RESTAURANT OPERATIONS SERIES Service Secrets · Your customers are your bread and butter. While...
3
RESTAURANT OPERATIONS SERIES Your customers are your bread and butter. While your food may be the draw, keeping them coming back takes more than the right menu. More than anything, customer service draws repeat business. In any economy, successful restaurant operators focus on key revenue drivers, and consistent exemplary customer service is one of those keys. The guests in your POS database are your most valuable source of ongoing revenue. Repeat business is critical. Guests become loyal fans and repeat patrons because they feel welcomed, valued, and well treated—both with the quality of the food you serve and the way you serve it. Driving Customer Service at the Point of Sale Service Secrets “We use the information in our SpeedLine database to build relationships with our customers.” NIKO FRANGOS – RASCAL HOUSE PIZZA You can put your POS system to work to improve customer service in several ways: Exceptional service starts with your employees. Staff can make or break a restaurant. On the front line, they represent your brand to the guests they serve. Friendly, well-trained staff can be your greatest asset. Poorly trained, ineffective staff can cost you business and cut into profits. z Set your point of sale system so employees can work in “training mode” to practice order entry, learn upselling scripts, and get familiar with new tools and menu changes. z Schedule ongoing training to ensure your staff know the rules and deliver quality customer service, fast. z Use your POS to track the courses and certifications your staff have completed. Script upselling. Suggestive selling can significantly increase profit. But training a new employee to upsell can be an uphill battle without the right tools and systems. To encourage consistency, build cues into the POS menu. Using SpeedLine, for example, you can script upselling prompts and choices based on what your customer orders. Learn more: Orders Upsized: Systemize Upselling at the Point of Sale. Run performance contests. Try a staff contest to encourage upselling, improve customer service and increase employee engagement. Happy employees sell more. z Use your POS system to track sales by employee. Count positive comment cards, and reward points for observed positive behavior. z Whether you implement a contest or an incentive program, use your point of sale system’s reporting tools to keep tabs on the results and reward top performers. Orders Upsized: Systemize Upselling at the Point of Sale
Transcript of RESTAURANT OPERATIONS SERIES Service Secrets · Your customers are your bread and butter. While...
RESTAURANT OPERATIONS SERIES
Your customers are your bread and butter. While your food may be the draw, keeping them coming back takes more than the right menu.More than anything, customer service draws repeat business.
In any economy, successful restaurant operators focus on key revenue drivers, and consistent exemplary customer service is one of those keys.
The guests in your POS database are your most valuable source of ongoing revenue. Repeat business is critical. Guests become loyal fans and repeat patrons because they feel welcomed, valued, and well treated—both with the quality of the food you serve and the way you serve it.
Driving Customer Service at the Point of Sale
Service Secrets
“We use the information in our SpeedLine database to build relationships with our customers.”
NIKO FRANGOS – RASCAL HOUSE PIZZA
You can put your POS system to work to improve customer service in several ways:
Exceptional service starts with your employees.Staff can make or break a restaurant. On the front line, they represent your brand to the guests they serve. Friendly, well-trained staff can be your greatest asset. Poorly trained, ineffective staff can cost you business and cut into profits.
z Set your point of sale system so employees can work in “training mode” to practice order entry, learn upselling scripts, and get familiar with new tools and menu changes.
z Schedule ongoing training to ensure your staff know the rules and deliver quality customer service, fast.
z Use your POS to track the courses and certifications your staff have completed.
Script upselling.Suggestive selling can significantly increase profit. But training a new employee to upsell can be an uphill battle without the right tools and systems. To encourage consistency, build cues into the POS menu. Using SpeedLine, for example, you can script upselling prompts and choices based on what your customer orders.
Learn more: Orders Upsized: Systemize Upselling at the Point of Sale.
Run performance contests.Try a staff contest to encourage upselling, improve customer service and increase employee engagement. Happy employees sell more.
z Use your POS system to track sales by employee. Count positive comment cards, and reward points for observed positive behavior.
z Whether you implement a contest or an incentive program, use your point of sale system’s reporting tools to keep tabs on the results and reward top performers.
Orders Upsized:
Systemize Upselling at the Point of Sale
Schedule the right number and mix of employees. Serving customers well, and at a reasonable cost, requires the proper number and mix of employees. Overstaffing increases labor costs, while understaffing can result in poor customer service that drives away business.
z Set your POS system to recommend labor targets for scheduling based on your forecast and established goals.
z Watch your POS system’s labor dashboard to manage staffing levels throughout each shift.
By using your POS system to forecast the right mix and number of employees, you’re creating a positive and rewarding experience for your guests.
Learn More: Labor Savings: It’s About Time.
Engaging Staff Top 5 Employee Contests
Perfect guest check: 1 drink, 1 appy, 1 menu item & 1 dessert! A perfect check equals a perfect reward.
Sales bingo: Grid your high margin menu items and reward the employee that gets Bingo!
Floating $20: Boost liquor sales; Float a $20 bill that gets passed around as bottle sales are made.
Scavenger hunt: Pose some questions about your guests and watch your employees get to know them better.
Beat your best: Post your employees’ average ticket size weekly. Reward those who beat their best.
Build loyalty, one guest at a time.A loyalty program is an investment in the customers who keep you in business. Rewards build loyalty and frequency—and even order size. It’s the Loyalty Trifecta.
z Use your point of sale system to keep track of points they earn with their purchases, display the rewards they’ve qualified for, and make them feel as though they matter.
z Promote your loyalty-based programs in all your marketing: social media, print, digital signage.
z Use an integrated loyalty solution or start small with your POS system’s built-in customer prompts and reports.
Recall order history.People are creatures of habit. Use your POS system’s order history to tap into that tendency, and you’ll speed up order-taking while improving service.
z Use the POS system’s unlimited order history to complete customer transactions quickly and personally by recalling the customer’s last order, or selected items from any previous order.
z Look for an integrated web ordering solution that supports easy reordering as well.
Listen to your customers.Comment cards and review websites provide insight into what your guests think of you, but the true value is in how you respond.
z Apply customer insight to improve operations and service, and respond directly to online feedback to communicate improvements to your guests.
z Allocate time to keep on top of this: as valuable as word of mouth is in promoting referrals, unanswered negative feedback can drive customers away.
The leading provider of innovative solutions for pizza point of sale, SpeedLine provides POS and enterprise management solutions for pizza and delivery, quick service, and multi-concept restaurant chains. For more information, or to arrange a free demonstration, call toll-free 1-888-400-9185 or email [email protected].
ADDITIONAL RESOURCESFIND OUT MORE
Pizza Point of Sale: Right the First Time
Driving Delivery: A POS Technology Guide
Employee Management at the Point of Sale
Share on Facebook Share on LinkedInTweet this
Trying something different.What other technologies can you take advantage of to increase customer service in your restaurant? Consider:
z Mobile ordering
z Tablet ordering
z Kiosk ordering
z Facebook ordering
z Digital menu boards
z Games at the table
z Use your POS to keep track: Add a credit for a customer who left unsatisfied, or make a note on a prolific Facebook poster who shares your status updates, so employees can recognize her each time she orders.
z Use your POS system’s survey tools to print customer surveys on your receipts, or link to an online survey service.
Checklist: Customer Service at the POS
Exceptional service starts with your employees: schedule ongoing training.
Script upselling into your POS order screens.
Run performance contests: reward your customer service superstars.
Schedule the right number and mix of employees using recommended labor targets from your POS system.
Build loyalty, one guest at a time: Integrate a loyalty program with your point of sale.
Use your POS system’s order history to complete transactions quickly.
Listen to your customers: Survey, respond, and reward.
