While many restaurants make most of their revenue through phone orders, communication systems continue to be one of the most under-utilized resources in the majority of establishments. Did you know that the right phone system can help you improve customer service, coach your staff through conversations without the client hearing and even increase average order value by up to 30%? Below are just 4 ways your communications can help boost your revenue and build a thriving business.
Train Your Team for Better Customer Service and Increased Revenue
Clients who enjoyed good customer service are more likely to become loyal customers, recommend your restaurant to friends or give you a positive review online. But with high staff turnover, it can be a challenge to ensure that every employee who picks up the phone represents your brand appropriately. Here is where your phone system can help.
A VoIP phone system enables you to train your staff to better service customers. With the right VoIP phone solution, you can listen to your team’s conversations, coach them through orders without the client hearing, and even jump in to save a sale when needed. You can also teach your staff to support your upsell strategy by gently suggesting add-on menu items to each client.
In addition, many VoIP providers such as S-NET, offer call recording capabilities. Call recordings protect your business in case of customer complaints and order disputes, but they can be a powerful tool for training your staff as well. Listen to calls for quality assurance and play examples of great service when training new hires.
Upsell to Every Caller Before You Even Answer the Phone
Customers are more likely to increase their order when they are reminded of promotions and additional menu items available to them. Franchises and chains that implemented upsell messages and measured the results saw a 25% to 30% increase in their revenue across several locations.
Playing short recordings to each caller on hold allows you to upsell before you even answer the phone. Gentle, yet persuasive messages can dramatically boost your average order value, relieve your team of upselling duties when the dinner rush gets hectic and helps ensure that your value propositions are communicated correctly every single time.
With a VoIP phone system, you can schedule your upsell messages so that they are always in-tune with your clients’ needs. With timed, day-of-week or time-of-day scheduling, you can push lunch and weekend specials when your customers are most receptive or advertise a promotion throughout the week leading up to a special event. Playing the right message at the right time can go a long way in maximizing each order.
Schedule Your Staff Efficiently
When you are understaffed during peak ordering hours, your ability to provide each calling customer with a positive experience is significantly affected. Callers can get tired of waiting on line and drop the call. Your team may also be unable to put their best foot forward when they feel stressed or rushed. This, in turn, affects your restaurant’s reputation and has a negative impact on your bottom line. But staffing efficiently ensures that customers are well taken care of and ready to recommend your business to friends and family.
Real Time and Historic Call Reporting available with leading VoIP solutions, such as S-NET’s, enables you to take the pulse of your business and determine if you have the resources in place to handle each client call effectively. When do you get the most calls? How many clients are you losing to long wait times? What is your average hold time? Can your staff effectively handle the lunch and dinner rush or special event days? Scheduling your team to come in when you need them the most ensures that each customer receives the attentive, personalized experience they want and helps you maximize your revenue.
Stop Losing Customer Calls
When your phones are down and callers cannot reach your team, you are losing money with each passing minute. Running into a busy signal also affects your clients’ perception of your business, and you may not only be missing out on a sale, but you may also be losing a loyal customer.
Ensuring that your phone service is reliable is your first line of defense against losing customers. Select a good vendor whose service is backed by robust infrastructure, and one that offers you immediate customer support in case of issues. A package designed for the restaurant and hospitality industry that includes 4G LTE cellular backup ensures continuity for your phones, POS and online ordering systems, even when your primary internet connection goes down. Additionally, VoIP phone systems can be configured to provide you with multiple phone lines at no extra charge, enabling your team to take several orders at once. When your staff is empowered to service customers effectively, they can significantly reduce time on hold and ensure that each call gets answered.
Running a successful restaurant business is challenging. But innovations in the telecommunications industry are making it increasingly easy to assess how your team is doing and take the necessary steps to improve. From Historic and Real-Time reports that allow you to staff more efficiently to effective upsell messages and whisper-coaching capabilities that improve customer service and boost revenue, VoIP phone systems are there to support your business. With all these tools at your disposal, your restaurant business is truly set up to succeed.
