How can Automatic Notifications Save Time and Increase Revenue? - Restaurant Reservation System

Written by Tablein Team | Feb 4, 2020 3:54:47 PM

Table reservation is based on trust as well as responsibility of two separate parties – welcoming restaurant and visiting guest. However, in order to smoothly effectuate the agreement, avoid no-show and finally gain revenue, some additional actions must be taken.

Every restaurant, accepting table bookings, always needs to think of confirmations, reminders, and other possible notifications that should be sent to guests. Sadly, many of the businesses are still stick to the manual way of doing so. Restaurants report that such communication might steal even around 2 hours per day! It’s way too costly in terms of time for any subject.

Looking after the current diners, taking their orders, serving the food and keeping the general management at the highest level should be the main and only tasks for each staff member. Thus, the automatic notifications – whether by SMS, email or both – is the most effective, time-saving and money-gaining solution!

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So, how to save hours and increase the revenue only with automatic notifications?

There are 4 types of notifications that are essential for the smooth reservation management: both convenient for the guest and extremely effective for the restaurant.

Reservation confirmation. Immediately after the online booking was made, an automatic booking confirmation should be sent. It not only provides your guests with assurance about the successful action. The message becomes a handy tool that allows them always having the reservation details right on their smartphones too! Moreover, probably all modern humans now expect to receive such or similar confirmations about all their acts, whether it’s an online purchase, ride request or appointment in the clinic. Keeping in step with such expectations can always assure trust… and save hours on dealing with phone calls, emails or Facebook messages, and registering the booking details on paper. Moreover, when the guest is not receiving confirmation, he feels insecure, what may result in loss of responsibility in sticking to the plan or even a no-show.
Reservation reminder. Every business should bear in mind the human factor. We all live in a dynamic, busy and chaotic world where so many things can be unintentionally forgotten. An automatic message or email about the table reservation will remind guest the details. Have the plans changed? A personalised text with an active link will encourage the guest to easily switch the date or time, add or remove the number of people, or even cancel the reservation. Thus, a reminder about the upcoming restaurant reservation acts a crucial role in helping to avoid no-shows and lost revenue! When automatised communication with guests is applied, restaurant staff members don’t need to waste their time by making the calls, manually texting or emailing the guests about the upcoming reservation. Skipping this step and allowing the risk of a no-show is not acceptable; thus, these time-consuming steps are still being taken in many restaurants anyway.
No-show message. No-shows are one of the most unpleasant moments in the restaurant business. Such careless acts from the diners’ side are directly and tangibly resulting in lost revenues. Of course, an automatic notification about the occurred no-show will not bring the profit at the present moment. However, the message, including the text how disappointed you became, will help the guests to gain responsibility in future. Usually, staff members do not waste their time by reaching out to the diners who made the reservation but didn’t show up at the end. It’s understandable and acceptable. However, in the case of nonexistent automatic notifications about no-shows, the restaurant loses the possibility to educate irresponsible guests.
Feedback request. Automatic request for the feedback is crucial for the restaurant. It not only helps to improve food as well as service but allows to form the preferred public image about the place.

Manually sending the messages or emails with a request to evaluate the recent visit to the restaurant, again, is time-consuming. Instead of taking care about the guests down the hall, staff members ought to waste hours in front of the computer. Or, due to lack of time, they might even skip this crucial step and miss the opportunity to receive the feedback.

Are you already considering how to save time and increase your revenues by opting the automatic notifications? All the tools discussed above are implemented in Tablein reservation system, which can be set up and ready to use in just minutes.

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