already doing one of these things, do not drop it for another, unless explicitly asked to do so by the person in charge (aka: PIC). The thing these 3 items have in common is that they entail direct communication with customers, and the customer is the most important person in the house. Something to remember about customers is that they are people too, and they understand that you are busy. 

• Running pizzas is your number one priority if you’re not answering a phone or already helping a customer. That food is fresh and the customer doesn’t want cold pizza and you don’t want to touch a hot tray. 

• If you’re on the phone or filling out an online order already, you can’t run a pizza, and a quick wave to the customer and saying “I’ll be with you in one minute” helps your situation. You’re totally safe. 
• If you’re at the register helping a customer, you cannot leave them to run a pizza. If the phone rings or online order prints, someone else can answer it. If you have reason to believe no one else can answer it (drivers are gone, you’re the only cashier, the manager is busy) then you can ask the customer in front of you if they don’t mind you putting that phone on hold. Usually, the customer is totally empathetic with your situation, and you can put the phone on hold until you or someone else can get to it. You are also able to pass on your online orders to other employees. Do not be afraid to ask for help!!!

Cleaning tables is also very high on your list of priorities. Some (ahem – farzin – ahem) would argue that it is also tied for first place, but it does not follow the rule that “If you are doing one of these things, do not drop it or stop doing it for the other.” This rule applies to cleaning tables only sometimes.

• Cleaning tables can be a big job that takes up to or even more than 10 minutes of your time if it’s right after the dinner or lunch rush. These are moments that you are allowed to get up and answer the phone, run a pizza, help a customer at the register. If the customer is surprised or upset about the messy tables, I like to send them a quick smile as I apologize and let them know that I’m the only person working and I’ll get their table cleaned as soon as possible. Usually, customers understand that you are doing everything you can to please them, and if you show them you care and are working as fast as you can, you are a star in their eyes and your management’s eyes.
• Normally I would prioritize running a pizza over cleaning a table, but this is not the case if the customer specifically asked you to clean off a certain table. You must complete what you are doing for the customer before you leave them. 
• When we clean off one table at a time it is okay to grab it only with your hands and run to the dish room. Normally we would scrape trash off of the plate then organize the dishes to be space-efficient, but if you need to help a customer or answer a phone or run a pizza or do an online order, you only set down the plates in the dish room then do what your higher priority is, then return to cleaning and organizing those dishes you put to the side. 

The rest of the time

Don’t forget to make time to do HACCP! This is something that needs to be done twice per day. Once during the morning shift and one at night. You can do it or the manager can do it, it really matters on how the manager decides to delegate time that day. 

When you aren’t doing the really important stuff, this is your chance to do the other important stuff. These things are prioritized based on the condition of the store. So if you already have plenty of boxes you don’t need to make any, if you have plenty of 2oz. Cups you don’t need to make any, etc. 

With this time you can also clean the windows on the front door, the party room, the salad bar’s sneeze guard. When you have completed everything in your priority list, you get to refer to the cleaning list. 

Personality

When you are the cashier, you are the first person the customer meets. You represent the company, and the way you present yourself to the customer matters. Of course this means having the correct and complete uniform, but also your personality. 

When you represent the store you want to greet them and say, “Welcome to Round Table!” And make some small talk, find out how we can help them. Keeping it straight to business is great too, but we do want to show them that we are friendly. This makes them see that we are people too, 

Masks 

In the time of this pandemic, we are in the front line of ensuring the safety of our employees and customers. We are not security, but it is our job to ask customers to keep their masks on or wait outside. 

A simple, “Hi ma’am/sir, would you mind pulling your mask up? Thank you!” 

Or

“Hi ma’am/sir! Do you have a mask? We have some if you need one from us!”

Personally, I have not had too much trouble with anti-maskers, other than them walking in without them. They are usually happy to leave if we tell them they need a mask on to be inside.

We are very good about keeping each other accountable for things all across our job descriptions, but it is important as employees to always be displaying proper PPE usage. Masks need to fit correctly and cover the nose, mouth, and chin. 

