Why don't restaurants take their data and make it meaningfully actionable?
Restaurant reservations can be made over the phone, online or via an SMS message. A reservation guarantees diners a table at the restaurant of their choice when they arrive at the prearranged time. Likewise, when restaurants accept reservations, it benefits them as well, and is a win-win on both sides of the table.
The biggest advantage of using an online booking system is that it makes communicating with the business at anytime although it may not be open 24/7. In other words, customers don’t need to wait for relevant office to open to make a booking.
A GetApp study done early this year, found that 67% of consumers’ book services online. 30% of respondents said they schedule appointments by phone, and a mere 3% do it by email or in person. That using the phone to make restaurant reservations by nearly one-in-three customers goes to show that it is still a very common and popular practice – especially for many elderly customers.
When a guest makes a reservation at your restaurant, there are certain forms of communication they should receive. These include booking confirmations, reminders, and a message sent after their visit requesting feedback.
For me, born before 1970, the mindset we have about eating out in restaurants provoked a certain ‘feeling’…it was fun, social, celebratory and special. At least that’s how it was for me and still is!
Whenever, I’ve booked a table over the phone at several 4 or 5-star hotels in Colombo, except for the verbal confirmation that I get during the booking interaction over the phone, I’ve seldom if never, received a follow - up confirmation of my booking. This often leaves me fretful. What if the restaurant denies my having made a booking? It’s simply their word against mine and if the restaurant is full - can certainly ruin my entire evening!
Every time I have booked a table at a restaurant, I’ve been asked for my telephone number. I understand that asking for the cell phone number is part of their reservation process. Usually, capturing and storing guest phone numbers is essential for interacting with customers, (e.g. calling a day earlier to make certain the booking remains true). Another key reason is where the phone number is the unique identifier of a person to see how often they visited, plus all information that restaurants really value.
Late March, to celebrate my wife’s birthday I booked a table over the phone with the Sheraton Hotel, (which had opened only a month earlier). It was verbally confirmed by the hotel’s order-taker. Incidentally, it was to be our second visit to the restaurant. As it happened when I booked our table for the first visit, there was no follow-up booking confirmation nor any message sent after our visit requesting feedback.
What I received on the day of my wife’s birthday was a brief phone call from the hotel to check whether we were coming that evening. The ‘caller’ quickly rang off after I said “Yes” with a “Thank you”. There was no “We’re delighted to have you with us this evening” or “We look forward to seeing you all tonight” kind of sign off – which to say the least, was disappointing, when dealing with this reputed hotel brand.
I really don’t see the value in sharing my phone number – if there is no added convenience, incentive or real effort to enhance the guest experience. Maybe I should complain to the restaurant by saying, “you’re asking for my personal information with no tangible benefit in return? “
That evening, during dinner, the hotel’s F & B manager upon seeing us, came by to thank us for dining with them again. That was a nice gesture. However, he missed out on wishing my wife on her birthday – a fact that was recorded by the hotel when they took my table booking.
I surmise that he hadn’t done his homework before entering the restaurant. Normally, one would ask the restaurant executive or hostess, the names of any VIPs in the restaurant, of any diners celebrating a special occasion or details of regular guests. Once armed with that information, would the F & B manager then walk thru the restaurant, greeting such guests by name and connecting with the appropriate interaction.
Shafeek Wahab – Editor, Hospitality Sri Lanka, Consultant, Customer Service Trainer and Ex-Hotelier
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