There are more jobs than unemployed workers so far in 2023, especially in the restaurant industry. That means a lot of jobs are going to go unfilled, which means the labor crisis is more important than ever. For obvious reasons, you need people to take orders, make food, serve, and clean in your business. You can have some of those people fill multiple roles, but you can’t completely eliminate them. Going short-staffed for long periods of time may even force you to reduce your hours – something becoming more common in the restaurant space as fewer and fewer people take up these jobs.
As a result of this, some of the important but less urgent tasks get postponed or ignored.One of these may well be answering the phone, especially during peak mealtime rushes, when your staff has all they can handle with making and serving food. You don’t want to miss these calls, so you think of alternative solutions, and come up with an answering service. Not a bad idea, right?
Of course, it is a viable solution to the phone problem. That’s why answering services exist. And unfortunately, while it’s very nice to have an actual person available for answering the phone, they’ll never be able to answer one-off questions, take an extremely customized order, or help give someone directions if they got lost halfway there. However, if all you need is a human answering calls and giving out basic information, then maybe an answering service is the right solution for you.
What most restaurants need more than an answering service, though, is a way to screen calls, easily handle the answers to most common questions, deflect calls away from your busy in-person staff, forward only the calls you need to answer … and to do it all as cost-effectively as possible.
In this case, what you want is an auto-attendant phone system, like Reachify. This system can answer the phone and direct callers to a self-serve menu that will get them assistance as quickly as possible. If they want to place an order or make reservations, you can send them a quick text message with a link to your website or ordering platform. If they want directions, you can essentially drop them a pin. And if they need help with a third-party order, you can forward them right to whatever phone number they need to call. Your staff doesn’t get interrupted and your callers get help fast. It’s a win-win situation that’s a no-brainer for almost any business in the food industry, from diners, food trucks, catering businesses, fast casual or quick service restaurants, and everything in between.
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