Valmira Rashiti from Kiwi is here will some helpful tips on how to use restaurant technology to build long-term guests.
How restaurants attract customers is usually by providing excellent food and positive staff manners. But reaching to potential customers and promoting the features of your place, may sometimes sound like rocket science. One has to come up with constant new training programs for employees to reach the top-notch level of services. However, with the help of technology, this process has never been easier!
Why? Because thanks to the latest innovations, you can now increase your business’s presence, both physically and virtually speaking. People have understood that technology is here to stay and that they have to adapt to its demanding need for changes if they want to succeed.
But how is the restaurant industry benefiting from this tech-revolution, in the aspect of creating long-term relationships with guests?
Reducing Waiting Lines
There are two outstanding facilities nowadays that are easing the ways we order our food, or we pick a place to dine.
- Table Restaurant Management
- Foodservice kiosks
Both of these options lead to one key component of customer satisfaction – time reduction. Nobody likes to wait in line waiting for a table to be released, or to wait in long lines until it’s their time to order.
Table Restaurant Management is a software that is usually provided with a waitlist app & waitlist management, reservation management, as well as detailed analytics that will make your staff’s job easier and your business more efficient. You can reduce any errors in table reservations, and customers can understand when tables are available through a text on their smartphones.
Whereas foodservice Kiosks provides customers with the feeling of control by allowing them to interact with digital menus and select and pay for their orders using self-service technology. When you look at both these options on a long term perspective, you understand that their efficiency benefits both the staff and the customers, and it’s a win-win situation.
The Power of Social Media Analytics
It is amazing how deeply you can now understand your customer’s choices, preferences, and even social behaviors by using analytic tools. The all-time struggle in the restaurant industry was always adapting to trends, seasons, and changes that customers want in their business. That’s because in most cases, they had no clue about customer opinions. Instead, they would simply lose them without knowing why.
However, nowadays through Social Media analytics, you can get insights on who they are, what menu items they liked the most in your menu or how they feel about your restaurant through their comments and other feedback. You will encounter destructive or constructive criticism, but you will certainly learn from both.
You can use all this data even to personalize menus and add all sorts of vegan, gluten-free, non-dairy recipes that you have understood comes as a guest’s demand. The power of personalization will provide a solid connection with you and your guests and will have them coming back.
Digital Marketing
How you spread the word about your restaurant on social media can make a huge difference. According to a survey conducted from TripAdvisor “Influences on Diner Decision-Making”, 94% of US diners are influenced by online reviews, whereas the rate of influence in the UK is 87%.
No wonder that restaurants are in constant pressure of finding new ways to attract their customers, and knowing how to use the advantages of digital marketing properly can save up so many of your struggles.
Whether you decide to use Facebook, Instagram, or other platforms available, make sure that the content you’re posting is qualitative and regular. Give customers the ability to share pictures of your place, and vice versa. Hire a marketing manager or a food blogger who will promote your servings. All of these investments will pay up if people drop by your page and are mesmerized.
The possibility of interacting with your customers is wide, through the use of social media. So, how you decide to use it will set the foundation of the relationships you create with them as well. Word of mouth should not be underestimated in the restaurant industry!
Valmira Rashiti is a practical mystic, book worm and very much fond of words, whether written or spoken. She currently writes for Kiwi, which is a restaurant LMS that aims to help restaurant owners train their staff in an easier and more effective way. In addition, they offer online training courses for different restaurant services.
