Effective Restaurant Marketing Idea #6

'WOW' #6- When you have a Waiting List/Line - I am amazed at how little thought and attention is given to the Prevention of a Waiting List/Line. Everyone hates lines/waiting lists. It creates a very negative "First Impression". You must set up very strict procedures within your business to prevent waiting lists and/or lines. If you can limit and/or eliminate waiting lists/lines, you will have a very distinctive competitive advantage. In this very competitive Foodservice environment, Guests are increasingly less inclined to wait.

Waiting Lists/Lines are generally a sign of slow service. Think about it. If a guest comes into the Restaurant and is served before the next Guest comes in, you cannot have a line. Therefore, it is imperative that your focus is on serving each set of Guests very quickly so that a Waiting List/Line does not form.

Proper staffing is an essential part of preventing Waiting List/Lines. A Waiting List/Line is only possible if a second Guest arrives before the first Guest is taken care of. If you are properly staffed and absolutely prepared to take care of the Guests as they arrive, you will help prevent Waiting List/Lines.

Let me repeat: "Restaurants that limit or eliminate lines have a distinct competitive advantage." If your "wait" is long; your sales will be short.

Obviously, many factors influence whether or not you have a "wait". But good management can maximize service times during "full-house" business and can prevent long waits. The vast majority of restaurants have no plan for crowd control and for the prevention of Waiting List/Lines. As a result, they "fill up" very rapidly and add help only after the Waiting List/Lines happen. This is not good restaurant marketing.

It is my suggestions that you turn the above situation around. Add the help first and prevent the forming of a Waiting List/Line. If you have enough employees to keep the "wait" from growing, then you have enough employees to keep the "wait" from happening in the first place.

If only you had the employees up front and ready to go before the wait started, then there would've been no wait. Think how that would sit with your competition! This would be good restaurant marketing.

Another point that I would like to make is that "Once service is delayed for any reason, every subsequent guest will also wait the time of the original delay!" Let me give you an illustration. In a full-service restaurant, a guest comes in, the Hostess goes to the dining room to find a table. Whatever time that it has taken her to make the trip to the dining room is a wait time for the Guest ... and for any other Guest that may be waiting when she comes back. Let's say that it took two minutes, then every subsequent Guest must wait the two minutes the Hostess spent running to the dining room, as long as there is a Wait Time/Line.

Lines/Wait Times take on a life of their own and the people who pay the penalty are the Guests, generally only because of the lack of preparation on the part of the Management Team and/or Employees.

People who come into the Restaurant take a quick look at the Wait Time/Line and make an instant decision whether to stay or go. Keep in mind that service occurs in the mind of the Guest.

When you do have a Wait List/Line, you have to go out of your way to make the wait pleasant or at least bearable. This will require creativity marketing ideas and a lot of training.

Here are some ideas:

"Guess" the combined ages of the Hostesses on Duty

"Who Wants to be a Millionaire?"

"Count Down"

"Roll the Dice"

"Name that Tune"

"Russian Rollette"

"Highest Card Wins"

"Scratch and Win"

"Bulls Eye"

"Quarter Toss"

These are great Restaurant Marketing ideas to make it fun when the guest has to wait. Read on for more Restaurant Promotions to use when providing outstanding service.