Between tradition and digitalization, how can you improve restaurant order-taking?
How do you greet customers in a restaurant? With a smile, of course, but also by seating them properly at their tables and then taking their order quickly and efficiently. After all, from the very first minutes of an experience in your establishment, customers form an opinion of it. So it's best to make a good impression!
That's why taking orders in a restaurant is so important, and you need to pay special attention to it. Fortunately, there are a number of IT solutions available to support you during this key service stage. Find out more about them in this article 🌮 seasoned with valuable advice.
The importance of restaurant order-taking
For the restaurateur...
Professionals in the food and beverage industry are well aware of the importance of taking restaurant orders.
To begin with, it influences the fluidity of service in the dining room. Indeed, it's important to make the kitchen's work as easy as possible, by noting customers' wishes without skimping on detail, and by specifying special requests:
- remove an ingredient ;
- change the accompaniment ;
- serve starters at the same time as main courses, etc.
Precise ordering also reduces errors and waste. By avoiding misunderstandings, restaurants can manage their inventory more finely, and consequently minimize costs.
According to a study by the Institut National de Recherche sur le Gaspillage Alimentaire, ordering errors contribute to around 10% of food waste in the catering industry.
... and for the customer
Order-taking is one of the major components of the customer experience.
After all, your waiter is often the first contact a customer has with your restaurant. And when taking an order, he or she can leave a good impression... or a bad one! So it's important to be thorough, precise and adaptable, while keeping a smile on your face 😁.
What's more, order-taking allows us to conform to customers' specific needs, particularly when it comes to allergies or food preferences. This flexibility is beneficial not only for customer satisfaction, but also for avoiding any health-related risks.
How do you effectively take a customer's order in a restaurant? 5 tips on the menu
#1 Organize the dining room and teams correctly
Start by structuring your teams' work environment .
We recommend that you organize the room into zones, each of which is the responsibility of a particular waiter. This allows the waiter to concentrate on a specific section, thereby improving time management and service quality.
What's more, this arrangement helps personalize the experience for customers, as they receive more consistent attention throughout their meal.
#2 Master the menu at your fingertips
Good order-taking also requires perfect mastery of the menu. Waiters need to know what each dish on the menu consists of, but also be able to provide information on the following items:
- preparation and cooking times ;
- allergens present
- portion sizes ;
- customizable options, etc.
In this way, the front-of-house team can provide precise answers to customers, without having to take time out to go and ask in the kitchen. All the more reason to enhance your professionalism!
💡 Tip: we recommend that you draw up technical sheets for each dish or beverage. Intended to list all the key information, they'll prove a valuable aid to waiters.
#3 Make recommendations
However, an order that makes the difference is one where the waiter goes further than just mastering his menu: he gives pertinent recommendations!
For example, they
- they suggest the most popular specialties or dishes;
- he indicates which wines go with which recipes;
- he knows the best dish/entrée combinations;
- recommends cooking times;
- suggest desserts according to the customer's preferences, etc.
So many skills that not only satisfy, but also exceed consumer expectations.
💡 Tip: of course, it's possible to gear your recommendations to benefit the cash flow. Don't forget that waiters can also don the hat of the good salesman and suggest as a priority the dishes... most profitable for you 🤑.
#4 Constantly work on communication skills
Developing the communication skills of waiters is essential for efficient order-taking in a restaurant. As we've seen, clarity and precision not only guarantee correct order delivery, but also contribute to a positive, personalized customer experience.
💡 Tip: a good practice is to always repeat the order for confirmation to make sure everything is OK and to clear up any ambiguities.
#5 Train your teams
We advise you to make order-taking part of a continuous improvement process. This involves not only constructive feedback, but also training in various aspects of service.
For example, training in
- communication techniques ;
- incentive and suggestive selling techniques;
- managing difficult situations and conflicts;
- knowledge of restaurant procedures and policies, etc.
💡 Tip: reward employees' efforts and improvements. They remain your most valuable resource when it comes to taking orders. Make them really want to excel!
Why digitalize restaurant order-taking?
Perhaps you've noticed a vital tip missing from the paragraphs above 🤔 ?
👉 Use digital solutions.
Paper restaurant order-taking is now a thing of the past. More and more establishments are digitizing the process. This change starts with the use of a mobile terminal, more specifically a touch tablet or smartphone, in place of the good old notepad.
It has to be said that restaurateurs derive numerous benefits from this technology:
- Orders are taken more reliably, and they save a great deal of time since vouchers are sent directly to the kitchen without the waiter having to go anywhere.
- The solutions used keep track of services. Handy for carrying out various analyses to improve performance!
- Restaurant order-taking pads are often also cash register software. In this case, they facilitate cash-out by avoiding errors and queues, and by allowing greater flexibility (splitting the bill, for example).
- Digital technology simplifies inventory tracking and menu adjustments based on ingredient availability.
- Thanks to digitalization, staff can concentrate more on interacting with customers and less on taking manual orders.
But what exactly are the software and tools that can give you all these benefits?
Different restaurant order-taking solutions
Numerous technologies are involved in the digitalization of order taking. Let's take a look at the main ones 👀.
Cash register software
Cash register software, which is closely related to Point of Sale (POS) systems, generally proves to be the most comprehensive and relevant tools for digitizing your order-taking... and not only! They often take care of other operations, such as inventory management and sales analysis.
🛠️ L'Addition, for example, is a cash register solution specially developed for the catering industry and available on iPad or iPhone. It offers a host of functions to help you manage your business, including a dedicated order-taking module. Thanks to this module, you can combine speed and efficiency: vouchers, with all associated comments, are sent directly to the kitchen, in the order requested by the customer. L'Addition also allows you to manage supplements, automatically detect menus, add comments on wines... in short, everything you need to guarantee exceptional service.
Order-taking terminals
Self-service order-taking kiosks , often found in fast-food outlets, save time for front-of-house staff... and for customers too!
What's more, they help boost sales by encouraging consumers to explore more menu options and make impulse purchases.
☝️ However, the lack of human interaction can impact on the customer experience. Therefore, only install this type of device if it is suitable for the target clientele (avoid it in a gourmet restaurant, for example).
QR codes
We should also mention QR codes. Used to replace paper menus, they were developed during the health crisis.
Thanks to this technology, you no longer have to wait for the waiter to arrive to consult the restaurant menu. What's more, it reduces the cost of paper printing, especially if you change your menu regularly.
☝️ If you want to use QR codes, make sure your restaurant has a good Internet connection!
Online reservation management software
Last but not least, online reservation management software is another application that makes ordering in restaurants a breeze.
Their advantage? It relieves staff of the need to answer the phone during service, leaving them free to concentrate on their work in the dining room.
☝️ Note that cash register software, such as L'Addition, often offers QR code and reservation management functions.
Restaurant order-taking in a nutshell!
Your professionalism and the quality of your establishment should shine through as soon as the order is taken.
To achieve this, you need to be organized, a good listener and good communicator, with a perfect command of your menu and a real ability to adapt. And, of course, the will to constantly improve.
At the same time, don't hesitate to rely on technology. Cash register software, order terminals, QR codes... there are plenty of tools to support you in this task and help you focus on what's essential: the experience you offer your customers!
Article translated from French