On one of the busiest long weekends of the year, it’s essential to prepare your restaurant for the influx of customers. With added customers comes more intensity, but that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. There are many ways to ensure that your teams are fully equipped for the larger crowds.
So, how can you prepare your restaurant for Labor Day weekend?
- Customer experience
- Specials
- Preparedness
- Staffing
Customer experience
When your restaurant is busy, take the opportunity to show customers that you can still provide a wonderful customer experience under pressure - and without letting them know that you’re under pressure. Even though your restaurant is busier than usual, it’s important to ensure that customer experience does not suffer because of that.
For example, longer than usual wait times is to be expected. However this is an opportunity to turn what’s usually a negative experience into a positive one. Provide samples of a new cocktail or appetizer that you’re testing out. A small offering like this is just what customers need to make them want to continue to wait in line for your restaurant, especially considering many others will be busy too. Don’t lose customers who are sick of waiting in line, instead demonstrate that their business is valued and show them what you have to offer.
Specials
Coming up with a special on food or drink items, or a promotion to entice guests is a great way to get people to choose your restaurant over a competitor. There are plenty of options depending on what you want to showcase or what initiative you’re promoting at your locations.
Kids eat free - this might seem like too large of a giveaway but the reality is that kids menu items are significantly smaller than regular portions. On a typical family-friendly holiday like Labor Day, this is the type of special that will bring more people into your restaurant.
Social contest - With plenty of social media users, you could encourage guests to ‘check-in’ to your restaurant or tag your restaurant in a post in order to boost your online presence. Pick a winner during a specific time frame and reward them with a free drink or free dessert, or something like this isn’t very costly to the restaurant. The value of this type of contest outweighs the cost of a drink or two.
Preparedness
Provide your teams with tools that will make them more productive and able to do their jobs more efficiently. Try a mobile forms software to keep track of regular duties and ensure that nothing gets missed during the rush. This is a great way to set your teams up for success while providing them with the tools necessary to handle more business than usual.
Checklists have been proven to reduce error by more than 33%, so by automating your FOH and BOH opening and closing checklists or any others used throughout their shifts, you are reducing the likelihood of errors. When your restaurant’s going to be busy, it’s important to take into account the possibility of human error, which isn’t a bad thing - but not preparing for it is.
Staffing
This is arguably the most important part of prepping for any long weekend, or any event at your restaurant - in particular Labor Day. We discuss the importance of staffing in a lot of our blogs because without employees on the floor to execute tasks properly, you’re at an immediate disadvantage to accomplish any of the actions put in place for the long weekend.
Conclusion
Ultimately it’s all about being prepared and doing everything you can to get your teams ready for the influx of customers. This should be seen as a positive situation as it means more business for your restaurant and is an excellent opportunity to gain more regular customers.
Food plays a central role in outdoor and vacation activities in the summer time, and new research by the National Restaurant Association shows that: “The fact that one in five have used restaurant services for their outdoor dining activities, and that two-thirds enjoyed restaurant meals on summer vacations, speaks to the essential role the nation’s nearly one million restaurants play in Americans’ lifestyles,” says Hudson Riehle,
senior vice president of the Research and Knowledge Group for the NRA. “The summer months are typically the most popular time of the year to dine out, due to travel and tourism and outdoor dining activities. Restaurants have served millions of guests over the last three months, both in their establishments and with takeout and delivery options for picnics and cookouts in backyards and parks across America.” The National Restaurant Association’s new consumer survey also shows that: “This Labor Day weekend is shaping up to be a busy one for restaurants, as more than one-third of Americans plan to dine out or order takeout,” Riehle says. “This is especially good news for restaurants located at destinations along the Eastern seaboard that are eager to welcome guests after
Hurricane Irene.” The National Restaurant Association’s survey also asked consumers about using takeout or delivery from restaurants for outdoor dining events this summer, such as Memorial Day or Fourth of July.
- 20 percent said they supplemented their outdoor dining events with restaurant dishes;
- Individuals in households with children were more likely to do so (26 percent), compared with adults in households without children (16 percent);
- Younger adults were more likely to use restaurant takeout/delivery for picnics and cookouts; 23 percent of 18-to-34-year olds and 26 percent of 35-to-44-year olds, compared with roughly 15 percent of those 55 and older.
Consumers were also asked about which factor most influenced how they chose a restaurant for summer dining:
- The majority (57 percent) said they selected an eatery based on food and service, just like at any other time of year;
- 17 percent preferred to dine inside a restaurant to get out of the heat;
- 12 percent sought out restaurants with summer specials and promotions (such as Restaurant Week, beach themes, or happy hours)
- 7 percent said they dined outside at restaurants as often as they could during the summer months.
The survey also asked consumers about how they picked restaurants while on vacation.
- 66 percent said they took a vacation or trip this summer and ate at restaurants while they traveled.
- Of those, about one-quarter selected a restaurant that was convenient to where they were staying (24 percent);
- Roughly one-fifth visited restaurants they hadn’t been to before (22 percent), and an equal percentage selected restaurants that were recommended to them;
- One in five dined at one of their favorite restaurants (20 percent);
- 12 percent opted for kid-friendly restaurants.
The National Restaurant Association surveyed 1,004 American adults August 25-27, 2011, about summer dining and their plans for Labor Day weekend.
News and information presented in this release has not been corroborated by WTWH Media LLC.