91% of the unhappy customers would never buy from the same restaurant again. It is upon the restaurateur to find out why the rating of their restaurant is decreasing on a daily basis. If most of the customers are not satisfied with anything in your business then it is important for you to add surveys. Sometimes surveys don’t work which is when the restaurateur have to go for these 10 indirect approaches to conduct a 100% neutral restaurant survey.
1. Application/ email surveys:
These surveys are quite different from the ones that you give to a customer when they are done eating. Sometimes the customers are shy to even say whatever they want to say. With application surveys, the customers can answer the questions when the memory is still fresh in their minds. It is important for you to know that this survey shouldn’t have more than 2 questions.
According to SurveyGizmo, email surveys are never answered by 10% to 15% of the customers. Even with this downside, it is quite easy for the customers to fill out the surveys sent to them via email. Google form is an amazing platform for the restaurateur to get to know what their customers really want.
2. Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT):
Some of the restaurateurs add this by the end of the survey. It becomes quite confusing if they answer every survey question positively but they rate your restaurant 2 out of a 5. It is also important for you to keep the numbers to the minimum. It is easy for you to interpret a 2 out of 5 rather than 5 out of 10. You would never understand why the customer gave you a number which is right in the middle. When it comes to remarks, you need to keep in mind the cultural background of your customers. People of certain countries such as Japan would simply write that the food was “fine” whereas the Americans would definitely give you a “good.” With this kept in mind, one can improve whatever there is to improve.
3. Net Promoter Score (NPS):
This scale helps you to see what percentage of your customers would likely to recommend your restaurant to others. In today’s culture, we usually ask others before dining out. In this survey, you ask your customers how likely they are to recommend your restaurant to others on a scale of 1 to 10. This helps the customers to think whether their experience was good enough to rate it 9 out of 10. There are a few tools on the internet which help you calculate the net promoter score.
4. Customer Effort Score (CES):
This does not ask the customers to score the restaurant on what they experienced but the effort that the staff made to solve the problem. Amazing customer services can result in high customer expectations. And you can only do that when you know what your customers expect from you. The staff can ask the customers “how likely did the staff make an effort to resolve your problem?” rather than “How satisfied are you with the services?”
5. Social Media:
The culture today has changed drastically. Back in the time, we used to recommend the restaurant to our loved ones only but now we can post anything and everything on the internet and the rest of the people would share their experiences. It is easier for people to try out restaurants with high rating and for that, the restaurateur can track the remarks via different tools on the internet. Social mention, Facebook, Twitter, Google alerts are some of the most common tools used by restaurateur to track whenever somebody mentions the name of their restaurant or it appears somewhere prominent. This way you won’t have to ask every customer to fill out pages long surveys in order for you to improve the services.
6. Research about your competitors:
There are many restaurants around the world and it is important for you to know who you are competing against. Research about various restaurants selling the same food on your menu. Note as to why customers love their services, atmosphere or the food. This is far from the questionnaire that you ask your customers to fill but it helps you to improve a lot of things for your customers.
7. Online Surveys:
Online surveys such as the Publix Food Surveys etc are some of the best platforms for you to understand what your customers want. Websites like these, conduct surveys for a lot of restaurants so it is important for you to make sure that your restaurant stands out among others.
8. Pricing:
No matter how great the services, staff, atmosphere and food of your restaurant is, if the prices are not reasonable, then there is no use for you to work on other aspects of your restaurant. Look through the menu of your competitor’s menu or look at the comments online where the customers are either satisfied with the prices at your restaurant or they’re asking others to not waste their money on the food in your restaurant. It is not necessary for you to lower your prices than your competitor’s but then the quality of the food should be good enough so that customers do not regret paying a large amount at your restaurant.
9. Google alerts:
You can add different keywords regarding your restaurant or your competitor’s. This way you’ll get email updates regarding the ongoing news and reviews by the customers. Tools like this one and various others can help you indirectly.
Watching your competitors doesn’t always mean that you should track their every move. You can just keep tabs on when they change the strategy of their restaurant or if there is some change in their business.
10. Tips:
A tip is a gift from the customer to the staff of the restaurant. If a customer leaves money with the bill, then you should know that they really liked your services. Although the tip is not for the restaurant but for the one who served the particular customer and it can be tracked in order for the restaurateur to keep track of how much the customers like the food or services at your restaurant.
There are many ways that you can keep tabs on your customer’s expectation or the effort that needs to be done in order to improve the quality of your restaurant. In business, there are ups and downs which is why it is totally fine for you to get nervous, if not many customers visit your restaurant at first. You just need a little effort in order to make your restaurant stand out among others.
