Running a successful restaurant does not come easy. There are many factors that impact day to day operations. Yet one of the most decisive factors is restaurant seating. Restaurant seating can potentially impact your profit margins. You need to ensure there is enough space to move while designing your restaurant seating layout. At the same time, you should be sure your place does not look empty. This article will discuss six tips for perfect restaurant seating. It will be very useful for you if you are also in a restaurant business.
How to Get More out of Your Restaurant Seating
#1 Listen to Your Customers
Your customers come first. That is why it's important to listen to your customers. By doing this, you will get a lot of useful insights. These insights, in turn, will help you improve your restaurant business. One of the essential tips for your restaurant seating is reservation booking software. Thanks to third-party reservation software, you can now include several features. For instance, you can allow them to write their impressions, preferences, allergies, and more. Some software even lets customers sign in the reservation site through their social media accounts. For instance, you can have such features with the help of Sygnio’s Restaurant POS. By doing this, you will access to social media networks that are rich with data. Consequently, you will have such rich data in your POS system. And by possessing the data of your customers, you will be able to address their preferences. This, as a result, will improve your customer retention rates.
#2 Remember Your Customers’ Names
You may wonder what this has to do with restaurant seating. But even a small detail related to your customers can affect your restaurant. Encourage your employees to take notes regarding the guests on the CRM platform. The restaurant POS system, like Sygnio can be beneficial to you with this feature. As a result, your whole staff will have access to valuable insights about your clients. That will help you with the retention of customers. It is because of the precious data you will have in your hands.
#3 Track Your Table Status
The next tip is about table status. You can get the most out of your restaurant seating layout by tracking the table status. For this, you need to track where your clients are within the course of their meal. For example, by utilizing Sygnio’s POS system, you can see which section are in which stage. Let’s say, most tables in section 2 are preparing to get up.
On the other hand, diners in section 1 have just sat down. You will automatically plan the seating of the next group of guests in section 2. It will assist you a lot in table-turning. No restaurant owner or manager wants disagreements flaring up. And neither do you. So, track your table status. It will help you satisfy your clients better. Also, it will help your staff avoid unpleasant situations. That is why maintaining proper table management is a must.
#4 How was It?
Your staff and you arrange the tables for your customers. Also, you do your best to serve them as pleasantly as possible. Yet you are not sitting with your customers. So, you do not know how they really feel in your place. That is why this tip of restaurant seating is about questions you must consider.
Is table 8 very close to table 7? Are there enough spaces between all the tables? Or do your staff touch some guests while rushing to serve? Maybe some tables are very close to the doors of the kitchen? These are all the types of questions you have to ask yourself. Probably you have not done it until now. But be sure that some of your guests have felt this. Needless to mention, they were bothered by this. It is because you will serve many different customers. And comfort is different to different people. So, give your clients an opportunity for feedback. Make sure you receive feedback about both food and seating.
#5 Take Notes
Keep in mind that taking notes will come to your help a lot in your restaurant business. Tell your staff to generate, maintain, and update records regarding your customers. It should be a regular activity for your employees. They can do it using POS system.
Let’s give an example to explain.
Dominic is a constant visitor to your restaurant. He comes 3 or 4 times a month. Till now, he has come with his business partners only. For this reason, he prefers a noisy, upbeat place in your restaurant. Probably the environment also helps reach agreements with his guests. Suddenly, Dominic gets in with his fiancee. He wants to have a seat in a quiet romantic place. Your staff keeps offering him the same type of noisy place. After 15 minutes of shuffle, finally, your team supplies a suitable place for him. What is your takeaway here? Yes, possibly, he will never come to your place again because of this unpleasant experience. But if your staff had looked at notes, they would not suppose Dominic’s preference wrong.
So, take this example into account while arranging your restaurant seating, too.
#6 Optimize Online Reservations
Last but not least, the final tip on this list is about reservations. Precisely, it is about online bookings. But first, think about your current reservation system. What is it? Does it consist of a pen and paper? Or does a pigeon fly to inform customers that their table is ready? Embrace technology. By doing this, you will enhance your restaurant seating a lot. For instance, you can get Sygnio’s POS system. It does not matter what type of restaurant you run. Sygnio has software for a full-service, quick-service, fast food, and any other type of restaurant. Note that you will optimize your seating optimization of reservations. Your clients will be able to reserve open tables at any time. They will do it through your app, website, or Google. Further, you will receive notification anytime your table is booked.
Conclusion
As mentioned above, running a restaurant business is quite challenging. Considering it’s in the service field, it will be stressful, too. But by choosing the correct strategy in certain aspects like restaurant seating, you can make the most of your restaurant potential. To ease your work in the restaurant, we classified these tips. These are the tips that will benefit you once you start using them.
Lastly, as you can see, to implement these tips, you need technology, too. You can be sure that Sygnio’s POS system is the right technology for your business. If you liked the article, share it with your friends, as well. You can also check out other related articles on our page.
