Owning a restaurant has its own challenges because there are numerous aspects that must be top level. Starting from food, drinks, atmosphere, layout, and obviously, customer support. Here are five ways to improve your restaurant.
Be Militant When It Comes To Hygiene
Having a clean restaurant is important because even a wine glass with smudged lipstick will give customers a bad impression of your establishment. That’s why you must be militant with regards to cleanliness, particularly if you want to avoid pests. If you get rats or other pests, you need to get rid of them instantly, otherwise you risk closing your business. Hire a pest control as soon as you find them and avoid opening your restaurant until the infestation is totally gone. Even if you try to eliminate the problem, customers who see any pests will instantly turn sour.
Train Your Staff Well
Customer service is something of the utmost importance in the food industry. Much of a customer’s experience will be determined by the service from your staff. If the kitchen is having a bad day in the kitchen, it is surprising how great customer support can put a stop to the complaints. Customers want a connection with the staff serving them, and with excellent care and attention can generate repeat customers who will help keep your business afloat during the quieter periods of the week. Responsible for correctly training your staff. There should be good etiquette in every restaurant, and it also depends on the type of restaurant you have.
Be Honest With Waiting Time
Everyone will expect to wait for their food, and if there’s a wait, then they will wait so long as you give them. While it is tempting to lie and reassure them by saying it will take less time, be honest. Make sure staff are aware of common check-ins with the kitchen when orders are placed to make sure waiting times do not escalate. It can be a common problem why customers will get aggravated that a staff member might say one waiting time when it’s for the kitchen it’s different. Keep communication clear at all times. Customers will respect you more than if you lie. Tips for waiting time is to keep the customer busy and maybe offer a free snack.
Use Technology
That technology use it only gets better, and since of that, more and more businesses are using it in their business. Consider introducing a phone or tablet as a way of taking orders that can go directly to the kitchen, meaning staff can then move on to serving other tables. Online reservations are common in most food and beverage establishments now because they allow businesses to understand how busy the place is during their opening hours. Over time, you can then make a decision whether you close at some point during the day or close the restaurant on certain days because it is too quiet.
But as at all times, with regards to technology – it can go wrong. So be sure you have a backup system, so that everything continues to run smoothly.
Take Customer Complaints Seriously
Some people enjoy complaining, and you might be capable to filter those trying to get a freebie to those who are genuinely unhappy with their experience. So every time you have a genuine complaint, take it seriously. In the end, word of mouth is a strong thing, and one negative review can be hard to recover from. Sometimes it may be as easy as giving them a free drink but at all times going beyond the call of duty to sort out why the customer is unhappy.
This industry can absolutely be a competitive one, but with the right improvements, your restaurant’s popularity can continue to grow.