Chapter 2 – Driver

Being a driver is a relatively easy job, but it is important that you do your job correctly in order to save yourself a headache. These are the steps to a delivery.

1. Prepare your order: Cheese, peppers, and any necessary dipping sauces, sodas, salads etc. 

Cheese and Parmesan Packets

• Packets for Personal pizza: 1 cheese & 1 pepper 
• Packets for Small Pizza: 2 cheese & 2 pepper
• Medium: 3 each
• Large: 4 each
• Extra Large: 5 each

Dipping Sauce

• 3 twists: one 2oz cup
• 6 twists: two 2ox cup OR one 5oz cup
• 12 twists: four 2oz cup OR two 5oz cups

• 6 wings: one 2oz cup
• 12 wings: two 2ox cup OR one 5oz cup
• 24 wings: four 2oz cup OR two 5oz cups

Salads

When making salads, the default is to include Mushroom, Grape Tomato, Carrot, and Cucumber. Wear gloves, and move quickly. Make sure you close and seal all containers before putting the task away. 

Dressings

• Individual: two 2oz
• Family: three 20z
• Party: four 5oz

Generally it is always a good idea to bring plates, napkins, and cups if necessary. You don’t need to give them to the customer, if they don’t ask for them, but they may just forget and expect you to keep them on you. I like keeping a bag of plates, napkins, cheese and peppers in my car just in case. That is a trick I learned from a veteran driver for Round Table. 

2. Make sure you are prepared with the GPS ASAP. We are relying on the time you leave the restaurant to be able to give the customers accurate arrival time. You’ll want to do this before you get to your car if possible. You can use any type of GPS you want, just make sure you have your addresses put in a path.

• When planning your deliveries, the order you take them in matters a lot. As drivers, we usually want to take the orders in geographical order so we spend less time and gas on these orders, but if your first order is across town and is almost late, you should not take your other two orders first, even if they are closer by half a mile. This is fine when you are ahead of the game, but having orders be late is not okay. The only exception is when you have an order that is right next to the store, such as one of the hotels or apartments. (The reason for this is simple. To take orders all around town then taking this one at Best Buy, it may stay in your car for over 30 minutes, plus however much time it was waiting on the shelf in the store. This will make this order cold and not fresh for the customer.)  If this instance happens, and you know this may make your delivery across town even more late, then contact the customer and let them know. You may be able to compensate with the customer and offer them a soda or salad. The most important thing to the customer is knowing that their food is going to be fresh and hot. Communicating this to them may give them comfort. This communication also shows good customer service because the customer knows that we remember them, care about them, and will take care of them. 

3. Do not forget your car topper. The franchise owners will literally follow you to your car and put it on your car for you if they see you without it. If you are afraid of scratching your car or looking like a dork, then maybe being a driver isn’t for you. The car topper serves as an advertisement for our store, which can bring you more orders, therefore more tips. Car toppers also let the customer see you pull down their street and then they get excited to see you. Car toppers also announce who you are to other drivers. You’ll be treated with respect on the road, and other drivers in the street will let you move around them faster so that other customers get their food.
4. Make sure you have a cash bag with various sorts of change. Even if your orders are all card payments, a customer may ask you to break a $20 that way they can tip you with smaller bills. When you get back to the store after giving change, make sure you have smaller bills again! You can ask the PIC or go to the register. 
5. When you get the pizzas into your car, refrain from stacking the bags of orders. Sometimes the lid supports are not strong enough to support 5 XLs stacked on top of each other.
6. Drive respectfully. Don’t flip anyone off, cut off anyone, hit anyone, just don’t be a rude person. 
7. Drive safely. Just because you are busy and have a lot of orders that need to be on time, you need to be safe on the road. I recommend getting a mount for your phone so you can see the GPS clearly without seeing anything. 
8. Call the store when you are on the way back. If no one answers, then text the PIC and let them know that you are coming back. This is to make sure your orders go in the oven. 

