How to Use Your Restaurant Phone System to Amplify Your Sales
1. Upsell even before phone pick-up
Advanced enterprise-level phone systems have auto-attendant capabilities. Take advantage of this feature by playing short and persuasive upsell messaging whenever a customer calls your restaurant. Customers are more likely to order more when they are notified of available promotions and special menu items. Doing this will not only increase your sales but will also relieve your team of upselling duties when things get busy.
VoIP phone systems also allow you to play a specific recording during certain times of the day. Be strategic on your upsell and promotional messaging. Playing the right message at the right time can go a long way in maximizing your average order value.
2. Reduce costs by scheduling staff more effectively and efficiently.
Having an awesome, fully-supported telephone system with real-time and historic call reports helps boost your business in the long run. Why do you need all that data, though? Well, it’s good to know the hours where you receive the most number of calls, what people usually order during specific hours, how long the waiting times are, and so on. Use this information to help your staff maintain the balance between managing calls and dine-in customers. The goal is to minimize the calls that you lose while still providing an excellent service to your dine-in customers.
3. Never ring busy to minimize call abandonment
Queuing is the key to never ringing busy. This is one of the many cool features of a VoIP phone system. Imagine you have two phones for taking orders—both being used by your staff—but then a third call comes in. If you’re using the Plain Old Telephone System (POTS), the third caller will receive a busy tone, may drop the call, and possibly will never call back again and that’s a potential sale down the drain. Now if you’re using a VoIP phone system, the third caller will receive a queue messaging that goes something like “Hey, thanks for calling! You’re the first caller in the queue. Our awesome staff members are currently taking other orders. Estimated wait time is 2 minutes.”
Why should you never rung busy? Well, a USA Business Telephone survey of 30,000 people revealed that a messaging and music on hold program can reduce the call abandonment rate from over 50% to less than 2%. That’s a huge difference!
4. Utilize your call recordings for a targeted marketing campaign
Call a meeting for your marketing staff, pronto! Analyze the calls that your restaurant receives from customers. Is there a specific menu item that they frequently ask for? Do they ask about your loyalty program? What about offers like BOGO, happy hour, and stuff like that? Other restaurants might have those promos, so step up your game and offer them too! Your call recordings contain a wealth of customer insights that can be utilized to develop effective, focused marketing efforts. This will also make the customers feel that you are listening to them which is a good way in building relationships with your patrons.
5. Save in telephone costs
VoIP phone systems run through the internet connection which is most likely something that your business is already using. Switching to VoIP phone systems may reduce your restaurant’s phone bill by 50-70% in the long run. High-speed internet can be more affordable than hosting your own phone systems.
6. Catering
The best thing about a VoIP system is its portability. Other phone systems don’t have that! As long as you have an internet connection, you can make and receive calls. To add, calls can be sent to a cell phone, laptop, or tablet. This means you can have one business number and your team can answer it from anywhere. This is especially true for a restaurant that offers franchising and your team can’t all be together or working on-site, you can still maintain productivity and communications. Most importantly, no new business opportunity will be lost to unanswered calls.
