Survival Kit for Restaurants - Part 1
In three parts of this report, we will analyze the current situation and reveal amazing tools, ideas and technologies that will help you to take your business to new heights. Please keep reading, commenting and let us know what you think.
An unprecedented economical and global situation in the century – COVID19
We all have now experienced that the threat of coronavirus pandemic is very real, and it’s not fun anymore; it never was!
So many businesses are impacted and the most suffered one is the hospitality industry, like – restaurants, hotels, bars, bakeries, eateries, etc. And, it looks like it will take time for the hospitality industry to recover.
However, there are several tools and technologies that can be employed to recover with a bang, even make more profits and to gain customer trust.
This is the first part of three articles; we provide information to help hospitality industry to regain their spirit and business by empowering with a few guidelines, amazing ideas and tools. Please keep reading to the end and subscribe for the part-2 and part-3 for the free tools that we will provide you which will change the way you think business processes in the hospitality industry. We provide information through research, investigating the models in other countries in the world and also by creating tools/technologies to be made available at your fingertips.
As we know the current situation:
The world is busy combating the coronavirus situation and heavily investing in the vaccines and possible cures. To slow down the coronavirus outbreak, different measures are being taken – primary step is social distancing and restriction of free movement. Travels and public gatherings are not allowed. Public places like gyms, museums, cafés, restaurants, pubs, bars, nightclubs, cinemas, theatres, concert halls, hotels are closed; even schools, colleges and universities are closed.
Online studies and trainings are now encouraged, that is opening up a new era in the online education industry. So many businesses are struggling to provide salaries to their employees as there are no sale and production. It has been seen that people are going for panic-buying, and basic household things are out of stock. Countries have stopped exporting and importing, which creates more scarcity in the market.
Experts are failing to predict how badly it will hit the economy as the world never experienced anything like this before. It is really hard to calculate the economic impact and the duration of it. People are changing their lifestyle habits, like there is no social dining with friends anymore. The fear is that it may weaken the social bonding somehow.
No touching, handshake or hug is now the way to show that you care for that person. It is a very difficult time for elderly people as the risk of infection for them is more and due to lockdown, they can’t go outside to have some fresh air. There is a fear that social distancing may affect the mental health in due course of time, so everyone is advised to do some activities at their homes, to maintain mental wellbeing.
People are searching for their creative sides and trying to explore as much as possible, some are investing their time in writing, reading, painting, playing fun games with family etc. Those parents who mostly have less time to spend with their kids now giving them time as much as possible and engaging themselves in different activities. We can say our survival mode is fully on – we all are trying to save our lives and the lives of our loved ones. But practically surviving in this situation is very difficult as so many poor people continue to lose their jobs and businesses. So, it’s evident that this is a very difficult and unique time.
But a wise man had once said – “Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit”. And, we believe the same as well and this COVID19 situation has opened up so many business opportunities and unprecedented ways to make money by providing the right products/services needed at the right time.
Let’s directly jump to the ways you can boost your business even in this situation and make the most out of it.
How can you boost business by more than 1000% when you reopen?
It’s very clear that things are not going back to normal and we can’t start our life where we left before the lockdown. There will be a different version of the world and we can predict a huge change in the lifestyle of the people worldwide. Things will take more than usual to get back to track. Few things will never be back to track again. The future is uncertain, but the only certainty is that there will be a future, and it doesn’t matter whether we like it or not we have to adapt and accept it. But the question is are you mentally, physically and technically prepared for that change?
Being a business person, it’s the most difficult time for sure. We know that our business is not only the source of our bread and butter, but for many who are involved in the process of business; directly and indirectly employed. Particularly about the hospitality sector, the business depends on the daily footfall count.
During the lockdown period the hotels and restaurants are closed, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have to do anything. You need to think about the relaunch plan of your business, no matter how popular your business was before the lockdown; you need to adapt and implement a few new techniques/strategies to march forward.
Do you know what exactly you must do when you reopen your business? Because old methods were going to be useless after the COVID19 situation. You have enough time to think about and make plans which will fit into the future scenarios.
We have a few suggestions or ways to prepare your restaurant or hotels for reopening after the Coronavirus pandemic. Let’s discuss and review together, we believe these will help you immensely.
