First is . What if the guests is already full? Give them options. Tell them what you can do and let them decide and what they would prefer. For example, a guest calls and wants a reservation at 7:00 p.m. on a Friday and you're . There's only a 6:30 and a 9:00 p.m. available. saying ‘sorry but 7:00 p.m. is full’, you would say ‘my first availability is at 6:30 p.m. and my next one is at 9:00 p.m. I also have a 7:00 p.m. available on Sunday. Do you have a preference’? You just gave the guests three options instead of saying ‘Sorry we’re already booked.’. This works and is very powerful.
Second is . ‘Can we get a table by the window’? If you can guarantee it, great, but you don't want to promise something that you can't deliver. Seating requests are easier to if they have an early reservation but what if their reservation is at 7 p.m. and the table before them just won't leave. Instead of promising a seating request, say ‘I'll put your seating request in my notes, I can't guarantee the table but we will do our best to accommodate your request’. and .
Third is . ‘Is it okay if we a few minutes late after our reservation? I'm coming from work’. Say for example you only have a 6:00 p.m. available on a weekday and that guest says they can make it close to that time but not quite at 6:00. Do not say ‘Sure, come whenever’! That could get you in trouble later if they show up twenty minutes late. Instead say ‘We have a on each table’. Does that give you enough time? If it does, great, if it doesn't, offer them the next available time.