Last week we talked about how the customer experience will play a large role in 2023 and how many restaurants have started creating beautiful, cozy, aesthetically pleasing places to gather with friends and family. The word experience covers many different aspects of a restaurant, affecting customers that dine-in, and even those ordering pick-up. Let’s look at a few ways restaurants can enhance their customer’s overall dining experience.
Dine-In
First, let’s talk about how restaurants can elevate their dine-in experience and what customers are hoping to find.
Menu prices have risen due to a number of reasons, including wage inflation and food cost. Customers, for the most part, will accept this increase, as long as they are satisfied with their overall dining experience. Did the restaurant deliver food in a timely manner? Was the server or cashier attentive to their needs? Was the restaurant clean? Did the restaurant offer any extra accommodations to enhance the experience? If the answer to these questions is yes, the customers will feel like the price increase is worth it.
A few ways you can be sure your restaurant is covering some of the basic customer service skills is to:
- Be sure your employees are thoroughly trained
- Have a cleaning checklist and make sure it is implemented
- Have a way to receive customer feedback
Take-out
Not only are customers wanting to have a great experience when they dine-in, but now they are also seeking equally excellent service when they choose to carry-out or order delivery. Here are some ideas you can utilize to make sure your customers walk away satisfied.
Online ordering from the restaurant’s website is going to be a great tool to help customers easily place an order.Having a loyalty program where guests can earn rewards will create more repeat customers and leave them feeling good about earning points for their order.
When someone places an order for delivery, restaurants want to be sure they are still delivering top notch service. Whether someone places an order from a third party service or from your own restaurant delivery, service should remain as consistent as possible. Make sure you are packaging food well, so that your food remains intact, warm, and fresh until it reaches the customer. Also, have a way for customers to leave feedback, so even though they may never have direct contact with someone from your restaurant, they can still have their voice heard and you can learn about anything that needs to be improved.
Remember, you don’t need to completely revamp your restaurant! You do need to evaluate your customer service experience, so see what makes sense for your restaurant and how you can improve. Customers are paying more and want to be sure they are getting their money’s worth. Not only that, but restaurants should want their customers to have an excellent experience whether they choose to dine-in or take-out!
