A strong customer service team is the lifeblood of any QSR business. Every time your staff serves a client quickly, efficiently and courteously, you may be gaining a returning customer. But when crew members are not adequately trained, they struggle to keep up and may cost you in sales. Learn how you can recognize when your team could use a bit more coaching.
Negative Customer Feedback
Even the best crews get a few customer complaints or negative reviews from time-to-time. But when you notice an increase in clients unhappy with their service, it’s time to revisit your team’s training. Read customer reviews carefully to determine whether your staff’s speed or communication style needs work. A robust phone system with Call Monitoring and Call Recording enabled can help you diagnose customer service issues and train your staff to better meet client expectations.
Losing Clients to Long Hold Times
When your crew is unable to process customer orders quickly and efficiently, clients may get tired of waiting on the line and abandon their orders. Review your call reporting each week to see if there is an increase in average call length, hold time or abandoned calls. When you notice that your staff takes too long to process orders and keep your customers waiting on the line, it’s probably time to refresh their training. They may have challenges using the POS system, or simply spend too much time chatting with pleasant customers. Either way, a refresher training on the technology they use daily or on tactfully ending a conversation with a chatty client can go a long way in improving efficiency in order taking.
A Stressed Team
We all know that the Friday dinner rush can be a challenging experience. But if your staff seems stressed or overwhelmed during normal operations, they may be struggling to keep up. Giving them a few pointers on using your POS or handling slower cutomers can go a long way in increasing their efficiency and speed, which will surely reduce their anxiety as well. A stressed team may also be a sign that your restaurant is understaffed. Taking a regular look at your Call Reporting can help you notice a steady increase in call volume and hire additional help before your team gets overwhelmed.
High Employee Turnover
When your staff doesn’t receive enough support or training, their performance and morale can be severely affected. Struggling crew members often lose their confidence and their motivation, leading them to look for other job opportunities where they have an easier time keeping up. Keep an eye on employee turnover rates in your restaurant and provide supplemental coaching when you see that your staff is struggling. You’ll see that a little TLC will go a long way in increasing employee retention. A robust phone system provides you with Call Recording capabilities that allow you to give your team examples of good and bad customer service. Good service providers also offer Call Monitoring capabilities, so that you can listen to your staff’s calls and provide feedback, and you can even coach them through challenging conversations with the Whisper functionality, keeping them feeling supported.
Providing your team with supplemental training is not always easy to accomplish, particularly in a busy store. But ensuring that your team knows what is expected of them and how to deliver is key to running a successful operation.
