As crucial technology in the first stage in the customer journey, we understand the importance of keeping your booking system up- to- date to ensure every cover is maximised, guest experience is seamless and business booms!
It’s easy to forget a task when it only needs to be completed once a year, but this can lead to important updates being overlooked, and will ultimately result in you not getting the most out of your booking system.
We’ve listed five areas within your booking system that we believe should be regularly checked and maintained to help you maximise capacity:
1. Make sure your email templates are polished and optimised
Your correspondence with guests matters, and with changes frequently being made by different users, it’s worth taking the time to regularly make sure your email templates are not only visually appealing, but also accurately reflect your brand. After making any changes, such as key date closures, adding special instructions or opening up additional seating for the summer, we’d recommend creating a test booking as if you were a guest making a reservation. This helps you to make sure guests are receiving the right information.
2. Monitor turn times
Monitoring and updating turn times is crucial for smooth operations. With accurate data, you can maintain optimal table turnovers and minimise wait times for customers, helping you manage your bookings effectively, improve guest experiences, and maximise revenue from every cover.
Zonal’s Table Management solution allows users to export turn times based on several factors, to build an accurate picture of current performance. You can then adjust booking durations accordingly, for example if your dwell time is set to be extremely high, reducing it down to a more realistic value can open up additional availability and increase yield.
3. Stay on top of opening/holiday hours and table layouts
Updating layouts or creating new ones for key dates in your booking system is essential for optimising seating arrangements. Tailoring layouts to accommodate increased demand during special occasions or holidays helps maximise capacity, reduce wait times and enhance overall dining experience for customers.
4. Consider additional booking channels…
Don’t overlook the various additional channels available to drive online bookings. An online offering reduces in house costs and having an easy journey can deliver a great journey for the end user.
Reserve with Google, Facebook and Instagram from Mozrest enables you to convert Google searches, Facebook and Instagram followers into bookings, by adding a simple ‘book now’ button to your business listing, allowing you tap in to more potential bookings and provide a more streamlined experience for guests.
In addition to online booking channels, there is also the ability to implement automated telephony systems. So that when a customer does wish to pick up the phone – the system can do it all for you. It’s not for everyone, but definitely worth looking into.
These come with an additional cost, however you’ll be picking up missed bookings that may otherwise have gone elsewhere and of course the time your team don’t have to spend on the phone completing what could have been achieved online is of great benefit.
5. Stay up-to-date with what’s new!
Zonal Bookings is constantly evolving with new features and functionality. Stay ahead by keeping track of these updates through our Product Portal. Planning is key when implementing changes, review your timelines – you probably don’t want to implement changes to ways of working at peak times or when support levels are low. To obtain good adoption, get buy in through testing. To see satisfaction, follow up and make the required tweaks and changes.
We’re here to help you make the most of your booking system. If you have any questions or need assistance with implementing new features, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our team.
If you have any further questions on any of the above functionality, or any of your other Zonal solutions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch!
webinar
How can hospitality businesses combat no-shows in 2023?
In this webinar, industry experts from Zonal, Mitchells & Butlers, and Bums on Seats, explore the current bookings landscape, the impact of consumer loyalty on no-shows, the importance of real-time booking availability, and share their advice on processes and procedures operators can start implementing today to start tackling no-shows in their business.