Opportunities are abound with social media. It is truly a fantastic platform to build your restaurant’s brand and communicate with customers. While doing that, however, it is important not to do a couple of things. Here are 3 simple things NOT to do with social media:

1) Don’t Ask For Favors
If you don’t know someone well enough to ask for a cup of sugar, then you don’t know them well enough to ask them to write about or promote your restaurant. Don’t publicly ask for a review. Instead, you can publicly recognize the customers that do review your restaurant with a “Thank You” and a link to the review. Ask them to introduce themselves to the manager the next time they visit. You might be able to provide them a complimentary dessert, or at least, an in-person “Thank You”.

2) Don’t Ignore Your Customers / Be a Jerk
This may sound too simple, but it’s worth saying. You’re using social media to establish relationships and build awareness for your restaurant, right? So – get social! Respond to messages, get involved in conversations, and don’t miss opportunities to communicate with some of your most valuable customers. It is certainly better NOT to use social media than to use it and NOT engage with customers. If customers send you tweets and you ignore them, they will think you’re a jerk, especially while sending out other tweets.

3) Don’t Send Auto-Direct Messages
Using auto direct-messages on Twitter is essentially Spam. Don’t bother someone with a generic direct-message that says: “Thanks for the follow!” or something similar. It’s a very hollow way of thanking someone. If you’re doing this, stop. Don’t take the “social” out of social media. You can lose followers and relationships when they forget why they’re there. People want to interact with you and your restaurant. They are interested in news, updates, and deals – not meaningless auto-direct messages.

This incident could have been disastrous for this restaurant, but cooler heads prevailed.

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees ordered takeout at Del Mar Rendezvous, a Chinese restaurant in San Diego, CA, where he used to live and where he is still involved in the community.  The order was in excess of $70.  Somehow, a picture of the receipt got into the hands of a website called The Dirty.  The website posted the photo and called Brees a cheap (insert expletive) for tipping three dollars on the order. 

Daniel Shalom Schreiber, one of the partners of Del Mar Rendezvous, did several smart things very quickly.  1) He took responsibility for the incident and apologized to Brees for the unwanted attention.  2) He determined the receipt did not come from the restaurant staff (it sounds like a rogue guest snapped the photo during the brief moment the receipt was exposed).  3) He wrote and posted a very classy letter on the restaurant’s website explaining the situation, apologizing to Brees again, praising  him for his benevolence in the San Diego community, and also pointed out that the tip was, in fact generous, as most customers don't tip for takeout at his restaurant.  4) He donated $888.88 to the Brees Dream Foundation (eight being a lucky number in Chinese culture). 

In our opinion, Schreiber took a potential disaster and turned it into a PR success by being calm and thoughtful.  For that, we give him a NetWaiter salute.  In addition, his personal donation to the Brees Dream Foundation was above and beyond the call of duty.

Let the record reflect that THIS WAS A TAKEOUT ORDER.  Tips on takeout orders are not typically expected, because the level of “service” (if any) is miniscule, especially compared to dine-in orders.  As most waiters/waitresses would acknowledge, any tip on a takeout order is appreciated, regardless of the amount.  Mr. Brees, it doesn’t matter how much money you make or how many passing yards you throw, your tip should NOT be considered small.  The irony is, if no tip was left, there probably wouldn’t be any controversy.  Regardless, it sounds like Mr. Schreiber and the restaurant staff certainly do appreciate your business and tip.

 If true, it’s unfortunate that a rogue guest thought it was important to 1) take a picture of Brees’s receipt and 2) get it posted online in an attempt to embarrass him.  That’s completely classless.  For that, we think you’re a jackass.