Chances are, you don’t own an ultra-posh eatery that books reservations for all its tables weeks in advance and charges 200 bucks a plate. This means you know what it’s like to deal with the reality of fluctuations in crowd size, wait times, and customer retention from day to day. Do you need some assistance building that coveted reputation for giving guests a 5 star experience (without the 5 star prices)? Check out some of the neat ways a text-message based restaurant paging system might help you reach your goals:
Invisible Lines
Americans will stand in line for hours to get the first shot at movie tickets or a “day after Thanksgiving” sale. However, this doesn’t mean they will be happy campers when a wait time stretches from 20 minutes to 45 at a local restaurant.
Your customers probably won’t stampede and trample one another when they hear there is chocolate pudding available at the salad bar. However, text based restaurant paging still provides a nice safety valve that keeps the pressure of fuming customers from getting out of hand. It lets your guests roam free instead of waiting anxiously to hear “Garbled, unintelligible, party of 4” over the intercom.
Visible Service
First impressions are critical when it comes to building confidence in your establishment. When you enter a guest’s information into your system, you can instantly send a text message showing the estimated wait time. This provides immediate verification to your customers. They know your notification protocol actually works and that you are running a streamlined operation.
Ironically, text-message based restaurant paging systems actually give you slightly more room for error. If your timing estimates are a little off, guests aren’t likely to be checking their watches every 30 seconds. They will be distracted by other things.
Timely Promotion
Have you ever been cautioned not to go grocery shopping when you are hungry? In the restaurant biz, the best time to advertise specials and appetizers to your customers is when they are famished! Your wait staff is trained to deliver all the pertinent information during the order taking process.
Of course, we both know they sometimes skip this step when things are really busy. Now, you can take some of the responsibility off their shoulders. Use your restaurant paging system to text the promotional message of your choice when you notify your guests that their table is ready.
Low Conflict Waiting
What about the (very) occasional customer who doesn’t have a cell phone to receive your text based pages? Good news! Your waiting area won’t be crowded and they can relax in a quiet atmosphere with comfortable amenities.
One additional perk of an invisible queue is that clients don’t feel like they are being treated unfairly when someone gets seated ahead of them. Now your hostess won’t get hassled to explain basic logistics like why a party of 2 may get seated while a party of 10 is still waiting in line.
Keep on Texting
Text-message based restaurant paging systems don’t have limited range. You can send ongoing promotional updates anytime, anywhere. Just remember that no one likes Spam. You probably don’t offer this mystery meat on your menu, so don’t send virtual spam to your customers either! Give your guests the above board “double opt-in” choice so you know they will be happy to receive future communication from you.
To find out more about our text message restaurant paging system, check out the website here: http://www.recessapp.com