Everything revolves around the customer experience when running a business in the hospitality industry. If you own a restaurant, you need to keep the satisfaction of your customers at the top of your list of priorities.
When your customers are happy with the experience they receive at your establishment, they are more likely to return and spread positive reviews. However, disappointed customers will also share their negative experiences and threaten the future of your business.
Here are some crucial tips you need to keep in mind if you want to improve the customer experience on offer at your restaurant.
Be Authentic
Gone are the days when customers expected rote politeness from their waiters and restaurant staff. Nowadays, people much prefer an authentically friendly interaction that doesn’t feel stiff, rehearsed, or false. This doesn’t mean your waiters should behave inappropriately, but it does mean that a forced smile and a stilted script won’t necessarily go down well with today’s customers.
Train your staff to seek a genuine point of connection with their customers, even if it’s as simple as the fact that they both like the same beverage. While respect, friendliness, and efficiency are essential, so is authenticity and honesty.
Don’t Allow Poor Hygiene
An unhygienic kitchen or dining space is unacceptable for a restaurant business. Make sure that your employees have easy access to all the cleaning equipment they need to keep the kitchen and restaurant at a high level of cleanliness.
Customers who have to sit at tables with previous customers’ food debris or use an unclean bathroom will be unlikely to leave a positive review. Maintain a rigorous cleaning schedule so that the grime and dirt that naturally occurs in a restaurant doesn’t have a chance to build up and cause problems—you don’t want to put yourself, your employees, or your customers at risk.
Run an Efficient Kitchen
An inefficient kitchen impacts the entire chain of service. If your chefs can’t prepare dishes in a timely manner, waiters cannot deliver the dishes to customers within a suitable timeframe. This can easily lead to disappointment and a poor customer experience.
You can preserve the efficiency of your kitchen by keeping it clean and tidy,as well as consistently well-stocked. An example of this might be to buy bulk garlic to main the stock levelsfor all the dishes that require garlic. When ingredients are easy to access and the kitchen is navigable, chefs and other kitchen staff can perform their duties with greater efficiency. Remember that the core of any restaurant business is the food, so it all begins in the kitchen.
Inspire a Positive Work Environment
If your members of staff are regularly stressed or overwhelmed, they won’t be able to perform to their highest standards. There are so many possible reasons for employees to feel burnt out or unmotivated, and while you can’t control every aspect of their wellbeing, you can make changes that help to foster a better work environment.
Job satisfaction and feeling valued at work will boost your team’s mood and inspire them to give their best. An unhappy workforce will have a negative impact on the customer experience if left unaddressed for too long. Show your employees that you care about their wellbeing and listen to their feedback about how to make the workplace more fulfilling.
Offer Consistently High-Quality Food
Your customers should be able to expect the same level of quality every time they visit your restaurant, so set a standard for your menu and don’t let it slip. Customers who experience one negative meal may never return to give you a second chance. Therefore, make sure that the kitchen processes are easily replicable so that consistency can be achieved on a regular basis.
Handle Customer Complaints Professionally
Every restaurant owner’s worst nightmare is a customer who makes a complaint; but despite the initial negative reaction this will naturally cause, you must see complaints for the valuable criticism that they are.
A customer with a complaint is an opportunity to build trust and grow in a positive direction. Listen to the complaint so you can handle it with grace, and train your employees how to respectfully and tactfully handle complaints so that customers feel listened to—even if they have a criticism about your restaurant.
A well-managed complaint can even forge a stronger relationship with a customer if a satisfactory resolution is found.
Request Reviews
Just as complaints are a form of feedback, so are online reviews. Make it straightforward for your customers to leave reviews for your restaurant: positive reviews are free advertising; negative reviews give you a chance to respond respectfully and find ways to improve.
If you see common themes emerging from your reviews, don’t ignore them—this goes for both positive and negative reviews. It is important in business to be aware of your strengths and your weaknesses.
Design an Inviting Dining Space
Customers want to feel welcomed and comfortable in a restaurant, otherwise they could have stayed to eat at home. Therefore, it is important to give them an atmosphere worth leaving the house for by designing a beautiful interior with thoughtful decor. Everything from the lighting to the music to the art on display should build up an atmosphere to complement the menu. Do you want to create a romantic tone with soft lighting and gentle ambience, or a lively, family-friendly atmosphere where people of all ages feel welcome? Think about the food your restaurant serves and the people you want to attract when designing the space. Part of a customer’s experience involves their surroundings while they eat.
The restaurant industry is so competitive that any edge you can give your business over your competitors is worth striving for. Every detail of your restaurant contributes to the overall experience your customers receive and so you must be willing to make adjustments that cater to their needs.Take steps to enhance the customer experience to encourage repeat business and brand loyalty. Use this as a method of creating advocates for your restaurant who will spread the word and help your business thrive.
