Using handheld technology, restaurant management systems have geared up the guest experience to stay level with our fast and instant world. Now restaurateurs can give guests a closely tailored service and keep tables full.
So how does it work? Our complete guide covers everything restaurants need to know about making dinner reservations with a free app. Let’s begin with the starters, shall we?
Restaurant Management System for Beginners
Who is the ideal restaurant customer? Restaurants need their customers to be both reliable and loyal, to stay true to their reservations and later on, post glowing reviews online about their experiences dining out.
The ideal customer shows up, has their meal, and of course, tips generously afterwards. Then, when all is said and done, they return — to dine out with you again and again.
But the restaurateur’s part in this process requires a great deal of effort. To make the guest’s visit run as smoothly as possible, staff have to put a little more elbow grease into fulfilling guest expectations.
Think of all the times something has gone wrong — the times you’ve had to consult an over-written ledger or confused certain names with certain time slots and certain dates, leading to conflicts between reserved tables.
Even if this has never happened to you before, with a pen-and-paper system at hand, you’re always one step away from turning a corner into streets upon streets of human error . . .
A restaurant management system stamps out these errors: It creates a flexible structure to support your guestlist, upgrading it from a scribbly guestbook to an effortless digital display.
These are the essentials. So how do you use a restaurant management system?
Figure 1. Journal by Rory MacLeod via Flickr
How to Make a Dinner Reservation at a Restaurant
Carbonara App streamlines your restaurant reservation service and gives you complete control over your guestlist — reducing any friction in processing customer bookings.
Via the app you create in-house reservations from your phone screen or tablet. This is the app’s booking diary, showing reserved slots from a glance. It’s simple: You enter customer details in appropriate timeframes and create these reservations in just three steps.
- Choose the reservation icon from the app’s home screen
- Create the reservation — i.e. fill in date, party size, and time
- Confirm the reservation, and view the app’s automatic SMS confirmation
Create and confirm dinner reservations with Carbonara App’s restaurant management system
One of Carbonara App’s most useful features is its online reservations feature. With this enabled, you can allow guests to make reservations at any time that suits them — whether they’re on an afternoon lunch break or scrolling through the web at 02:00 AM while you’re tucked up in bed.
You set the times — you confirm guest dinner reservations. The app gives you full control of your business’ procedures, just with a sprinkle of extra convenience.
Another thing: unlike other restaurant management systems Carbonara App updates in real time.
A key problem with other restaurant management systems is this: they fail to display accurate booking pages. For instance, a customer may need a table for three at 07:00 PM, but a faulty system may only show tables for four.
Carbonara App is one step ahead: it delivers accurate booking times for dinner reservations using both device sync features and real time updates.
For more on how this works contact us and we’ll help your restaurant’s dinner reservation system outperform the rest.
Dinner Reservation From the Palm of Your Hand — SMS Features
You’ve probably heard all about SMS text reminders already. The main difference is that with Carbonara App they’re completely free.
Basically, once you make a reservation with a customer, the app automatically sends a free confirmation message, listing the reservation’s date and time, including a notice for customers to text back if they decide to change their plans — a useful approach to handle the risk of no shows.
Yes, unfortunately, all reservation-based restaurants deal with no-shows at some point. Thankfully with reservation text confirmations, no-shows can be reduced. The added convenience of responding via SMS simplifies this process.
Today’s guests need flexibility. The opportunity to send a simple text message back if their plans change offers a simple solution to the problem of no-shows.
Think of it this way: Phones are in everyone’s pockets, and people want to be able to handle matters quickly. The New York Times has even shown that text confirmations are a great strategy to retain customers, who enjoy the added convenience of managing commerce via their phone.
Improving the relationship you have with guests, you can also customise these messages to suit your restaurant’s style. Just select the “Custom Messages” in the Inbox settings screen. The rest is up to you.
Table Management Features for Dinner Reservations
Parties will vary from standalone diners to large, full-table family outings, and Carbonara App’s table management feature accommodates how your restaurant manages its table capacity.
Fully customisable, think of Carbonara App’s table management screen as a mirror — it keeps track of your table count, allowing you to manage reservations using an easy-to-read interface.
In the table management section, there are multiple options to adjust. You can select which place a large party will sit at. To do so:
- Reserve a table in the booking page
- Find table in table management screen — it should show as “non-reservable” for the agreed time
- Confirm booking on the day, sending a reminder SMS
Carbonara App also has table limits features, meaning you can set times on a customer’s dining period. Our default time is two hours, but you may adjust this according to your restaurant’s needs. Learn more about time limits on reservations and how they affect your restaurant’s revenue.
Customer Notes — Restaurant Management System Entities and Attributes
With Carbonara App, keeping notes on a customer’s individual preferences is as easy as taking their name. On the reservation confirmation screen, you can complete a diner’s profile with their specifications, such as allergies. This appears underneath the reservation slot when you complete the booking.
Now you can make notes with uncluttered space, totally paper-free.
Figure 2. Note by Mike Cohen via Flickr
Make Dinner Reservations Easier with Free App
A restaurant management system should come with all features free of charge. Restaurants already have enough on their plates — and apps need to be free to help boost the industry’s profits.
Why not try it out? Carbonara App’s features will improve your restaurant’s efficiency and give your restaurant a simple way to manage dinner reservations, saving everybody time.
