Hospitality - Reservations are out of control
Restaurant reservations culture is out of control.
The digital promoting players are more than a hand full, reservations systems that actually can assist your business to success are limited and unaffordable for individual restaurants, so you are left with chaos and smart paid-off team members to manage your sitting creating bribery situations, as a result just hour-and-a-half lines in some places, exclusive elite memberships, and to get better shady reservation trading groups, and the battle to find somewhere to eat a proper meal with your friends or alone somehow get lost in the transaction because people will keep moving on until they find a place where they will feel welcome, without mentioning the crazy fast strategy to make revenue out of almost every possibility, takeaways, order grab n go, delivery.
The big question is: What restaurant business segment do you want to be sustainable and recognized for?
Restaurant regulars may become the problem instead of the added value of your business; the idea of going out for a meal without a booking seems like a nostalgic daydream these days, because the usual are counting to have the red carpet rolled in every time they show at your door, thinking they own the place! Poor hostess or restaurant manager that doesn't have the right support and emotional skill to deal with these trade perks.
I hate to tell you: But the truth is that a spontaneous walk-in guest is an endangered activity. If you don’t have a reservation a week or even a month in advance on your favorite place, your likelihood of scoring a table at a popular restaurant in a densely manipulated area is pretty low. Worse they will kind of make sure to penalize you online with bad reviews so get their false pride of victory. Should this be allowed by the digital platforms that manipulate the restaurant ranking everywhere?
It’s all a bit of a circle jerk. The more absurdly rich people there are throwing expensive watches at the problem, the harder it is for everyone else to get tables. And the harder it is for everyone to get tables, the more people there will be frantically trying to rush to get a seat before someone else hours before.
Reservations systems vs lack of personnel to work on hospitality?
There are a handful of reasons it’s more difficult to make restaurant reservations right now. Don't also fall on the paid-per-reservation systems, which offer ridiculous discounts to make the fade impression of traffic on your restaurant. Many sitting spots still have limited hours or service shifts and availability because of a lack of staff and ever-thinning margins. Some started leaning on reservation due to these restrictions and to better forecast earnings and staffing needs a practice some hospitality entrepreneurs say continues to make business more predictable and sustainable to maintain their doors open. Will never be enough demand that lasts forever, they're out there every day hundreds of new restaurants.
The existing potential restaurant market is still the same!
And plenty of guests would still rather secure a spot outside, rather than wing it and have to spend a night breathing other people’s air. So adjust and make the best of when they have the opportunity to sit at your restaurant table because they will be the ones who will be coming back and respect your business.
Óscar Correia – on a mission to transform lives #peoplegrowth
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