Why A Professional Phone System Is Critical For Your Restaurant
Whether you run a small diner or a multi-location bar and restaurant brand, you need a professional restaurant phone system. A professional phone system can save you both time and money while allowing you to provide better customer service and operate more efficiently.
Carryout and delivery orders are at an all-time high and if people can’t get through to your restaurant, they’re going to order from someone else. Studies show that 34% of callers who hang up will not call back.
If a potential customer calls your restaurant and is met with a busy signal, no answer at all, or an unfriendly welcome and there’s a 34% chance that they won’t even call you back, what do you think the chances are they’ll ever visit your restaurant? I’m going to go out on a limb and guess small.
What Makes A Professional Phone System Invaluable To Your Restaurant?
Your phone may not seem like a cornerstone piece of hardware, but a good phone system (that’s properly set up) will answer customer questions and build trust, reduce the amount of time your employees spend on the phone and increase the volume of your business.
That might sound like a lot. The truth, though, is that the right phone system can do all of that and more, and if it’s really good, like FlyghtVoice, it’ll do it all for a lesser expense.
Here’s how:
1. LET THE AUTO ATTENDANT SPEAK FOR YOU
- An auto attendant allows your customer to navigate themselves to the answer they’re looking for, whether that’s an immediate answer or the person they need to speak with.
- Many restaurants believe that auto-attendants put up walls, but reality shows that providing a systematic method for getting your customers to the right person or the right information builds trust and goodwill.
2. NO MORE UNANSWERED CALLS OR BUSY SIGNALS
- Is it just us or is a busy signal basically like a company saying, “I don’t have time to talk to you”? When someone comes in to dine at your restaurant during your dinner rush, they’re put on a waitlist and a host lets them know when they can expect to be served. Why shouldn’t your phone system do the same?
- With many systems, including FlyghtVoice, during periods of high call volumes, callers can be informed of their estimated waiting times and place in line, or even receive a callback rather than wait on hold. During the few moments where a customer is in-line waiting to speak to an employee, music or on-hold messaging can be enabled to further enhance the customer experience.
- If you’ve ever contracted for telephone service, one point of discussion is always the number of “lines” you will need. With most Cloud-based Voice-Over IP (VoIP) telephone systems, the concept of “lines” becomes irrelevant – an unlimited number of callers can ring into your business without ever an utterance of a busy signal.
- Not convinced your customers care about being left on hold? Consider this USA Business Telephone survey of 30,000 people which concluded that a messaging and music on hold program can reduce the call abandonment rate from over 50% to less than 2%.
3. STREAMLINE WAITLISTING AND RESERVATIONS
- Text messaging is an often underappreciated service on a business phone – until you use it. We all know sending a text is faster than placing a call when you have a small amount of information to share. Why not enable your guests to text you their name and party size to be added to your waitlist?
- Your host can add them directly to the list, send a quick acknowledgment, and move on to helping another guest. It’s that easy and efficient, and texting can be shared on multiple devices of all platforms (Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android.)
4. USE A MOBILE DEVICE
- Don’t worry, this doesn’t mean that anyone can reach you at any time. If you’re like most restaurateurs, you’re away from your desk more often than not. A mobile extension means you can ditch your office phone and have all the functionality you need wherever, whenever. You can set your own restrictions so calls to your personal phone never occur outside of the hours and days you set.
- This feature is also great if you offer catering services. Many restaurants push catering calls directly to voicemail, but many potential customers won’t leave a voicemail or will continue to call competitors until they receive immediate information. Imagine receiving catering orders in real-time, no matter where your catering contact may be.
5. REDUCE UNNECESSARY CALLS
- Spam calls are a nuisance. They eat up employee time and can potentially tie up your business, preventing actual customers from reaching you. Bottom line — they cost you money and prevent you from making money. So why not reduce them as much as you can?
- Cloud-based VoIP services like FlyghtVoice can prevent spam calls in real-time, sending those calls to voicemail directly, prepending “SPAM” on the caller ID, or our personal favorite – the immediate hang up.
6. SAVE MONEY
- Our customers save between 15-40% compared to the traditional phone system they had before working with us.
- VoIP from most providers allows you to place unlimited long-distance and local calls anywhere in the US and Canada plus international capabilities, if needed. Each carrier sets their specific call allowances, but with FlyghtVoice, all of the United States and Canada is included in each service plan. That means you don’t get hit with unexpected fees, and your invoice is as transparent as you expect it to be.
The right phone system will naturally fit into your day-to-day operations and remove pain points for your customers. FlyghtVoice can be catered to your needs to do just that. Think it might be a good fit for your restaurant? Schedule some time with us to go over your options.
It’s been a long time since we expected our personal phones to only facilitate voice calls and nothing more, so why accept anything less from your restaurant phone system?
