Last year, the number of restaurants in the UK fell for the first time in years, according to reports – and if you’re a restaurant owner, you already know why.
So instead of rehashing the challenges the industry is facing, in this blog I’m giving 6 great tips that will help you fight back.
After all, customers will always love to eat – and there are masses of moves you can make to bullet-proof your business.
So here are my 6 best ways to drive revenue through the roof you’re your restaurant management system:
1. Get them at tableside – at-table ordering is an upselling winner: FACT.
2. Mega menu design – ditch the dud dishes
3. Reach out to your customers better – go multi-channel
4. Turn happy customers into ambassadors – turn up the heat on loyalty
5. Smash new revenue streams – online ordering is the new eating-in
6. Get your decisions RIGHT – dump the guesswork and rely on data.
1. Get them at tableside
Did you know : customers who use Aloha Mobile as part of their restaurant management system see on average:
A sales increase of 8.5%
How? Serving staff using the restaurant management system use handheld devices ranging from dedicated units to tablets and smartphones to take customer’s orders at tableside.
The software gives automatic selling prompts that make it easy for servers to offer appealing additions to guests’ choices.
In addition, it’s easy to add extra items to the order later, which is particularly popular in small-plate restaurants such as tapas outlets.
Orders go direct to the kitchen, ensuring accuracy and a speed of delivery that is extremely pleasing to customers. Staff can take payments at tableside, too, creating a swift and seamless diner experience.
2. Mega menu design
Chefs are under huge pressure when designing menus. They have to stay within budget, make sure they are creating dishes that will appeal to guests, and be aware of allergen issues, all at the same time.
The best restaurant management systems incorporate menu-design tools that make this easy. They:
- Identify top-selling dishes
- Spot trends
- Enable ingredient substitutions to keep budgets under control
- Track potential allergens right down to ingredient level – a huge responsibility for chefs when allergic reactions cause around 10 fatalities each year in the UK
- Enable accurate procurement decisions.
So, you offer on-trend dishes that customers will love, on budget and with diner safety paramount at all times. Result!
3. Reach out to your customers better
In a competitive market, how do you drive up your revenue by making sure customers choose your restaurant?
It’s important to make sure you are available to them at all hours, and a multi-channel communication approach is the best way.
Your restaurant management system should enable monitoring of your social media reputation so your managers are alerted to any adverse posts straight away.
It means you can put any issues right immediately, before damage is done.
Data collected by your restaurant management system also makes it easier to reach out to your customers in a number of ways ranging from direct mail – an oldie but still a goodie – to text messaging and email.
4. Turn happy customers into ambassadors
You want your customers to be your friend, and while no restaurant management system can be a substitute for excellent hosting skills and great service, it can be a useful support.
Because you have useful data on your customers collected by the system, you know their preferences – vegan food, for instance – what they like to order and when they are likely to visit.
It means you can offer diners targeted offers that will genuinely appeal to them, and which are likely to bring them back again.
Even better, they will feel so well looked after that they will recommend your restaurant to friends and family – the best kind of publicity for driving up your revenue.
5. Smash new revenue streams
This is no time to be standing still, or resting on your laurels. Customers are enjoying dining in as much as dining out, and home delivery is a huge trend.
Delivery services such as Deliveroo are enabling restaurants who’ve never before been able to offer takeaway to open up new revenue streams, all thanks to their restaurant management system enabling online ordering.
6. Get your decisions RIGHT
Successful restaurateurs have great instincts – that’s well-recognised. But in an era when what diners want, how they use restaurants and what they even eat is changing fast, it can be hard to keep up.
When you’re planning moves to increase your revenue, restaurant management system takes away the guesswork – thanks to a wide range of comprehensive real-time reports that cover everything from sales to forecasting.
Making the right decisions now means success in future; that can’t hurt.
Waving a technology wand
There’s no spell to weave when it comes to making a successful restaurant, unfortunately.
But technology DOES provide a sort of magic wand to wave, helping you:
- Spot what’s working – and what’s not
- Offering on-trend dishes that sell well – in-restaurant and for delivery
- Providing a great guest experience that keeps customers happy
- Encouraging the sort of loyalty that keeps them coming back – and bringing friends.
Discover how a restaurant management system can do this right now for you