Note: Please subscribe to receive Part-2 and Part-3 of this report, where we will make free tools available for you and guide you step-by-step to get you ready promptly for a new journey!
Modern and Digital Techniques
The first thing would be the ‘mental fear’ of your customers. Customers may feel unsafe to visit personally to the restaurants or stay at a hotel to avoid physical contact and the fear of contracting the virus. So, the first thing for you is to focus on taking online orders as much as possible and create pickup systems.
Many operators like Zomato or Swiggy or Uber Eats might be providing delivery (and pickup) systems for restaurants, but again, there is a risk of virus contraction there as well due to human contact and food orders/packs can’t be kept in isolation for hours before consuming it. The better choice is to provide more pick-up options.
Consider creating pick-up racks and customers can pick their order up through token numbers or numbers on the rack. This will minimize the risk of virus contraction through human contact (direct from restaurant to customer). No contact takeout and delivery maybe the new restaurant culture in the coming days just to avoid human contact as much as possible, takeout culture could become a lot bigger than it was.
Consider cashless and card-less payment culture at your restaurant/hotel which creates a safe atmosphere at your premise and customers will know that you care for them.
Consider frequent communications with your customers through emails or text messages to keep in touch. Even if your restaurant is currently closed down due to the COVID19 situation, still you need to communicate with your customers at regular intervals to show you care. Send them some interesting messages, so that they know that you are going to reopen your restaurant and waiting to serve them once again. For example, you can share some recipes, cooking tips with your customers so that they can try it at their homes and enjoy the tasty meal to thank you.
In this period of lockdown, most of the people are at their homes and online most of the time. This means you can do online marketing at this time and reach out to your customers by making some fun videos, run your ad on Facebook and other popular social media platforms. If possible, make your website and post your thoughts and promote it. As people are relatively available or saving a lot of commute time if they are working from home; so, they have good amount of time to go through your website and you can keep them engaged.
Invest more time on digital marketing in this lockdown period, which will help you when you reopen your business. We can help you how exactly you can do that using the tools and techniques we have; you can subscribe to Part-2 and 3 of this report to know more.
Advance discount coupons for customers to guarantee future visits
This could be a game changer for your business and you have nothing to lose. You can promote your business by offering huge discounts in advance and keep the validity of the coupons till end of this year or more.
You can also start selling prepaid discount gift cards. When the restrictions are withdrawn, people will have a strong reason to visit your restaurant/hotel or order food online. And the gift card sale may help you to generate revenue in this period of crisis without…
providing anything to your customers in return now, but after things get back to normal. We can help you to set you up with these ideas and feel free to subscribe to know more.
Restaurant WiFi to know your customer and use as a powerful marketing tool
In the past, customer visit count was probably very good and all tables or hotel rooms used to be reserved at all the time. But things are not going to be the same anymore when this crisis is over for sure. So, what can help you at that time is your connection with your customer. You need a tool that can help you to convert free WiFi offering to a powerful marketing tool. A restaurant or hotel WiFi Management System adds an extra feature to your restaurant and acts as a powerful marketing tool at the same time.
Your free Wi-Fi offering will give your customers an extra reason to spend some time waiting if required and also to offer mobile menu. No printed or menu with human contact would be required anymore! Wow, that would be amazing to your customers, is not it?
Not only that, through WiFi management System you can collect valuable guest information like their names, phone numbers, email addresses etc. which you can use for your marketing purpose. You can know your top repeat guests and reward them with some complimentary services if you want to. Along with that, you can know the customers who have not been visiting your restaurant for the last few days and you can target them and offer them something so that they return to your restaurant.
And the best part is you can also know if any of your customers visit any of your competitors, and to bring them back – you can send dedicated messages or emails. Greet them on their birthdays, so that you can establish a personal connection with them. Every time they log in to your WiFi, greet them with thank you message and redirect them to your digital menu page or any other desired web page to promote your services or products.
You can also collect genuine feedback from your customers through WiFi system and work on that to improve your service to make them feel safe while they visit your restaurant. We can set you up with our WiFi management system for all these benefits and we can offer you free service in lieu of the COVID19 situation. To know more reach out to us and we will be glad to help.
