Have you noticed the latest in-dining restaurant trend in which ordering food is done ONLY via a smartphone app or by QR code scanning? Sounds like a genius idea for proficiency and accuracy, doesn’t it? Well, I can tell you that not all restaurants combine this high-tech trend with the human-touch experience very well.
Real World Story: We walked into a Stone Brewing location in San Diego County at 6:15 pm one evening. We did NOT have a reservation. The hostess said the wait would be 45 minutes to 1 hour. She said we could get a drink at the bar, but … whatever we do … DO NOT sit at any table!!! And DON’T EVEN THINK about ordering using the QR code!!! She emphasized these points quite insistently.
We went to the bar and ordered two glasses of Merlot. When they were poured and delivered, one had a noticeable amount more wine than the other. The bartender remedied this after we asked.
We then walked around the beautiful courtyard and noticed two things:
1. At least half the tables were empty—probably due to COVID restrictions, but the hostess never mentioned the reason for the long wait.
2. There were dirty glasses all over the place—probably because there is no app for that, yet!
After about 30 minutes we sat at a table surrounding the fire pit—violating the hostess’ rules. We noticed two couples eating on the other side with room for at least two other couples. We noticed an employee ask how the couple was doing across from us. No one spoke to the other couple.
After another 20 minutes, my dinner partner went up to the hostess to ask if we could eat at a table we’d found in the courtyard. She gave the okay.
Since this restaurant has no wait staff, we were forced to bring out our phones and figure out how to place our order. Of course, if we had questions about the menu, no one was around to help us. We fumbled our way through the ordering and paying process. And then… we waited.
Meanwhile…
We got cold, so we had to go hunt for an employee to turn on the heat lamp behind us. After helping us, he said he would check back on us. We never saw him again. We got thirsty, so we had to go hunt for water. When our food finally arrived, my salad had no dressing. I had to go hunt for someone to get some. For my trouble, I got a tiny little cup of dressing for my gigantic salad while a lady across from me, with the same salad, had a large container of dressing. The chicken on the salad was so dry and tasteless it was almost inedible.
All in all, we would have gotten WAY better service at a fast food chicken shack.
Strategies that Turn it Around:
- Explain the process and perks. If ordering and paying at your restaurant is done by smartphone app only, then explain this to customers. And then explain the perks to them for doing so. When customers know why they need to do something, they will be more receptive to doing it. And if you explain what they gain for doing something, they will be thrilled to comply!
- Don’t Tell Customers What NOT to do. Starting off interactions with customers on what they shouldn’t do is a BAD start. It sets a negative tone from the get-go. Never ever tell customers no as a way to break the ice. You may just fall through it.
- Technology should never stand alone as your customer service strategy. See all of the above.
Remember: Technology is fantastic for making our lives easier, especially in the food service industry in which service is non-stop and physically exhausting. But when you rely heavily on technology by lessening human interaction, customer satisfaction will drastically decline.
How does your organization integrate technology with the human touch to deliver exceptional customer service?