The Wow Factor – Give Your Guests Something to Talk About with These Restaurant Customer Experience Tips

In a competitive restaurant market with the increasing cost of dining out, you need to give your guests something positive to talk about and a reason to return. “The Wow Factor” is shorthand for creating a memorable restaurant customer experience that leaves your guests wanting more. Here are a few reminders of what you and your staff can do to leave a lasting impression on your customers that will make them, in the words of Walt Disney, “want to come back to see you do it again.”

Mind the touchpoints A proper restaurant experience begins before your patrons even step out of their cars. What impressions do your storefront, your signage, and your parking lot make? Does your restaurant experience get lost in the maze of other business offerings, or does it pop out invitingly? If your guests order online for delivery, the guest experience begins when they scroll through your menu. In the world of restaurant eCommerce, changing one’s mind about their dining destination can happen in an instant.

The restaurant customer experience doesn’t end when guests have finished their meals. How your guests are thanked for their patronage and treated upon departure makes lasting impressions. Old-school thinking might mislead us into believing that extraordinary service is only part of upscale dining. Perish the thought. Many quick-service drive-through concepts have trained their staff to warmly greet guests and cheerfully send them on their way as part of their best practices in restaurant operations.

"Whatever you do, do it well. Do it so well that when people see you do it, they will want to come back and see you do it again, and they will want to bring others and show them how well you do what you do."
- Walt Disney

Staff selection and training are the ingredients in the secret sauce of winning independent concepts.The restaurant customer experience begins with the menu. You need to serve “crave-able” food. But, your food alone is not going to ensure repeat visits. You need to hire staff who are naturally friendly and service-oriented, and then train them so that they are so comfortable with their jobs that they can focus on hospitality – in other words, kindness to strangers. Moreover, with restaurant customer experience training, you can create front-of-the-house superstars whose presence alone will bring patrons back to your tables. RestaurantOwner.com Learning System courses offer this training

The little details mean everything for a good restaurant experience.Even owners and executive-level operators with multiple locations visit them and touch tables. Do guests seem to be enjoying themselves? Are the best practices in restaurant operations being followed? Is the service staff helpful and upbeat? Is the food being prepared and presented consistently? Are the premises clean and inviting from the parking lot to the restrooms? Look under the tables. Watch how your staff interacts with guests. Walk the parking lot for debris and trash. Create a checklist of every aspect of the business you believe influences your guests’ experience and impression and check it twice.

Looking for a way to transform your restaurant customer experience for the better? Try taking our online course The Gift of Hospitality and watch our webinar Competent Service & Caring Hospitality for insights into perfecting the guest experience.

Have a profitable week!

The RestaurantOwner.com Team