It all looks overwhelming but at the end of the day, your job is pretty straight forward. There’s more to it than just delivering pizza and being a cash register on foot. You definitely earn the handsome pay you receive on the road. When you’re at the store you have many other responsibilities in addition to preparing your orders. 

Your most predominant jobs are as such:

• Answering phones
• Preparing your deliveries
• Making dough and sauce
• Putting away Saladinos
• Dishes
• Cleaning

Answering phones is a large part of your job when you are at the store. I know when you’re at the store, you really want to just prep your order and leave, but we rely on you to answer that phone. The cashiers and manager are all busy, and sometimes you are the only person left. Even if you literally do not have time to place the order, just answer it and put it on hold, then let someone know. 

You do not normally spend too much time in the store, but those are the jobs you have time to do while you are there. There are points when you are stuck in the store because you have a high volume of orders to wait for, or there are no orders for you quite yet. Usually, with this time you will be asked to help run a pizza or clean a table or cut pizzas or something along those lines. Welcome to the team! You are appreciated. 

Chapter 3 – Kitchen

Kitchen is one of the more straightforward jobs at Round Table, but there are times when you need to know how to move more efficiently. 

The kitchen job is very fun and rewarding with a lot of practice. At first there is a lot to learn, toppings to understand, special pizzas and crust to handle, but over time it will become second nature. The training for the kitchen is very hands-on. The most important parts to remember are to read the tags and measure your toppings. Mistakes start at the register, but it is your job to make what is on the tag. The kitchen has 3 different checkpoints to find mistakes. Head of the Line, the Make Line, and Cut and Wrap. 

• Head has the responsibility to get the correct crust size and type, sauce amount and type, cheese amount, spinach, garlic. The foundation of the pizza relies on the Head.
• Make Line not only has to make sure they read the tag correctly and put the right toppings on, but also to double check the crust has been made appropriately. If it is not, the Head must be made aware so they can remake it.
• Cut and Wrap is the final checkpoint before the pizza goes to the customer and checks to make sure the pizza is made as directed by the cashier. 

All of these jobs work together as a team to make sure that the pizzas come out perfectly. Communication is key in the kitchen. 

Always make sure your kitchen is stocked, and communicate to the PIC if you are running out of an item so they can pass this information to other employees and customers. 

Big orders are very time consuming, but with a good team, they can go by quickly. When it is just one person or two in the morning for example, I like this certain process: Dock all of the skins, then sauce all of the skins, then apply toppings. Doing Dock-sauce-topping one after the other is great for when you have a series of orders, but with a larger volume of pizzas, this process works better for me. Each person and team works differently, but this is generally how I like to do it. The main thing that matters is that you communicate with each other until you find what is most efficient for you.

Cut and Wrap

Cut and wrap is one of the most important jobs in the store to know. It goes beyond cutting pizzas, and onto multitasking and tracking many different things at once. The jobs on cut and wrap include cutting pizzas, saucing wings, and doing final touches on sandwiches. 

COVID-19 Update

Covid has obviously changed the world a lot, so Buffet is not available until further notice. We aren’t even sure if it will open back up, but this information is here in case it is necessary.

Buffet

In the morning shift, while the prep person is taking their break, it is the manager’s job to make the first set of buffet pizzas. The skeleton amount of pizzas to make are:

• Half Hawaiian / Half Local Favorite 
• Half Pepperoni / Half King Arthur’s Supreme
• Half Cheese / Veggie
• 2 Full Pepperoni 
• 2 Full King Arthur
• 2 Full Local Favorite
• 1 Hawaiian
• 2 Cheese

The following tips apply to buffet, but these tips also apply to when there are several pizzas that need to be made. 

When making these pizzas, we will use the buffet as an example. We like to Dock all of the skins, then sauce all of the skins, then apply toppings. Doing Dock-sauce-topping one after the other is great for when you have a series of orders, but with a larger volume of pizzas, this process works better.

Chapter 4 – Management, Shift Supervisor, etc.

Where do I even begin? You are the Person In Charge (PIC), and you have a long list of duties. At a super basic and surface level explanation: we break down management into Openers and Closers. I will break down those in detail in their own chapters, but this is a chapter dedicated to the many general responsibilities that managers/shift supervisors have at all times of day. 

