It can be hard to know what to invest in when running a restaurant. You are going to be offering your customers the best possible food products you can buy and exemplary service laid on by your staff. However, there are additional factors that every customer will enjoy, even if, at the point of asking, their mind happens to go blank.
1. Professional Signage
Source: davessigns.com
You are, no doubt, going to need to invest in some professional signage in and around your restaurant. For instance, your customers are going to need to know where they are eating out, especially if they are ordering a taxi to get there.
Of course, signage is not all about the restaurant sign above the door. It also expands to instructional signage, such as where the toilets are or where the fire exits are. To get your message across, however, you have to make sure that you are using the right restaurant signage.
2. Take-Out Delivery Service
Source: lightspeedhq.com
In recent years, businesses have been made more aware of their flexibility, and this has not passed the restaurant industry by either. Having an empty restaurant is not a good sign. However, it can be made a little better if your order book is still full of paying customers.
Undoubtedly, this scenario isn’t going to occur unless you take steps to offer a take-out service from your restaurant to your potential customers living within your local area. Having your kitchen staff busy and your waiting staff taking orders either in person, over the phone, or via your website is far better than having them sitting idly by twiddling their thumbs.
3. Specialty Dishes
Source: bonappetit.com
To promote new dishes, you should also insist on offering a specialty board. These dishes will be separate from your main menu, but if they sell well and feedback is good, then they could be added to your menu at a later date.
This will save you time and effort in placing dishes on your menu that simply do not sell with those that have become firm favorites of your customers. Of course, when you are implementing your take-out service, it will be up to you whether you include this additional choice for these customers or whether you want to keep it as an encouragement to have people eating in your restaurant.
Final Thoughts
You should ensure that you are choosing the right signage for your restaurant font and sizing matter a lot, but so do the graphics and the wording. You should be thinking about how you can expand your customer base.
Taking your food to those that are unable to attend your restaurant will still bring in money to your establishment, and they should be embraced as well. Offering multiple ways customers can order, such as over the phone, in person, or via your website, makes a lot of sense, especially as these options should be available for your customers to book a table should they wish.
Finding new dishes to keep your customers and your chef interested is certainly part of the game, but it can be hard work if nobody wants to try them. Initiating a specials board and drawing customers’ attention to it at their point of order will provide your chef time to master his art. Any dishes that are an overwhelming hit can then be added to the menu permanently so that the ritual can start again with other dishes.
