Do you get a decent number of daily customers but think you can do better? Would you like to increase the number of regulars that step through your door?
Learn how to wow your customers in a restaurant with excellent customer service, cool technology, irresistible discounts, and more.
How to Wow Your Customers in a Restaurant
1. Flawless customer service
One of the main factors of a wow guest experience at your restaurant is the customer service. Work on perfecting customer service skills such as guest greeting, flexibility, problem-solving, loyalty fostering, menu know-how, and upselling to ensure customers will have a blast at your restaurant.
Typically, there are some steps of service every establishment that serves food should follow, from welcoming customers to the restaurant to clearing the table for the next.
Have these steps written somewhere for all your staff to see. That way, they will memorize the process and make sure they don’t skip any vital steps when serving customers.
Another good lesson when learning how to wow your customers in a restaurant is to be aware of the most common types of customers you’re going to encounter and how to make them happy.
For example, an indecisive customer will appreciate it if you can quickly make suggestions and answer questions about the menu. Patience is key in this case, as they won’t appreciate being rushed or feeling like you’re trying to get them to leave faster.
2. Short waiting times
Thinking of how to make a guest happy in your restaurant? Serve them as fast as possible without sacrificing meal quality or the overall dining experience.
To lower waiting times at your restaurant, make sure your staff is well-trained to work together to optimize the service flow, from order-taking to table cleaning.
Employ technology and tools that can help you serve more customers faster, such as table reservations and food pre-orders. This will allow customers to book a table and order their food in advance, minimizing the time spent at the restaurant.
Another tool that can help you reduce waiting times is a QR code menu for ordering and paying at the table. Instead of waiting for a server to bring the menu, write down the order, take it to the kitchen, and so on, customers can simply order themselves on their smartphones.
Here’s how you can get a QR code ordering menu for free:
3. An intuitive way to place orders online
A customer wow experience isn’t limited to dine-in. Nowadays, people expect their favorite restaurant to also deliver, so they can enjoy their food even if they don’t feel like leaving the house.
Make it easy for customers to find you online and place orders in seconds by getting a sales and SEO-optimized website that will rank high in Google and is designed to convert visitors into customers with a highly visible Order button and easy ordering flow.
You don’t need to hire an expensive developer to do that. Simply follow these steps and generate your own website in minutes:
Instead of giving your hard-earned money to third-party delivery services, choose an in-house online ordering system where you control your branding and ordering experience, and get access to customer data.
4. Discounts and rewards for loyal customers
Knowing how to wow your customers in a restaurant is about more than just serving them food. You need to show them you appreciate their patronage so that they keep coming back.
A good way to do that is to offer loyal customers the occasional discount, freebie, or reward to motivate them to visit you or place another order to take advantage of it.
For example, you can give a 10% discount to returning customers who have ordered from you at least five times.
Use our intuitive promotion templates to set up a variety of offers and discounts that target returning customers to show your appreciation and set yourself apart from the competition.
Alternatively, you can make restaurant branded items like t-shirts, hoodies, mugs, or cookbooks to give them away to selected visitors who may promote your restaurant to a wider audience.
5. Quick problem-solving
No matter how much you strive for a flawless dining experience, mistakes happen. Sometimes, it won’t even be your fault and you may come across rude customers who are looking to pick a fight.
Whether or not it was your fault, you have to do your best to keep the customer happy and provide a solution to their problem.
First, learn how to talk with a guest in the restaurant when they’re being rude, uncooperative, and stubborn. The key is to keep a low, calm tone of voice, be patient, and repeat the complaint back to them. This will increase the chances of them realizing they might be overreacting.
As you diffuse the situation, come up with solutions that address the problem on the spot. For instance, if a customer is complaining the meal is cold, offer to bring them a new one on the house.
6. Meal personalization
You don’t need to have a 10-page menu to cover a variety of tastes and preferences. In fact, a long menu might be detrimental to your profitability, as it will take customers longer to decide, and they might doubt the quality of your food since you’re not specializing in just a few dishes.
A small menu is preferable. That doesn’t mean customers won’t have the range to choose exactly what they want to eat.
Here’s how to wow your customers in a restaurant by personalizing your menu:
- Add a variety of toppings that customers can add to every dish;
- Allow customers to choose how they want the meal to be cooked;
- Provide a variety of crusts and buns that cater to people with food allergies or intolerances such as gluten-free;
- Offer multiple sizes for each meal;
- Provide meat-free alternatives to your most popular dishes;
- Allow customers to add appetizers, sides, desserts, and drinks to their order with a tap.
You can do all of that and more with our intuitive menu builder. Here’s how:
7. Live entertainment
Finally, learning how to entertain a customer in the restaurant makes the difference between a good customer experience and a wow customer experience.
Think beyond serving food and consider making your restaurant a gathering place in the community. Organize fun events like costume parties, quiz nights, or karaoke.
Hire local live performers that can elevate the dining experience and consider opening your doors to organizations and companies that might want to throw an event at your restaurant.
All of these initiatives will help you attract more customers to your restaurant and secure their loyalty through an unforgettable experience.
Final Thoughts
Learning how to wow your customers in a restaurant will make your establishment stand out in the highly competitive restaurant industry.
While most restaurants focus on providing a good customer experience, you can go above and beyond to get more people talking about your place.