Saladino’s 

Saladino’s is fun when you know what you’re doing. The process has changed a lot in my time with Round Table. When I started, we would account for the inventory in the morning, then place it over the phone later when Saladinos would call us. Now we are in a place where we account for the inventory the night before the morning we usually order, then place the order online via the Saladino’s website. This may change depending on the flow of the scheduling, but the bottom line is that our orders are due Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday by 3pm. We always receive the order the following day: Monday, Thursday, and Saturday. 

The franchise owners designed a sheet that shows you how many items we should keep on hand at a time, and when it is time for you to learn Saladinos, an experienced manager should give you detailed explanations. 

“First in, First out” (not to be confused with “Last in, First out”) is a policy that really helps with your order placing. It is a phrase we use to describe how to organize. When you receive orders, you want to make sure that your older items are in the front, so we know to use them first. Newer items, if necessary, should go in the freezer, so they can be kept fresh. Ensure that there is a system of moving items out of the freezer, so new items can go in. 

It is important to make sure that you don’t overwhelm the store with too much produce or meat so you don’t run out of storage or let things spoil/go bad. 

Make sure that all of your meats, dairy, and produce are labeled with dates so we are aware of how much time we have to use these items. Veggies and meat spoil faster than you think, so keep on top of it. A very important thing is cheese. 

Breaks

One of your jobs is to issue breaks. I like to plan breaks according to who arrived at work first. Guidance from the franchise owner should come first, but you do need to take into consideration the productivity of your shift. The second it slows down is the time to send people on breaks. 

I personally like to give the kitchen people the freedom to take breaks when they can, as long as they communicate it with me. They are very smart and know how to prioritize, so just communicate with them.

Taking breaks as a manager is tough because you need to trust that the store is in good hands while you are away. I like to give dispatch responsibilities to a driver or cashier I can trust, as well as making sure the kitchen is running smoothly.

“Last in, First out” (not to be confused with “First in, First out”)

This phrase is a tool we use to describe managers in general. Our job is to make sure everything is happening smoothly. We cannot do this if we are stuck in the kitchen or on phones or with customers. When we are stuck in these spots, we lose the big picture and lose track of time. This risks us losing grasp of our shift. 

Typically, I recommend that the manager stays on Cut and Wrap. This station is 1: in the middle of the store and 2: is in front of the screen with all of the orders. You can see where every order is in the kitchen, which helps you dictate the correct take out wait time. You can also quickly check delivery dispatch when you need to put in orders for your drivers. 

“Last in, First Out” says that if you need to help in the kitchen or on the register or phone or whatever it is, it is only for a brief moment before you remove yourself and go somewhere else. You need to make yourself available to help your cashiers, or handle unique customer situations on the phone. 

“Aces in their places!” 

This is one of those phrases that our franchise owner is famous for. The whole store would repeat it on busy Friday and Saturday nights. It kind of faded out with the 2017-2019 era of employees, but it was very funny and very relevant. It sounds silly when he was stressed out and hollering that at everyone, but it is good advice. This means to be in the position that you are best at. Put everyone where they perform the strongest and you have the best chance at success. 

Shouldn’t this be all the time? In a perfect world, yes, but on days where it is a little bit slower and more manageable, we should be training people and letting them become Aces in their own spots. “Aces in their Places” is a philosophical tool that helps ensure productivity and efficiency. This minimizes mistakes and ensures happy customers. 

Asking for help

This job is very stressful on busy nights. You may feel overworked and understaffed, but there is nothing wrong with asking for another person. Sometimes the other RTP location is not busy and they may be able to spare you a driver. Sometimes Farzin is in town and can just pop in for a couple hours to help. The worst that can happen if you ask for help is everyone will say “No.” 

