- Amp Up Your Customer Service
Subpar F&B customer service makes our dining experience not so worthwhile. Maximum revenue potential cannot be reached without providing great customer service, even while serving great food or drinks. Great customer service is highly valued in the F&B industry.
Anticipating customers’ needs, checking in with your customers from time to time to see how your customers are doing and if they’re enjoying their food/drink, having servers taste and give frank recommendations to your customers so that some special items can be projected as a must-try on the menu, training your servers to set down plates and cups softly, processing payment in a timely manner so you don’t make your customers wait too long thus increasing table turnover rate, and cultivating and nurturing relationships with loyal/repeat customers tend to spend more than new customers.
- Employ Social Media
Restaurants have incredible prospects to promote their business and convey their brand online. Social media is free, is not time-consuming, and lets you bond with customers on an individual level. By commenting on your guests’ posts, sharing photos of your food and staff, and promoting exclusive offers for your followers, you create a community for your business that expands far beyond your physical setting. Social media helps increase awareness of your business in a world oversaturated by restaurant choices, and thus bring a surge in your restaurant sales.
- Offer Online Ordering
In order to increase your restaurant’s sales, you’ll need to make it easy for your customers to choose you over a competitor. If you offer online ordering, guests won’t be compelled to wait around just to be served. This allows your kitchen and staff to complete more orders in less time. This feature also makes you more discoverable online, and people will be able to order right from their computers or smartphones. Your guests want a convenient dining experience, not a complicated one. Make it easy for them and increase your sales at the same time by offering the option of online ordering in your restaurant.
- Start a loyalty or reward system
A loyalty card is a great way to increase the frequency of customers visiting your restaurant. In 2013’s second-quarter fiscal results, Starbucks saw a 26 percent increase in profit and an 11 percent overall jump in revenue due to its loyalty program- My Starbucks Reward.
The loyalty card scene is similar for small businesses. According to a study conducted by Manta and BIA/Kelsey, “Achieving Big Customer Loyalty in a Small Business World,” it was found that for those businesses that had a customer loyalty program in place, 64 percent claimed higher revenue than costs. This report also found that repeat customers spend 67 percent more on any purchase than new customers. The shift to mobile, especially in the food service consultant and beverage industry, has meant more options for restaurant owners looking to retain customers and increase profits. And, because digital-rewards mobile apps come in at very affordable prices, companies have the ability to subscribe to a program that fits their needs. Of course, there are more traditional loyalty and reward programs like punch cards, receipts, and membership cards.
- Use the Proper Restaurant Technology
Slow computers and cash registers can choke up your lines, handwritten orders can lead to mistakes or mix-ups from your kitchen team, and dated technology is not helpful either. Without a reliable POS system and the conforming features, your restaurant’s productivity is at risk of getting staggered, thus limiting the volume of sales you can process in a given time. Dated technology can also result in a frustrating experience for both your staff and your customers – causing both to leave. Instead, bring in a modern POS with a reporting feature so that you can restructure your operations and access all the data you need to know how to increase your restaurant’s sales.
Be it kitchen planning, laundry planning, facility management, or any other aspect of a food services consultant, food industry consultants can bring the expertise and knowledge that can help food businesses to make their mark in the increasingly competitive field. If you are looking for a food service consultant, the search ends at HPG Consulting, one of the most trusted food and beverage consulting firms in India. To discuss your requirements, fill out our contact form or call us at +91-9311-202-627 (India) or +971-56-373-8349 (Dubai).