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5 Resolutions to Make for Your Restaurant in 2022
SevenRooms
5 min read
Dec 23, 2021
SevenRooms
5 min read
Dec 23, 2021
The New Year is an opportunity to reinvent and reimagine everything, including your restaurant operations. Here are the 5 resolutions you should make in your restaurant, plus ideas for how to make them happen, to make 2022 your most successful year yet.
The past two years have made it clear that building direct relationships with guests is crucial to restaurant survival and success. In 2022, prioritize delivering personalized hospitality at scale to drive loyalty.
One way to ensure every guest is treated with the personalized hospitality they deserve is to take advantage of a restaurant CRM where you can house robust guest profiles. Everything from allergies, drink preferences, and important dates, to on- and off-premise order history can be stored on a guest profile and used to deliver exceptional experiences whether your guest is dining in or ordering takeout.
And don’t forget about your regulars! Auto-tag guests as regulars after they come in a certain amount of times over a time period, and use that tag to deliver targeted email marketing (i.e. a 10% off your next order as a thank you for being a regular) or simply to acknowledge their loyalty when they dine in – it goes a long way in making a customer feel special.
The importance of owning your guest data has become even more apparent during the pandemic as restaurateurs battle ever-changing restrictions and the competition from other restaurants who want your customers’ valuable dollars. Owning and utilizing guest data is the best way to drive loyalty, which can have a huge impact on profits – just a 5% increase in guest retention can lead to a 95% increase in profits. But how do you put that guest data to work through technology?
A restaurateur’s secret weapon to more profits and repeat business is taking advantage of marketing automation. We’ve got a whole guide dedicated to the topic, but here are a few quick wins:
Automate your marketing – create auto-tags like “First timer”, “positive reviewer”, or “ high-spender”, and create automated and personalized campaigns for those segments.
Convert your third-party guests to direct guests with targeted promotions – create an email campaign for anyone tagged as having booked or ordered through a third-party and give them a special offer if they book or order direct next time.
Target the most relevant audiences for special events – ie. your wine lovers for a wine tasting, or your high-spenders for a chef’s table experience.
No longer is your restaurant just your brick-and-mortar location. Meeting your guests where they are spending the most time (online!) is crucial to delivering a cohesive experience that drives loyalty on- and off-premise. So this year, give your online presence the attention it deserves – it’ll pay off in spades.
On Google, make your preferred ordering and preferred bookings links your direct links. Doing so means you’re not paying third party fees for people who were already searching for you.
Place “Reserve Now” and “Order Now” buttons wherever you can – on Instagram, Facebook, Google, Yelp, etc. The less work a customer has to do to patron your restaurant, the better.
Utilize white-label reservation and ordering solutions, like SevenRooms, to ensure your brand is front-and-center. That consistent look and feel can help connect your online presence with your physical restaurant and get those cravings going.
The demand for takeout and delivery services is here to stay, with 53% of adults saying ordering takeout or delivery is essential to the way they live. After so many restaurants introduced delivery and takeout as a means of survival during lockdowns, 2022 provides an opportunity to optimize and seamlessly connect your on- and off-premise operations.
Ensure that you have a way to see all of your guest data, both on- and off-premise, in one place. Bringing this data together provides a 360-degree view of your customers that can help you make smart operational and marketing decisions.
You can also take advantage of your online ordering capabilities by setting up delivery specials for shoulder times that are historically less busy on-premise. Or, if all of your seats are full, ensure your customers know that though they may not be able to dine-in right now, your kitchen is hot and ready to serve them at home.
Finally, make sure customers see all of their options in one place – that means clear calls to action on your website for Order Delivery or Book a Table or Join our Waitlist.
Restaurateurs are busier than ever, and are facing staffing shortages that can make it hard to run an efficient operation. Luckily, technology can help you do more with less headcount and less effort.
Trying to figure out seating configurations doesn’t need to be complicated. With SevenRooms’ intelligent seating algorithm powered by AI, the platform will determine the best place to seat guests in real time to maximize your number of turns.
Marketing automation also helps boost your repeat business and profits without you having a lift a finger. Automatically trigger emails to go out to segments of customers, without the need for a large marketing team or budget.
Cheers to a new year, and new opportunities to make this year the best yet for your restaurant! SevenRooms is here to help you achieve all of your restaurant resolutions – request a demo here and start out the new year strong.
