The more feedback, the more potential revenue

With so many social media platforms and review websites, restaurant customers are more than guests—they’re influencers. And they’re more likely to share their views with their social network before they share them with your restaurant.

Either way, Operators cannot afford to ignore opportunities to understand how their guests perceive their experience. When properly prompted, guests enjoy the opportunity to give their opinion, which is why social media has become a popular place for people to talk about restaurant experiences. So, it’s a good idea to get feedback ahead of that first social media post to make sure more posts are positive ones. 

Profit-building feedback tips to remember

• Timing is crucial – The best time to capture guest feedback is as soon as they have finished their dining experience. Details are still fresh in their minds, and you will be more likely to receive specific opinions. The right feedback mechanism will help minimize negative social media from your detractors while encouraging promotors to inform their network about their great meal.

• Be professional with your responses – Create a standard operating procedure for your feedback system—one that always remembers its manners. Thank everyone for providing feedback, politely ask for more details if the feedback is vague and try to personalize your responses so they don’t sound canned (and therefore insincere). And if you made changes based on their feedback? Let them know! They’ll appreciate knowing you listened.

• Set the tone – Make sure your patrons know that you’re asking for their feedback because you want to provide a better experience for them. This will nudge guests away from ranting and toward more constructive feedback that improves the experience for everyone.

Turn feedback into fuel

Once you collect and sift through all the great feedback, show your commitment to customer excellence and actually implement changes that will increase visit frequency. Your loyal guests will greatly appreciate your attention to detail when you do something new that improves the guest experience for them (and drive repeat business for you). 

But before you can use feedback to fuel revenue-generating opportunities, you first need to have the right guest feedback tool in place to capture it. It’s how you tie a guest’s experience back to the ticket and staff who provided service. It’s also a great way to recognize the team members who drive great reviews and turn happy customers into promoters.

Need help creating the best consumer engagement strategies for your operation—including fully integrated feedback technology? Contact NCR and see why our digital-first ordering solutions are trusted by 33,000 locations today—and why 75,000+ restaurants worldwide run their restaurants using NCR Aloha.