VoIP for restaurants may be the secret ingredient you need to cook up more revenue and convince customers to keep coming back.
Everyone loves a good meal and a memorable experience from a quality restaurant. Having the customer come to see you again is the goal of every restaurant manager or owner.
Many new to the role and industry veterans are surprised to hear that a phone system can play a major role in generating more revenue. It’s an aspect that is seldom considered because of the lack of education and best practices available to restaurant managers and owners to make a sound decision.
That’s why we’re here to help you cook up more revenue using VoIP for restaurants! Here’s how:
Aline is a cloud-based, VoIP phone system that makes your business more efficient and easier to manage. Click here for a free quote from Aline!
Place more orders
Picture this: it’s a busy Friday night at your restaurant and the phones are ringing off the hook with orders to place. Consider the business you’re missing out on when customers hear a busy tone because all the phones are in use.
Even if all phones are in use placing orders, with VoIP for restaurants, customers can wait on-hold and listen to music. This provides a better customer experience than hearing an unpleasant busy tone, and on-hold music makes the caller feel as if they weren’t on hold for a long time.
Advertise your specials
Did you add a new dish to your menu or do you have the perfect side to go with a tasty meal? While customers are on-hold, a VoIP for restaurants can play customized commercials that mention your specials or deals.
You can even use these as branding opportunities to share a brief story about your restaurant or community involvement. These commercials can allow you to generate more sales and familiarize customers with your business. Here are some quick on-hold commercial templates you could use with a VoIP for restaurants:
Template #1: Thanks for calling (insert restaurant name). We appreciate your patience and will be with you shortly to place your order. Have you tried our famous seasoned curly fries? Our curly fries are hand-tossed with our secret seasoning and are made the finest Idaho potatoes. Don’t forget to add them to your order!
Template #2: Thanks for calling (insert restaurant name), we appreciate your patience and will be with you shortly to place your order. (Insert restaurant name) has been proudly serving greater (insert city) since (year of opening). We look forward to serving you a delicious and fresh meal that will make you say, “mmmm.”
Navigate Call Traffic
Throughout the busy workday, restaurant staff and managers must assist customers who are calling to ask about the restaurant’s hours or other simple questions. The disruption can consume valuable time. A VoIP for restaurants can help aid customers without pulling staff away from their in-person tasks.
VoIP’s offer an auto-attendant who can have a human voice (it can even be your own recorded voice) that can allow more intelligent call routing. For example, one may sound like this:
“Thanks for calling Tony’s Italian Restaurant. To view menu options, please visit our website at tonyssuperawsomeitallianrestaurant.com. For hours and operations, press 1. To place an order for carry-out, press 2. To make a reservation, press 3. To hear today’s specials, press 4. For all other inquiries, press 5.”
This call-in greeting can reduce your staff from being pulled away from tasks such as hosting and serving patrons. The routing answers basic questions and directs the customer to the website for viewing the menu. Your staff should only have to speak with a customer when he or she is going to provide you with new business.
Aline is a cloud-based, VoIP phone system that makes your business more efficient and easier to manage. Click here for a free quote from Aline!
Manage Multiple Locations
For restaurants that have multiple locations, business VoIP can serve as a unified system. Sometimes a customer will call into a restaurant when they meant to call a different location. Rather than asking the customer to call that other location, an employee can create a more positive customer experience when he or she is able to transfer the call to the other location.
For staff, there are times when they may need to call or instant message another location to ask general questions or ask if they can borrow a cook because their location is short-staffed for the day. A unified VoIP solution with instant chat and calling ability provides the seamless communication restaurant staff need to run a smooth operation and serve customers.
Monitor Quality
Are your employees promoting specials or saying the correct phrases on the phone?
Business VoIP offers tools such as call monitoring where a manager can listen in on a call without the employee and customer knowing. This is a useful accountability tool to ensure new and current employees are remembering to say what you’d like so that your restaurant is generating all possible revenue.
Ever had a customer claim that they ordered a different menu item than the one provided but have no way to prove whether they did or not?
Call recordings give employees the ability to listen to prior calls.
These can protect your business from disputes and from providing freebies to customers. Recordings are also valuable should an employee forget if, for example, the customer ordered the Caesar or house salad with their meal.
Aline is a cloud-based, VoIP phone system that makes your business more efficient and easier to manage. Click here for a free quote from Aline!
Conclusion
95% of restaurateurs agree that technology improves business efficiency. Greater efficiency through technology such as business VoIP can drive more revenue. What would you do with more revenue? Would you hire more employees, add more menu items, or expand your restaurant? The possibilities are endless with business VoIP for restaurants.