If you are stuck with your crew and it is too busy for you, be realistic with yourself and what you can handle. Change the wait times to ridiculously accurate times. Sometimes delivery time will get up to 2.5 hours, and take out time may be 45-55 minutes. This isn’t common, but you do need to be realistic and honest with your customers. Tell your customers that you apologize for the long wait, but unfortunately you don’t have enough employees to make things happen as quickly as you’d like. Their orders may take a while, but their food WILL be fresh. You’d just better make sure that their pizzas have no mistakes. Customers are usually understanding. It’s just important that you are honest. If something changes and a delivery was told 1.5 hours, but now that you are reassessing the situation, it looks like it might take about 2.15 hours, CALL THE CUSTOMER. Remember they are human too, and half of them have worked in your position before, or have kids who are. See the section on Customer Service for a more detailed description of this. 

Coupons/Discounts/Rewards/Specials/Catering

Coupons are annoying to deal with mostly because we never know what we accept and what we don’t accept. Coupons are constantly changing so frequently that even the franchise owners don’t know what we are doing or not doing. They do make their own coupon strips that go out in the mail, and at one point that was all we accepted, but over time it did change and we accepted more coupons. 

General Rules on coupons:

• No retailmenot.com coupons
• No VIP passes
• Must be from Round Table
• Must be physical coupon (because the owners get reimbursed from corporate)
• We do accept competitor coupons, but we match as close as we can
• If the coupon is not for our locations, then we treat it as a competitor coupon and honor the deal as close as we can. 

Rewards: As far as I know, in March 2021, we do not participate in the rewards program. We do not yet have a system or the technology to track and honor rewards, so we cannot do anything like that. We do, however, honor 10% off for AAA and Military. Due to the pandemic we offer 15% off to Health Care workers. For all 3 of these cases, their card/ID MUST be shown. 

Coupons over the phone: When a customer tells you over the phone that they have a coupon, they need to know that they have to present the coupon/card. On a delivery, there is no guarantee that they will actually give it to the driver, but for a take out order, we need to wait to enter the coupon into the system until they arrive to pick up their order. This is so that we can make sure we actually honor the coupon. Cashiers sometimes are unsure, so they just honor all of the coupons. We are not supposed to do this. Policies do change, so double check with the franchise owner. 

Online Coupons/Specials: Sometimes a customer will ask you about online coupons and specials, but here’s the thing: corporate puts out so many deals and hijacks the online system, and our franchise owners know nothing about it! Sometimes the coupon code will not work for the customer, and this is usually because our store does not honor that coupon. A good rule of thumb is that if you don’t recognize the coupon, we probably don’t honor it.  

Specials for our store are concrete: Corporate will usually make one special that all RTPs have to make, but sometimes we have our own unique specials. The same rule of thumb follows: If a customer introduces a special you don’t recognize, we are not a participating location. You can ask the franchise owners about it later to make sure. 

Combining Coupons: COUPONS ARE NOT ELIGIBLE WITH OTHER OFFERS OR WITH EACH OTHER. The only time combining discounts is acceptable is when they have a discount from a previous customer service issue. The previous situation was our fault, and it is on us to mend that wound. The kids meals also can be combined with other offers. 

Catering Packages/Bundles

Catering packages, bundles, and discounts work the same. They are a little complicated when you need to figure out the discount. It is simple addition and subtraction, but it is important to know what numbers to use. When determining the amounts, you need to be working with the subtotal amount, not the price after tax. 

• For example, a previous special was a bundle: Large 1-topping and 6 twists for $21.99. A large 1-topping is 23.99. 6 twists costs 7.99. At the end of the day, these two items are supposed to cost 21.99.
  • Formula: 
• item 1 subtotal + item 2 subtotal = total subtotal 

• Total subtotal – desired total = discount amount
• 23.99+7.99=31.98 total subtotal → 31.98-21.99 = 9.99  discount 
• apply discount -> 23.80 after tax 

Catering packages work with the same formula, there’s just more numbers! 

Fundraisers, Businesses

Shift Supervisors do not handle this. Any time you get this sort of thing, write it down for the franchise owner to call them. Do not guarantee that they will call though. They might not.

