Restaurants and their customers have undergone drastic changes in the ways they interact with each other. Restaurants have gone all out on digitizing their front and backend processes. Technology has penetrated into all walks of life and has revolutionised the functioning of every single industry, including FnB.
Tech tools have simplified the process of managing and growing a restaurant’s business. Here’s a sneak peek into the everyday routine of a restaurateur, then and now:
THEN:
– Arrival at 8:30am
– Check reports one by one on office computer
– Refer to previous night’s shift notes to get an idea of how the business was
– In case if any clarification is needed, call key contacts
– Run morning staff huddle
NOW:
– Arrival at 9:30am
– Check reports batch wise on office computer or mobile phone
– Run key performance data for the previous night report on tablet or smart phone to check how the business was
– Virtual morning staff huddle. Save up time if your restaurant does not open before lunch time
Scheduling the rest of the day:
THEN:
– Take out a pen and paper and start taking notes like in school.
– Hunt for bits and pieces of paper on which the daily schedule was scribbled in case a specific shift on a particular day or leaves are required
NOW:
– Log in to Torqus.com and make the schedule for everyone or choose from the pre-set schedule already created that everyone has to follow.
– Notify the shift details to all the respective teams
– Manage time off, keep a tab on shift adjustment, all from a mobile device
Menu Refinement:
THEN:
– Compare nitty gritty like food cost, list of ingredients, sales made, food wasted, etc. by using hand-written notes
– Base purchase and production decision on assumptions and gut feelings about what sells and what doesn’t
– Based on anecdotal assumptions, decide which items to keep and which items to discard
NOW:
– With the help of the Torqus restaurant software, slice and dice all your data, not just that of the previous day, to accurately make decisions about which menu items are lucrative, which ones should be tweaked, which ones should be discontinued, and which ones are bringing customers back
– Get a notification on your smartphone when the food cost on a particular item exceeds its threshold
– Update/Edit menu on the go basis the data & reports
THEN:
– Spend forever to move from table to table and building relationships, after all remembering the birthdays and anniversaries is going to be based on how sharp your memory is
– Send over a dessert to a table, on the house, with the birthday boy/girl after you hear the guests singing the birthday song
NOW:
– Build relationships with your customers face to face, this is the one thing a software cannot do for you.
– Pinpoint your biggest spenders, frequent visitors, loyalists, and advocates using the restaurant management software and give them special treatment accordingly. Based on their ordering history, give them exclusive and customised offers/menus
– Get a daily report with birthdays and anniversaries so you can wish your customers and invite them for a meal
– Get a daily report of top selling menu items, beverage and food pairings, server preferences, etc. and make changes accordingly
– With the help of your integrated restaurant management software, incentivise first-time visitors, loyal customers, and those who have shown up after a while
Restaurant Marketing Strategy:
THEN:
– Once you have the marketing budget figured out, spread it across advertising platforms like radio, newspaper, events (Ex. Restaurant Week), coupons, and referrals.
– Pray that it works!
NOW:
– Make a clear cut advertising plan including SMS and email marketing, loyalty and referral programs, events and special promotions by leveraging on restaurant and/or food ordering apps or website.
– Measure the performance and effectiveness of every platform and optimise accordingly. Check if it gave you a bang for your buck.
Vacations and Leaves:
THEN:
– Yeah, right!
NOW:
– Keep a tab on all the happenings by checking in on your phone from a beach in Goa!
