As a restaurant owner, maximising your table turnover is probably already at the top of your list. At the end of the day, how could it not be? The quicker your tables change, the more customers you serve, resulting in more revenue and a lively, ‘hot-spot’ atmosphere at your food establishment.
While accounting for both efficiency and profitability, this metric is not always an easy one to crack. Achieving the balance without rushing your guests, accommodating those waiting, and minimising lingering, requires a strategic approach… and in most cases, a robust online reservation system. And if like most strong believers in pen-to-paper reservation lists, you still have doubts, it might be time to reconsider if you are really serious about boosting your table turnover rate.
Streamline your bookings & stay ready
Online reservation systems provide a quick and easy way to streamline your bookings and manage all reservations in one place. This process completely scraps the need for manual tracking and reduces the likelihood of errors. This way, the staff can easily review upcoming reservations and plan accordingly to ensure that all of the tables are set up ahead of the guests’ arrival time, helping you not only to appear more professional, but also save a few precious minutes of unnecessary waiting time.
Enforce time limit to manage expectations
With restaurant booking software, you aren’t only limited to confirming the reservation at your restaurant, but have the option to provide additional information to better manage your guests’ expectations. For instance, your booking confirmation can introduce a clean and structured time-frame for each booking, such as 1.5 hours for brunch or lunch and 2 hours for dinner. By doing so, you effectively plan for a smoother turnover, without any damage to your customer’s experience.
Quickly adjust your seating plan
Another key element to ensuring a better table turnover is adjusting your seating plan. By making informed adjustments to the table arrangements, you can quickly make sure that it accommodates best to the reservations booked on that day, without any significant gaps in-between. Best part? No hand drawings or moving tables required to play around with your spacing. You can utilise user-friendly and interactive floor plan to have a visual representation of your space, test out your options in seconds and even save the most successful templates for future reference. This process, in turn, will help to distribute reservations evenly across the whole dining area and make the most of your space, all while preventing overburdening any server and eradicating any unnecessary staff-related delays.
Slash your no-shows
No-shows can drastically disrupt the flow of your service and negatively impact turnover rate, yet manually calling back to reconfirm every reservation isn’t always an option, and almost never an efficient use of your time. This is where online reservations systems come in. The software often includes features like automated email and SMS reminders, significantly reducing the likelihood of no-shows. Some more advanced systems even allow for prepayments and deposits, further incentivising guests to honour their reservations. With fewer no-shows, your tables are more consistently occupied, optimising turnover.
Accommodate via multiple locations
If you are a lucky manager or owner of a restaurant chain, the online reservation system can even help you balance out your turnover across multiple locations. By scaling up with your needs, the reservation system can combine your booking across sites, and provide customers with the option to switch over to alternative locations in case no bookings are available at their original first choice.
Simplify with digital waiting list
No need to keep your customers lined up right outside of your door – instead, direct them to an online waitlist to help you seat the parties more efficiently, as the tables start to clear out. This easy tool will not only help you to quickly have a run down of all parties waiting and easily notify them when the table becomes available, but also allow your future guests to step away in the meantime, resulting in less frustration.
You cannot improve, what you don’t track
An online reservation system provides valuable data on peak dining times and customer preferences. By analysing this data, restaurant managers can better predict busy periods and staff accordingly. This proactive approach ensures that the restaurant is adequately prepared to handle the influx of diners, reducing wait times and enhancing the overall dining experience. Proper staffing directly influences table turnover, as well-served customers are more likely to leave promptly.
Give it a try – No strings attached
Check out Tableo’s free version that supports up to 50 bookings monthly, making it perfect for smaller restaurants or those wanting to test the system before purchase. Restaurants can manage bookings in a user-friendly digital diary, monitor performance via a mobile-friendly interface, accept bookings through an online widget, send automatic booking confirmations and reminders, store customer details and preferences for remarketing and now also collect customer reviews.
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Hanna Yerega is a freelance copywriter and a powerhouse on social media, where she combines her knack for compelling writing with a masterful grasp of digital platforms. Known for her exceptional organisation skills, she handles multiple projects with unparalleled precision. Hanna is deeply passionate about not-for-profit initiatives, using her talents to amplify their messages and drive meaningful engagement.
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