NEVER GIVE OUT FRANCHISE OWNER CONTACT INFO BY ANY MEANS

Employee time off requests

You’re the lucky manager who gets to deal with time off requests. There are a few simple rules. Any exceptions are dealt with by the franchise owner. 

1. Only 2 requests per day
2. Must be 4 week in advance

4 weeks is kind of ridiculous, but that’s just the rule. You can accept them if they are early, but honoring it on the schedule is up to the franchise owner. Just communicate that with your employee. 

2 requests per day is not normally an issue, but employees do pile up at times. It does change depending on who is asking for time off. Prep people do not always have someone to cover them, and neither do managers. When someone requests time off, it is important to make sure there is someone to cover them on those days. 

Customer situations/compensations

Working in any job whether it is retail or food, manager, cashier, or driver, is heavily based in customer service. The main thing to remember is that the skill you will practice a lot in this job is compromising and problem solving with others. This is a skill you will take into many of your jobs and relationships in the future. Customers are unbearably rude at times, but unfortunately, it is understandable. Our customers happen to be hungry ones, and the company we work for happens to be infamous for its steep prices. With steep prices comes steep responsibility though. These customers expect a lot from us, and there isn’t any reason why we can’t provide that to them. We will handle situations where their orders are late, cold, damaged, made incorrectly, double charged, etc. These are all situations that we must handle. 

At first glance, this is overwhelming, but it really isn’t bad as long as you go into it with the right mindset. I try to put myself in the customer’s shoes when they are upset. This helps me empathize with them, but it also reminds me that they are humans, not just fully loaded “Karens.” As much as you may empathize with them and want to give them their money back when they demand it, we do walk a fine line between obeying Franchise Policy and pleasing the customer. There is a logical thought process to dealing with various situations and is what must be followed. The number one rule is we do not issue refunds unless we get the food back from the customer. Although it seems like an easy way out of a painful phone call with a customer, there is hardly a case where this is acceptable to Farzin. Not only does it take away money and food from the business, it also risks losing a customer since they may just want nothing to do with us at this point. 

Here is a general thought process that I have that seems to work when I handle customer situations. 

1: order is made incorrect> apologize, offer a remake exchange*> they don’t accept remake > offer a discount***** on the order if possible** > accept or not> not accepted, want refund>order can only be refunded if driver picks up the order. “We are not in the business of giving away free food.” – Franchise Owner

2: Order is late>apologize, track down the driver and let customer know how much longer>if upset, reassure them the food will be hot/fresh,*** >offer discount if necessary>refund policy still valid.

3: order is cold/not fresh>apologize, offer remake>if not accepted> offer discount on today or next order>refund policy remains the same

*remake exchange is only valid if the customer can supply the pizza they did not like. If they ate most of it already, you can offer them a size down for the exchange of the rest of the pizza. Sounds tacky, but this is done so the customer can’t be given basically 2 pizzas**** for the price of one. 

**discounts cannot be applied to online payment orders because of the nature of online payments going through onosis. Do not be afraid to explain this to the customer, but find a middle ground!

***If food is not hot and fresh you may end up with another phone call. When compounded with late and/or incorrect order, the compensation may be heavier. 

****If the customer is hesitant about the remake but asks if you can throw something in with the order, YES, but don’t go overboard. Examples of extras that the customer may appreciate: make the pizza a bigger size than the original, wings or twists (i usually go for smaller portions, never a 24 piece or 12 piece), soda, salad, etc. 

*****discounts are fun, but start low or go based off of the situation. Start with 10% then move up from there or meet customers halfway. Generally we do not go over 25% (rarely 50%), unless there is a very unique situation. Some managers do specific discounts. For example, if someone’s wings were the specific issue, the manager will offer a $7.49 discount as a credit. 

Generally, I try to keep it very human when handling these customer situations. I am very honest when these things happen and I am very empathetic. 

