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Never miss a booking

Article by Aaron Copestake | 5th September 2019

78% of millennials say they would rather spend their money on an experience, like eating out at a restaurant, than purchasing food to eat from a store. And that’s because eating out is about more than dinner…

Sure, the food needs to taste great. But the venue, the atmosphere, the service, the front of house team, the wine pairings, cocktails, gin menu – everything needs to be carefully considered and executed in order to deliver the perfect dining experience your customers are searching for.

And yet many restaurants can’t do something as simple as pick up the phone.

“Why won’t you answer me?!”

The trouble is, that many diners wait until their lunch break, or after work to try and make dinner reservations. And this is a restaurant’s busiest period.

One industry survey showed that 81% of diners think it would be very helpful to be able to book a table at any time of day. But with everyone out front and busy serving customers, it means there’s no-one sat in the office to take those important calls.

And then there’s the other problem…

“It’s not me, it’s you”

Those moments when your diners have managed to get through, book a table – and then they don’t show. It’s so frustrating, and has a massive impact on your business. Not only have you lost that revenue for the evening, you’ve still incurred the overheads of paying staff to turn up on shift, get the kitchen up and running, and purchase all the food ready for consumption.

On average, 10-15% of a restaurant’s covers fail to turn up.

To combat the issue, some restaurants impose fines or take a deposit upfront. But that’s an administrative burden that no-one wants, and it just pollutes the overall experience. While others invest in highly complex systems that send a string of automatic reminders to the diner about their reservation, which again, doesn’t start your guest experience off on the right foot.

So what’s the solution?

*ring ring…ring ring*

Picking up the phone’s pretty simple, right? You could just do that. If it’s ringing in the corner, there’s a pretty good chance that someone’s trying to get a hold of you.

“But we don’t always hear it when we’re out front and the restaurant’s busy.”

You do with VoCoVo.

“Hello! How can I help you?”

VoCoVo delivers innovative team communication solutions that improve efficiency, drives sales, and transform business operations. Through our simple, wireless headsets, we enable you to enhance your customer service through instant voice communications.

Answering the phone is simple. Calls are routed via headsets to designated call handlers who can pick up discreetly at the touch of a button, wherever they are in the restaurant. Better still, the VoCoVo solution will dynamically integrate with most telephone systems.

Through quick, effective communication, you’re avoiding any unnecessary customer frustration, and getting your customer experience off on the right footing.

“High-quality communication implies a high-level of service.” – Journal of Services Marketing.

When 73% of diners agree that restaurant technology improves their guest experience, you can’t really afford to ignore them, can you?

Our customer data shows that on average, VoCoVo headsets increase how quickly team members are able to help with customer enquiries by 198%.

Imagine the impact that could have on your business…

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