Everything, your guests will react very positively to you when you use their name.
The sweetest word in the language is someone’s name. Guests in your restaurant get a huge charge out of feeling special. The quickest, easiest and most cost effective way to make your guest feel special is to use their name. Establishments spend obscene amounts of marketing dollars to create an atmosphere that encourages customer advocacy and forget one that is free. The return on investment for using a guest’s name is infinite. It costs nothing to discover their name and nothing to use it. It will increase sales faster than any “up sell” strategy in the marketplace.
There is one danger to using a name, it must be sincere. When your at a bank and the teller says “thank you Mr. Provenzano” at the conclusion of the transaction, that's a lie. The interaction is fake and alienates rather than connects. Train your staff and yourself to use people names as often and in as many situations as is appropriate, however do it with sincerity.
There is magic in a person’s name, use it!