• “I know you guys are hungry and I’m so sorry your order is late, I will have it get to you as soon as possible. Sometimes our drivers get unexpectedly held up while on other deliveries, but I know he is in the area. How about I mark you down for 10% off your next order?”
• “Those bags we bring your orders in are designed to hold food for extended periods of time, so even with a hold up like this, your food should be fresh. If you are not pleased with the quality, please let me know so I can help you out. My name is ___ and you can ask for me by name.” 
• “I’m so sorry your order is running a little bit behind! We got super busy out of nowhere and are working on it right now. I expect it should be out in 7-10 minutes. Would you like a soda or salad while you wait?”
• “I understand the wait is frustrating, we totally goofed that up. Thanks for your patience! May I apply a discount to your order?”
• “Oh no! We totally messed up the crust type on that. Hey, while I’m remaking it do you want me to go ahead and make that a bigger size? No? Okay no problem. Is there anything I can throw in for you, like wings or twists? Awesome, I’ll get working on everything. Thanks for waiting.”
• “I can get this remade and out of the oven for you within 10 minutes. Is that okay? I’ll even make it myself and make sure it is absolutely perfect. Would you like a soda or anything while you wait?”

It is best to be ahead of the customer when you notice that an order is going to be late. This is definitely a policy, and realistically there isn’t any time to call the customer, but we should do this every time:

• “Hi, this is ___ with Round Table. I’m calling for ___ in regards to a delivery order. I wanted to let you know about a change tonight. We underestimated how long your order would be, and it looks like I won’t even have it in the oven for another hour… I know you guys are hungry, and I’m so sorry for the delay, but I promise your order will be hot and fresh. Will that be fine? *if necessary, offer appropriate compensation whether it is discount or extra food*”

Sometimes things don’t go smoothly.

• “In order to do a refund, we will need to take the food back in order for inspection….. Yes, I understand the feeling that you should keep the food, but unfortunately this is store policy. I am happy to offer you a remake exchange or give you a free portion of wings on your next order, but unfortunately a refund is the one thing I cannot do without taking back the order.” 
• “Unfortunately we did turn our ovens off for the night, so I cannot do a remake, but if you hold onto the pizza and return it, we can keep your info in our system and offer you a remake at a later date.”   

If the customer situation is truly not something that you can immediately solve, then take down their information so that another manager can contact them at a later time.

• “I understand you are upset, but unfortunately, I am not authorized to give full refunds or free pizzas. I would be happy to write down your information so we can have our higher management contact you and reach a solution.” 

NEVER GIVE AWAY FRANCHISE OWNERS’ CONTACT INFORMATION. ALWAYS WRITE DOWN THE CUSTOMER INFO AND MAKE SURE TO TELL THEM THEY WILL BE CONTACTED BY YOUR BOSS. 

Chapter 5 – Opening Procedures

The opener generally has a very simple job, but the most important. You will hear Farzin say it a million times “Set the night crew up for success.” As many times he says it, and as busy as you may be, it really is your central job in the morning. 

You start the day with these simple tasks:

• Count the safe (including registers), ensure that it is the same amount as the previous evening (it should be at $1000, and if not there should be a note explaining why)
• Turn on all the lights in the store, if prep has not done so already, including beer lights
• Turn on the TVs and music. Volume should not be on the TV unless you are in the party room or if a customer asks. Even so, keep it a modest volume.
• Check chairs and tables to make sure they aren’t still tampered from vacuuming at closing.
• Appropriately assign registers and drivers. Assure that the oven is turned on. (sometimes prep forgets. Ideal time to turn on is 15-30 minutes before opening)
• Check for any parties during the day. If so, check with other managers and make sure parties are confirmed. If not, call the customer to confirm.
• Check for time orders and plan your day accordingly
• If necessary, start making orders or buffet. 
• Oh, and make sure your prep person is on break by 10:30. You need them clocked back in by the time you open.