Rearrange tables with a three-meter distance for safety
When you reopen you may need to change the seating layout to show your customers that you care for their health and safety. This could be a good marketing strategy among your customers to gain their trust as well.
They will know that you are thinking about them and make your restaurant a safe spot for your customers. Don’t worry about reducing tables and customers, you are already offering pick-up service for more pick-up orders; and the increased distance between tables/customers will actually increase their visit to dine at your restaurants.
To help boost the immunity of your customers – new items on the menu!
Update your menu to add a few new items in your menu which can help to boost the immunity of your customers. Make your customers healthy and they will pay for it. Give more importance of organic food in the preparation of foods and mention it on the menu card.
For example, just like you have south, and north Indian veg thali in your menu, you can add a special work from home lunch thali for the online delivery/pick-up portal. You can add juices made of medicinal plants or turmeric or tulsi. There are many new items you can add to your menu to help boosting the immunity of customers. These new items can be added as starters or desserts or juice/drinks.
If you want new menu ideas then feel free to get in touch with us or subscribe to the Part-2 and Part-3 of this report.
Advertise the use of Sanitizers and cleaning of tables/chairs after each customer use
Again, making your customers safe at your place will bring even more customers. You can make short videos on the following mentioned themes and advertise on YouTube or TV screens at your restaurant/bar.
1 – How your staffs are sanitizing themselves before entering the restaurant and kitchen, how they start the preparations of the food. Example – changing their clothes, washing their hands properly, using a mask while preparing food, frequently using alcohol-based hand Sanitizers etc.
2 – How you use Sanitizers and disinfectants in your kitchens just to make sure the platform is disinfected properly like cooking surfaces, kitchen walls, floors and on all equipment such as grills, hoods, sinks, faucets, ovens, coffee machines and more.
3 – To reduce the risk of spreading germs/viruses, how every day staffs are sanitizing the floor, reception and kitchen etc. and especially disinfecting tables, chairs, bottles and other items on the table, door handles, windows, floors, bathrooms. These videos will help you to achieve high customer satisfaction.
4 – You can make videos of the use of different types of Sanitizers like Chlorine Based Sanitizers, QUAT Based Sanitizers for different purpose or places at your restaurant or bar. How the glasses are cleaned or paper or one-time use is promoted. How you focus on using the correct concentration of the chemicals in the sanitizer to clean glasses and dishware every day.
5 – And it may sound funny, but maybe this is the chance to employ new bright and creative people at this time. Yes, correct… as all the restaurants are shut down and many people are jobless; and more talented people are looking for a new job now, you can hire the right people very easily at this time. More trained and more capable than what you had a few days or weeks back. And as we have already mentioned so many things above, you can train them now so that when you reopen you will get the upgraded version of your new staff and workforce.
Along with the changes internally you can talk to your local market vendors and partner with them to promote cross-marketing. If you need to create animation, videos or editing an ad/instructional videos then let us know and we can help you there as well.
This is not the end, but the start of several new ways of thinking and do business!
Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the hospitality industry is the most impacted one. Experts are predicting that there will be more than 50% of the businesses in the hospitality industry will be shattered till this pandemic is over. But don’t worry as experts are not always right! And also, they may not know the right ways to respond to these adversities through powerful ideas and effective marketing techniques to combat all the odds.
There are many ideas to be revealed in this report to manage staff payment and how to keep them occupied for next five to six months till this pandemic is under control. Please wait for the Part-2 and Part-3 of this report, the researched information will be immensely helpful in these difficult times.
We have seen in the past that the restaurants are more focused on upgrading the interior frequently, but never spent a lot on process and technical upgradation. Most of the restaurants have underestimated the power of technology and we believe the time has come now to embrace technology more than any time before. Those who knew it already, will upgrade their systems/processes and they have a better chance to survive and excel during/after this crisis.
Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.
If you are a business person then you can’t just hope that everything will be alright one day. You need to make plans and strategies now to see your business from a new perspective. When everyone sees the negative side of this virus pandemic, you need to think out of the box so that you can generate revenue from it during and after this pandemic. You may need to change many things that you have been doing in the past and change some of your policies, processes and the way you do things. The situation is concerning but not for them who are ready to innovate and evolve as a different breed.
Subscribe Here!
Nanovise.com © 2023. All rights reserved.