As a restaurateur, you might be worried about the stiff challenges posed due to COVID-19. After all, impatient and cautious dine-in customers don’t prefer to wait in long queues anymore.
A survey states there’s been a sharp increase in restaurant reservations and transactions when restaurants resumed operations post lockdown. The latest trends underline why a reservation management system is important for your restaurant.
Reservation management systems have made life so simple that you don’t have to deal with multiple issues at the same time. Now, you can tackle customer complaints and arguments when you’re done with daily restaurant operations.
6 Unique Benefits of Reservation Management System
You might be wondering, ‘Why do you need a reservation management system?’ Let’s understand why a reservation management system is important and how it helps you attract and retain customers.
1. Manage Reservations on the Go
Gone are the days when restaurant staff had to stay tied to the reception desk and handle both walk-in customers and telephonic reservations. With inresto Guest and Reserve, you can experience cross-platform capabilities to manage bookings using tablets, laptops, smartphones, and other mediums 24/7. Consequently, the time your staff will save by being on the go will help you utilise them for other purposes like managing the user experience and improving operational efficiency.
2. Handle Reservations Across Platforms with Ease
Nowadays, almost all businesses have gone digital due to the convenience factor. Further, customers prefer to reserve the tables in advance, so they don’t have to wait in lines anymore. As per an Adobe survey, during COVID-19 lockdowns, 58% of the consumers in the Asia Pacific region increased their online shopping frequency.
One of the key benefits of the reservation management system is that it lets you effectively manage rush hour queues and reservations from multiple platforms such as Facebook, website and app, mobiles, tablets, and others. Additionally, you can also manage the walk-in-guests using the same interface.
3. Cut Down on Booking Errors Easily
Without a restaurant reservation system, managing bookings gets riddled with confusion and chaos. When you book restaurant reservations over the phone, you might mishear the number of reservations and end up booking an incorrect number. You might also face situations where customers reserved the tables in advance and find someone else in their seats when they reach the restaurant. With integrated inresto’s reservation management system, you can enjoy hassle-free processes and serve your customers in the best possible way. Further, with systems, you reduce the error rate significantly as compared to the traditional manual systems.
4. Reduce Customer Wait Times
No guest ever wants to stand next to the restaurant table waiting for their turn. Fortunately, you can get rid of this nagging problem forever, thanks to systems like inresto Guest and Reserve! The question: why a reservation management system is important becomes even more critical during the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s because customers prefer to get food safely and reduce their waiting time. With Guest and Reserve, you can effectively manage the customers outside the restaurant and ensure to follow proper social distancing.
As soon as a diner raises a reservation request over the call, mobile app, or as a walk-in customer, the system registers a reservation. As the restaurant owner, you can view the details of the booking on the mobile app. Based on real-time seat availability at your restaurant, you can assign a table according to customer preference. Adding this simple feature leads to a drastic reduction in customer wait times and a natural increase in word-of-mouth publicity for your restaurant. Thus, this feature is one of the major benefits of the reservation management system.
5. Enhance Operational Efficiency
With reservation management systems, billing operations are quite fast, and so, unnecessary delays and wait times are cut short. One of the major reasons customers don’t visit some restaurants is the undue delay in receiving a check after consuming food. In addition, you can experience a major reduction in the table turnaround times.
By efficiently managing tables, you can serve more customers with the same employee strength. In short, it adds to your restaurant’s profit with absolutely no need to increase the headcount of the employees. When you’re hiring an additional resource to serve the customer, it increases your total expenses.
6. Increase Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty
The question: why do you need a reservation management system is a justified one for every restaurant owner to ask. Here we’ll tell you how a good reservation management system improves customer experience.
Using 360-degree customer profiles, you can personalise and offer a unique dining experience for your customers. It’s simple to get valuable insights on customer preferences such as the place they prefer to sit at your restaurant and their preferred timings. Let’s assume a particular customer reserves a table at your restaurant for the first time, using the mobile app. Suppose he reserves the last table at the right-hand side corner of your restaurant. If he picks the same table next time as well, it’s a clear indication that he prefers to sit at the same corner.
Also Read: Why and How to create a customer loyalty program.
Another effective method of expanding your customer base is to engage with your customers in real-time through the reservation management system. You can develop a personalised landing page and enhance engagement by planning customised events and using social media handles. Use social media presence to maintain relevance, improve your reach and build the brand value of your restaurant.
Parting Words
With COVID-19 on the horizon, the safety aspect is gaining more importance than ever before. In the current scenario, reservation management systems can make a real difference to your restaurant. On any given day, customers would prefer to book their reservation in advance and avoid contactless dining as much as possible. In this highly competitive era, you can carve a space of your own by offering a seamless reservation management system to your customers. Ultimately, customer delight will naturally lead to more business and higher profits for your restaurant brand.