Chapter 6 – Closing Procedures

FRONT

• Tables wiped
• Sweep big things out from under tables
• Vacuum 
• Clear rugs and put in game room/underneath table by door
• Sweep tiles
• Mop tiles
• Salad bar (Prep person does want salad to be refilled before the containers are closed so while closing, if you are not pressed for time, refill it enough so you can still put the lids on it.)
• Sodas (pink soap and water mix)
• Turn off TVs, beer lights, salad bar, beer glass freezer, and the warmer (flipped to the right side)

DISHES

• Clean everything pretty much then sweep and mop. Put stuff away as well if not pressed for time.
• A helpful tip for dishes is to also get the big items out of the way first and to ORGANIZE.
• Organizing is something that should be done before you start dishes so you can prioritize the items that take up the most space. 
• It also helps that all plates, bowls and containers are brought up to the front or their correct places so there’s room for incoming dishes to be stored.

KITCHEN

• Refill then flip toppings into new containers. Flip all except pepperoni, sausage, olive, and mushroom. 
• Clean the inside of make line 
• Wipe off the cabinets and the cutting boards of make line (if you are still open and making pizzas, put down plastic so you don’t have to clean it again later
• Throw away all of the leftover twists inside the make line
• Don’t forget to take out the pans from the skins so that they can get cleaned before the night ends 
• Sweep
• Mop; make sure walk-in and office are done

ROLL BACK (This is for kitchen,  dish room, manager, driver– whoever has the most time)

• You can start as soon as it’s slow enough but don’t try to do it too much earlier than 9. 
• Make sure that the pound scale is calibrated before you start.
• Now just put the skins on the scale. Make sure none of the wax sheets are on them. If they are hard to remove, then cut around the shitty part, or just throw away the skin. 
• The skins must come to 17 ½ lbs, then start on the next roll. 
• Once you have your pile flatten it out so it can go through the rolling machine
• Now the machine has to be turned on and at 8. Depends on your preference or ask the manager. 
• It will come out once, fold it in half (hot dog style), then it goes thru again and roll it up
• Label the bag with “scrap, date, weight, your name” then put it in the walk in

MANAGER

• Cash out drawers; Don’t forget to check for gift certificates/other/100s&50s/tips
• Put all above in the deposit bag along with the tips
• MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ENOUGH DOUGH AND SAUCE FOR THE NEXT DAY
• Record tips from online orders (separate paid online orders without tips on them> check in POS thru order management>if there is tip in POS, add it on onosis website by: type in long 7 digit order number>tip>type tip>OKAY>should be done) This step must be done before the day ends, or else that tip money is coming out of Farzin’s pocket.
• Make sure you have driver cash outs before you close credit cards. 
• After all drawers are cashed out and put in the safe, count the safe: the blue cash bag and the coins, then record in the Safe Binder. Should all come to 1000. 
• Count tips from the deposit bag then record in the Safe Binder as well.
• If all driver cash outs are turned in at this point, then go to amounts and credit cards and close that then open a new one for the next day. 
• After you settle credit cards, print out the settlement report and put it in the day’s deposit bag and then drop that bag in Farzin’s safe. 
• Now all you have to do is print out the clock in/out report, which you can’t do until everyone has clocked out, so go help everyone else close their part. Start with the kitchen, then front, then dishes. The order of these goes by your discretion. The manager closing doesn’t usually take more than 5minutes or so, so I normally help everyone else then do my stuff when everyone else is wrapping up their jobs. 
• When everyone else is clocked out, print the clock in/out report and hole punch it and put it in its binder!
• Make sure the back door is locked, and lights are turned off (the ones behind the pepsi fridge in front also) then you set the alarm and leave!

Tip from my trainer and shift supervisor who changed Round Table for the better and gave employees the spirit that keeps us alive:

“Like everyone who’s closing has a specific job and the manager can kind of do what they want (make boxes or ranches or whatever), but the manager should really focus on helping the workers complete their tasks (rollback, taking the trash out, closing salad bar, anything that will speed up the process). You need to make sure you are doing the most essential closing tasks so you get out on time. So when I do dough rollback I don’t have a front person, its just two kitchen closers and me. I ask them to keep an eye out for customers since I cant see them and I usually have time to do the rollback, but if they tell me there is a customer, then I go and help them quickly and get back to rolling. Also, no more dine in after 9-9:10 if you close at 10.”