Both opening and sustaining a successful hospitality business after the recent pandemic can be a horrifically daunting task.
The high cost of rent, overheads, on top of various everchanging restrictions and a difficult recovery from Covid 19 make running a restaurant very difficult. This, on top of most guests seeking fine dining experiences at low prices can make the balance between profitability and customer experience a tightrope. Nonetheless, here are three things every owner can implement into their business.
Investing In a Top Of The Range Ordering System
You must have had customers at your restaurant who are in no rush to leave. These customers can slow down turnaround which, in turn, results in a long queue for diners in waiting. In some cases, you may even end up losing customers as they might plan on going to another restaurant due to a lack of availability or a huge delay.
This means that you need to aim for a higher table turnover rate, without making your guests forced out or the level of quality diminishing. By improving your table turnover rate, we mean increasing the number of customers that you will serve in a day. However, as already stated, this does not mean that you should rush customers through their experience.
You can achieve this by maximising your time management. This by ensuring that the orders placed are instantly sent to the kitchen as promptly as possible. These orders must be prepared and served to the guests promptly. To achieve this, you need a fantastic, state of the art order at table system for your restaurant. Slerp are just one company that offer great options for whatever your restaurant size. You also need to ensure that bills are presented and received quickly and promptly. The tables need to be cleaned and presentable as soon as your guests leave, and you should have varied table numbers ready for different party numbers. Quick and efficient service can make a real difference, so a top-quality ordering system is essential.
Invest in Word-of-Mouth Marketing
There’s no better, cost effective marketing solution than word of mouth. Customers who have a great time, will tell people they have a great time and customers who have a torrid time, will tell people they have even louder. When they visit your restaurant, you can try to recognize them, potentially even remember what they previously ordered or any feedback they had. If you have one, you can use your customer database to get this information.
Try and use this valuable data to recommend them something new or something similar to what they did before. Such actions will make them feel needed and valued. You can also give them a few offers. Restaurants create more sales through their regulars returning rather than trying to generate new custom. Hence retention of customers becomes essential. Your regular customers will also market you through word of mouth and by bringing in friends and family, which will be essential to keeping a steady income. Getting your customers to come back will forever be your most significant achievement as a restaurant owner!
Build a Menu That
Sometimes bigger isn’t better in the restaurant world. A smaller, more focused menu is often more successful than a large menu attempting to satisfy everyone. During a slow season or even worse, a similar situation to the pandemic, use your menu to attract new customers who want a specific cuisine or food type. Adjust your menu by offering items that have more appeal in a budget of your target audience. Understanding what guests want, what they can afford, and whether you can make a good profit on the meals in question is key to understanding how to run a successful restaurant.
Following these three tips will help you get more of a grasp on how to bounce back from this pandemic to run a successful dining business.
