Being in the restaurant industry, you must be well aware of the fact that how even a small change in a way your restaurant functions can impact your business in a big way. But what are these changes and how can a restaurant execute them with minimum efforts. Read on to find out:
1) Personalized Recommendations
Each of your customers has their own taste, which might be different from other customer’s needs or even your restaurant’s special dish. For example, if your customer is a fan of spicy food, then recommending a less spicy dish does not make sense, even if it’s a popular dish at your restaurant. Your customer would love if you recommend dishes based on their taste.
Solution – Keep Your Customer’s Timeline Handy
Keep a track of your diner’s timeline which includes details like last visit date, number of covers, frequently ordered dishes, billing history and much more. Before serving your customer, you can quickly have a look at his/her timeline and recommend dishes accordingly. Today, a restaurant management platform can not only help you collect this information but also help to analyze it so that you can offer a better dining experience.
2) Surprise Your Guest
Who doesn’t love surprises? Make your customer feel like a ‘celebrity’ by giving them something complimentary, especially on special occasions like birthday and/or anniversary. We are sure that your guest will love this gesture and your restaurant’s customer experience will surely stand out.
Solution – Offer Occasion Based Discounts
Keep customer information like birthday and anniversary handy with the help of a restaurant management app. Offer special discounts and communicate the same to your customers. Keep a small cake or dessert handy for such guests to give exceptional service.
3) Frequent Emails & SMS – A Big No-No
Stay in touch with your customers without spamming them. Not all your customers need to know everything that’s happening in your restaurant.
Solution – Go for Targeted Marketing Campaigns
Instead of sending every communication to each customer, divide your customers into various segments. Run targeted and personalized campaigns, informing them about exclusive offers and events in which they would be actually interested in.
4) Take Feedback Seriously
While bad customer experience is surely a deal breaker for your customer, not taking any action on that feedback is worse. Like mentioned above, your customer love to feel special. Another way of doing this is by taking your customer’s feedback (both positive & negative) very seriously.
Solution – Act Immediately On Negative Feedback
If your customer has appreciated your service, thank them, In case of negative feedback, apologize and act upon it as soon as possible. How to do that? With the help of a feedback management software, you can not only collect feedback but also analyze against each department (Food vs Ambience vs Service). Also, negative feedbacks are escalated to restaurant managers and other concerned authorities in real time so that you can do damage control before unhappy guest walks out of your restaurant.
Want to know more? Ask your customers directly!
The best way to understand what your customer wants is by asking them directly. Successful restaurants understand the importance of customer feedback. They depend upon well-designed cloud-based feedback system that collects data in one place, crunch it and make easy to understand reports to help restaurants address their concerns.
