Managing a restaurant or a chain of restaurants is not easy.
Beyond your culinary skills (if you are the chef and manager yourself), you must have a certain managerial predisposition, a leadership attitude and a good understanding of customer needs.
In short, being in charge of a catering service is a bit like juggling and keeping all aspects of your business in balance, remembering to always put consumers at the center.
In this article, you will find some ideas to consider to optimize the management of your business and increase the satisfaction of your customers.
There will always be a fly in the pot
Pleasing everyone is impossible, someone will find something to complain about in any case: the meat was dry, the pasta insipid, the bill too salty, the waiter acid… Net of the complaints, however, the general degree of satisfaction can increase significantly with some of these precautions.
Promotions
Who doesn’t like receiving a discount or a freebie? Free water at lunch, full fixed-price menu for workers… These are small-scale initiatives, but they can have a very positive impact on customers and can become valid tools within a loyalty campaign: your customers will feel enticed to return and will probably trigger a profitable word of mouth.
Delivery
With the SARS Covid-19 pandemic, the purchasing habits of Italians have changed, especially in the food sector. People now expect to be able to receive their order at home/office and to be able to choose what to eat anywhere and at any time.
To offer a delivery service you can organize yourself in the most disparate ways: for the transport of dishes you can rely on delivery services or buy a vehicle yourself; to allow customers to consult the menu where and when they want, you can opt for the distribution of classic flyers or opt for a more ecological digital solution (app or site with order form).
Digital menu
QR Codes are now ubiquitous technology on the tables of restaurants and bars. They are simple to make, quick to display. However, there are more complete tools that offer more opportunities that can be taken into consideration: apps and e-commerce sites constitute a real digital showcase and make your offer available to customers 24/7.
Tools of this type can also help you manage orders better: customers can order what they want independently where and when they want.
Optimize the service
One of the factors that most influence customers’ judgment is the quality of the service: the courses must arrive at the table at the right speed and the waiters must be kind and professional. For the first point, acquiring a platform for managing preparation in the kitchen can be a valid strategy. As for the attitude of the waiters, however, you should offer them the opportunity to grow professionally with training courses and strengthen the bond with colleagues through team building activities.
Managing the warehouse is also important
Warehouse management is a matter of primary importance: in restaurant kitchens there is an abundance of perishable materials in a short time and, therefore, it is essential to buy only those needed in the short term. Within a varied menu, however, there are dishes that are ordered more often than others: how do you know what to buy in larger quantities?
There are digital tools that allow you to know which dishes are most requested by customers: over time you will have a clear view of what they are and, therefore, which ingredients to buy more frequently (as well as having good ideas for reviewing the offer) .
To conclude
Is running a restaurant your daily bread? With these precautions you will be able to obtain the positive results you were looking for. The most important advice, however, is this: always put the customer at the center of your business.
