Restaurant Efficiency:7 Steps to Becoming a Lean, Mean Machine!

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Do you struggle to get bookings some days, then get overwhelmed and have to turn people away at busy times?

Have you tried to get bums on seats by running generous offers, only to attract discount hunters who mostly

eat into your restaurant takings?

Do you ever lose money when no-shows and late cancellations leave you in the lurch?

IF YOU ANSWERED ‘YES’ TO ANY OF THE ABOVE, READ ON!

Here are 7 Steps to Becoming a Lean, Mean Machine...

STEP 1DITCH THE PAPER DIARY!

We know it’s tough. It’s been your trusty tome through thick and thin. But it’s time to say goodbye.

Get your bookings on a single, unified IT system - it’s the future!

STEP 2COMBINE RESERVATIONS AND PAYMENTS INTO ONE SYSTEM

Once you’re fully set up with a tech-based restaurant booking system, the next step is EPoS integration.

That means getting reservations & payments ‘talking to each other’.

Ever get the feeling your tables could be working harder?

An intelligent restaurant booking system will give your staff the power to fit in walk-ins and extra

bookings around existing reservations

They can be confident and proactive with a reliable view of what’s available, when and for how long.

STEP 3TREAT YOUR TABLES

LIKE A JIGSAW PUZZLE

STEP 4DON’T BE AFRAID TO OVERBOOK!

Now this one sounds like a shocker.

BUT with IT comes data, & with data comes power.

Armed with reliable past data, a clever manager can predict no-shows and over-adjust capacity slightly, to minimise losses and improve the odds of getting a full house.

STEP 5KEEP YOUR CUSTOMERS WAITING…

This is not about making your booked customers hang around.

It’s about being able to give walk-ins an accurate wait-time, helping you get more

diners in, instead of sending them away because you’re full.

Guess what? Tech makes it possible, right down to sending an automatic text to let them know their table is now free.

STEP 6EMBRACE THE SMARTPHONE

Customers already have. They’re using their phones to discover restaurants, browse menus and - crucially - book tables.

Did you know: 90% of mobile users searching for food convert into paying customers by the end of the day? £

Some pubs and restaurants are allowing customers to book and prepay a deposit

or the full amount.

STEP 7CONSIDER DEPOSITS

AND PREPAID BOOKINGS

Why not trial this at a busy or festive period, to see

how it could work for you?

• Ditch the paper diary: have everything in one single view available to all staff and feeding into online bookings

• Combine reservations and payments in one system: EPoS integration will give a real-time view of availability

• Treat your tables like a jigsaw puzzle: you can fit in more customers with a tech-powered overview of what’s free, when and for how long

• Don’t be afraid to overbook: use reliable past data to predict no-shows and book to the right capacity

• Keep your customers waiting: use a smart system to give accurate wait times and hold on to walk-ins even at busy times

• Embrace the smartphone: make your website mobile-responsive to encourage bookings, and consider pay-at-table apps to speed up service

• Consider deposits and prepaid bookings: This gives you more certainty and fewer losses from no-shows

LET’S RECAP: 7 STEPS TO BECOMING A LEAN, MEAN MACHINE!

Find out more about the latest application of technology in restaurants and pubs.

Crunch Time: How the restaurant booking system you choose could grow (or gobble up) your profitability

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