3 ways to improve efficiency in your hospitality business
If you’ve created a buzz around your restaurant, bar or café, what would you say is the key to that success?
An enticing menu? Fantastic customer service? A great marketing campaign?
The reality, of course, is that there is no simple golden ticket to success. However, we believe there is one thing which every successful business in the hospitality industry must always remain focused on – making sure their guests leave happy.
Whether you’re providing your clientele with somewhere to relax with a drink after work, a quick pit stop from the shopping mall or an easily accessible location to do a business deal, the trick to ensuring guests leave happy is to always manage their expectations – and for that to work, you need to be running as efficiently as possible.
No business in the hospitality sector has unlimited resources, so greater efficiency can only really be achieved if you’re prepared to put your business operations under fine scrutiny. That means looking closely at everything from your purchase ordering to the communication channels that run between front and back of house.
Sounds like a lot of hard work? Well, no one ever said running a business was easy! That said, a great many pubs, bars, restaurants and other hospitality businesses are now tackling efficiency through digitised solutions, the backbone of which is the POS system. Here’s three ways a POS system like the Good Till can help:
Communication
If you’re offering any kind of table service, it’s crucial to maintain efficient communication from customer to server to kitchen/ bar and back again. Get this right and customers will receive exactly what they ordered in a timely fashion (and leave happy). Get it wrong and you’ll be facing some damaging mistakes (not least of which are the bad reviews). Using a smart POS system simplifies everything – you can take mobile tablets to tables to ensure ordering goes smoothly and the system can automatically send printouts to the kitchen and bar. The result – less duplication, a reduction in the amount of work it takes to serve each table, and far less of those costly mistakes.
Payments
We live in a fast-paced environment and, even when we’re out to enjoy a leisurely lunch or dinner, somehow when it comes to payment, we just want to pay and go! It’s the same principle as being happy to spend ages choosing an item in a shop but not wanting to go quietly grey while queueing at the checkout. Smart tills can accept all payment forms but demonstrate the utmost efficiencies when connecting directly with the chip and pin terminal. Such integrated payment technologies put double entries into the history books, reduce errors, increase security and enable faster reconciliation of bills (including split bills).
The Know-how
While directly supporting operations at the table, bar or kitchen, the efficiencies offered by a smart till do not stop there. Perhaps best of all are the insights it can give you about your business which ensure that essential tasks do not fall through any cracks. In-built inventory management features will help you manage stock levels at ingredient level, avoid out-of-stocks, and create efficient purchase ordering schedules. Accurate sales reports can show you exactly what works so you can fine-tune the menu to your clients’ taste buds. And, by monitoring your staff alongside real-time data like average transaction values, you’ll be able to identify top performers, reward excellence, plan effective training schedules, and schedule rotas so that you always have the right people in the right place at the right time.
Give us a call today to find out more about how your business can achieve greater efficiency with a Good Till in place.