Outdoor dining is a unique modality in the bar and restaurant market, which provides a differentiated customer experience. Exactly because experience is the heart of this strategy, you should always think of ways to improve it to differentiate yourself in the market.
The first tip we can give you is to always seek knowledge and be aware of market changes. That's because if a competitor is more attentive and applies a great new strategy first, it may be too late for you. To help you in this continuous improvement process, we created this article with 5 tips for you to improve your restaurant practices.
5 best practices to be the best in outdoor dining
We have separated here the best practices for you to apply in the management of your restaurant or bar, which will help you to attract more customers, consolidate in your market niche and, consequently, boost sales.
1) Differentiate from your competitors
Who can really differentiate you from your competitors is yourself. So, focus a lot on your Branding strategies. For that, you must remember that what you sell is not just food or drinks, it is an experience, a feeling, an emotion. The more you focus your strategies on the human side, the more people will be able to connect with your brand.
Another excellent way to explore mental triggers is through Local Marketing, which focuses on creating bonds with your community and letting them know your history until your brand becomes part of it. Thus, you will have a great support network and the most interesting: very loyal customers. Finally, to further strengthen this bond, offer extra items, promotions or free drinks, for example. So you trigger the mental trigger of reciprocity.
2) Use a QR Code Menu
The QR Code menu has been used as a way to eliminate shared menus that can spread COVID-19 among restaurant customers. Along with the pandemic, technological advances accelerated and people were forced to keep up with this evolution.
Digital menus are not only useful to prevent menus from being circulated from hand to hand among customers. Its advantages go far beyond that and have proven effective in optimizing the customer experience in several aspects. And the best part is that Eat&Repeat Agency provides you with this technology completely free of charge. Open any page on our website and wait for the download pop-up to appear.
3) Get the attention of your customers
All the tips we've given you so far in this article help you to catch the attention of potential customers. However, you can also prepare your team to sell more and better, and then you will find that attracting customers to your restaurant will be a much easier process. Recognize the commitment of your team of waiters and waitresses.
Valued professionals are more proactive and creative and are always willing to find the best solutions for any problems.
Develop training for your team;
Recognize them with awards;
See the waiter as the main link between your company and your customer.
4) Be Pet Friendly
The term pet friendly is recent and has been widely used to designate places and establishments where pets are welcome. The concept does not refer to places where pets can just enter, but where the environment is prepared to receive them well and provide comfort for the animals.
Despite the willingness of many entrepreneurs to join the pet friendly, many doubts can hinder or discourage the idea. Some observations should be made before adopting policies for the inclusion and stay of pets at your property. See some items to make available to animals and owners:
container with water and food;
rubbish bags;
cleaning cloth;
disinfectant products;
glass door flags;
collar to leave the animals.
Before adopting pet friendly, it is important to assess the feasibility of adapting the space. It is necessary to have a place where there are rubbish bags and cloths to help clean the environment by the owner of the animal, in case the animal becomes dirty in the establishment.
The essence of pet friendly is to understand that pets are important to customers. In this sense, offering water and food is a differential, and allows your customer to stay longer in your store, as they will be unconcerned with pet care.
5) Be Kid Friendly
Children are probably the most demanding customers. For a family outing, parents will prefer a restaurant that accepts and adapts to children, where everything is done to distract them. These children's restaurants also called kid-friendly restaurants, attract many customers. And so, creating a child-friendly atmosphere in your restaurant allows you to reassure parents that they won't have to take care of them during the meal. You get it: by winning over the children, you retain the parents and also have the opportunity to receive a family clientele in your restaurant. Therefore, you are interested in adapting your restaurant to the younger ones among us.
Get a free consulting with us here at Eat&Repeat Agency and see how you can apply this and many other strategies to make your business a success.