When you own a bar or restaurant, St. Patrick’s Day can become a sales bonanza. But if you truly want the luck of the Irish to fall upon you this year, you need to take action to make it happen.
These are just a few suggestions that will help you to keep the customers flowing just as quickly as the spirits do this March 17.
Calculating table turnover rate.
Before we get started, we should clarify terms. For this example, let’s use last year’s St. Patrick’s table turnover rate at your restaurant.
You can figure it out by dividing the total number of customers you served on that day by the number of tables. For instance, if you had 75 customers at 15 tables, your rate is three turns.
1. Use QR codes.
QR codes became particularly popular when restaurants began to re-open in 2020. They allow customers to use their smartphones to access the menu, order items, and pay quickly.
This reduces the need for staff and eliminates long waits.
On March 17, you can develop a special holiday-inspired food and drinks menu, insert the QR codes, and connect it right into your point of sale system.
If you have questions about how to make this happen, talk to your payment processor for restaurants for step-by-step instructions.
2. Install tableside payment devices.
These trendy tablets can help your restaurant year-round, not just during this busiest of days. They allow your customers to settle their bill without going up to your cash register. Patrons simply tap their credit or debit card or smartphone onto the machine’s contactless card reader, which can then email or print out a receipt.
Without any extended waits or intercession from your busy staff, your happy customer can resolve their bill efficiently on their own terms.
3. Reduce your menu choices.
While you might usually pride yourself on your restaurant’s versatility and wide selection, limiting people’s options on St. Patrick’s Day has special advantages.
Most notably, customers with fewer choices will make their food and drink decisions faster, allowing the order to be placed, prepared, and consumed more quickly.
In the end, this will also mean that people will be ready to leave sooner, something you want if you are looking to bring the next party of guests in as quickly as possible.
Less on the menu also makes it easier for your kitchen staff. With a curtailed variety to prepare, their operations can be streamlined. They may even be able to make up large quantities in advance, further speeding up the time it takes to get food to the table.
4. Serve customers quickly.
When your internal processes are perfectly streamlined, this will naturally flow into your table turnover rate. For instance, bottlenecks in bussing tables and preparing them for the next group of customers will mean extended wait times for patrons and lower profits for you.
Therefore, take a long look at every step of your serving process to see where the kinks are so that you can correct them before March 17 hits.
On a more technological level, consider onboarding a kitchen display system in the front and back of the restaurant. As soon as the order is entered into the system by the servers, it appears on the screen in the kitchen.
Orders can then be prioritized by the chef chronologically, cutting down on forgotten tickets. This system can be a lifesaver on any shift but particularly during frenetic occasions such as St. Patty’s Day.
5. Provide some additional training to servers.
Especially for the uninitiated employees who have never coped with a boisterous, thirsty, and hungry St. Patrick’s Day crowd, this holiday can be daunting at the very least. Prepare everyone by encouraging them to work together as a team.
This means that anyone can take care of a customer’s request, not just one designated server.
Furthermore, everyone should be trained to consolidate their visits to each table. By doing so, customers’ needs can be met faster and more efficiently.
March 17, with all of its conviviality and craziness, is just around the corner. When you implement some or all of the above strategies, you might not find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
However, you can help to ensure that your bar or restaurant is as efficient as possible without sacrificing the fun atmosphere and focus on customer service that already sets your establishment apart from its competitors.
