Lisa Masiello, Founder and CMO of TECHmarc Labs stated: “Happy customers are your biggest advocates and can become your most successful sales team.”
In the world of digital ordering, much truth can be found in the above statement and kindly serve as a humbling reminder that delivering quality dining experiences and exceptional customer service for restaurant guests extends far beyond the physical in-store experience. Rather, it is equally imperative that restaurants provide the same premium-grade dining experience to their clientele who digitally order online.
It should be further noted that customer service should never be the mere act of passively listening, nor just about problem-solving and creating a stagnant repository to store feedback from upset guests. It is about extending the boundless hand of goodwill, honoring a restaurant’s word, and truly taking to heart the unfiltered feedback provided by patrons regarding how to better the lives of consumers and improving guest experiences. It is also about living into the spirit of relationship-building with customers to create a win-win that yields a value of harvest in the form of long-term benefits and rewards for both food establishments and customers, as well as the promise of a healthy performing digital ordering program.
On that note, customer feedback is a vital component to the success of any digital ordering program, and here are some of the reasons why:
No system is ever perfect. Systems, businesses, and people alike have some area in their life where they can improve upon or enhance. As it has been said, we are all a work-in-progress. Along the same vein, customer feedback can be an essential sales tool if used as a learning instrument to improve the performance of a restaurant’s digital ordering program, not to mention helping to give the restaurant’s bottom-line an added boost.
Remember, it is never too late to learn something new, especially if the feedback is free and coming from your very own customers. Continually monitoring and actively tuning into the customer feedback loop can help take the guesswork out of trying to decipher what customers really want and need.
Always improving and bettering your best. Every food brand wants to believe that its digital ordering operations run frictionless both in-store and online. This is fairytale nonsense and never 100% the case. However, here’s where customer feedback can help.
Customer feedback is like a crystal ball that lends a truthful glimpse into what consumers really think about your brand and digital ordering program. It helps take the mystery out of how a restaurant’s online ordering system is favoring, in truly serving the needs of guests by going straight to the source that can speak most accurately on the topic. It also prevents food brands from remaining stagnantly content with their previous successes, while encouraging continuous improvement in the meaningful pursuit of bettering your best.
Customer feedback is the mirror held up to keep a restaurant’s digital ordering program honest in that regard, always in pursuit of making things better for restaurant operators and guests.
Do not take it personally, all feedback is constructive and good. Adopt a healthy mindset and belief pattern that all feedback coming from restaurant guests is constructive and good. As American self-help author and motivational speaker, Wayne Dyer once noted, “If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at will change.”
In that same respect, whether feedback involves a horrific experience that took place in-store or an undesirable event lead to a crippling online ordering guest experience, consider developing the habit of treating feedback as:
- Something positive, not negative
- Being helpful, not hurtful
- Revealing opportunity improvement areas
- Constructive and beneficial
- Taken with a grain of salt
- Help inspire new thinking and foster team collaboration
- A motivator to be more and do better
- A decision-making tool of what is working and not working
- A live temperature gage of true customer sentiment
- A learning instrument in how to keep customers by creating happier customers
- Help spark new product or service ideas
As stated by the Founder and CEO of Enterprise Digital Ordering Platform, NovaDine, “Taking care of customers and striving to be your best and always doing your best, will help create a happier guest.”
A rating tool to measure customer satisfaction. Continually measuring customer satisfaction is an essential part of operationally maintaining a thriving digital ordering program for restaurants. Collecting guest feedback is just one tool you can use in your customer satisfaction improvement rating arsenal.
Actively listening, collecting, and responding to customer feedback demonstrates to patrons that their voice is being heard and their input matters. In doing so, this helps to assure that customer interests are being served and their digital ordering needs are being met.
Customer retention, loyalty, and repeat purchases. As it has been said, “Happier customers, makes for more loyal customers.” Listening to your customers can help get you there.
As Customer Service Expert, Author, Blogger, and Speaker, Shep Hyken stated: “There is a big difference between a satisfied customer and a loyal customer. Never settle for satisfied.” By the same token, restaurant brands who genuinely care about customer feedback and aim to deliver both great in-store and online digital experiences can help to:
- Inspire repeat online ordering purchases
- Create more satisfied online ordering guests
- Attract and enroll new online ordering patrons
- Retain online ordering customers
- Increase brand loyalty
- Improve restaurant profitability
