Businesses like restaurants are undoubtedly thinking about what could be the next step in order to survive this crisis. In Massachusetts, the government announces that restaurants, bars, and other establishments under food and beverage products can still operate provided food should only be available for take-out and deliveries only. Each restaurant should practice adequate social distancing protocols, and dining-in is strictly prohibited. In each establishment, it should only cater to a maximum of 10 people.
Do you know that there is actually an opportunity for restaurants in Massachusetts this coronavirus outbreak? This advantage can be useful for you if you know how to do it in the right way. Also, it can help you regardless of the weather and acquire a continuous exposure when everything goes back to normal.
If your restaurant is offering takeaway and delivery, well, that’s the opportunity. Right now, these services are applicable for you to drive sales. But, it should not be the same as how you do it when everything is still normal.
As people are encouraged to stay at home, takeaways, and delivery is a great opportunity. As we all know, most people love eating at various restaurants, and at this moment they can’t go out, they don’t want to cook food and insist on eating delicious food to the restaurants which makes them go to takeaways and deliveries.
As of the moment, anyone can’t go to restaurants, pubs, cinema, and theater. So, people engage in a takeaway as one of the luxuries things they can do, which tend them to do it several times a week. There are also instances that people who are not a fan of deliveries and takeaways start to do it.
When this opportunity becomes maximized, many people will continue patronizing takeaway and deliveries, even this crisis ends.
If your restaurant already offers takeaways and deliveries, well, you’re on the right track and start boosting your services. However, offering these services alone is not enough to drive sales. You can’t sit right there waiting for the customers to get orders from you. During this crisis, your services should be different, and it should fit the preferences of your customers.
This page supports various restaurant owners in the United States who are affected by the new coronavirus crisis. We give priority to Restaurant Owners & Managers who need help. In this challenging time, we need to help each other and share what we can do to surpass the recession.
Here are some things you can do to let your local area notice your restaurant;
During this outbreak, it is normal that customers look for a restaurant that is far from the risk of the virus. You can’t think that your customers see your restaurant is safe from the virus, you have to give the details or assurance that everything is safe. How can you do that? Create a General Policy.
In creating a policy, you need to focus on health and hygiene. Inside the policy, you need to give details on what services you still offer during this outbreak and enlighten them that your staff and crew are free from the risk of the infection.
You also need to educate them on what precautionary measures you are implementing to keep the place free from infection, starting from your kitchen things, utensils to the entire restaurant as well. This general policy should be posted to a visible area of your restaurants, like windows and doors. You can also post this policy on your Facebook page or website.
It is strongly recommended to accept payments over the phone and encourage your customers to submit orders online. It can be better if you can collect payments through bank transfer or charge it via credit cards. Suggest them various contactless options to avoid touching your customers.
However, there is also a big chance that customers prefer to order right inside your restaurant, which tends to touch different surfaces like doors and tables. So, how can you resolve this?
Does your restaurant have a parking area? If yes, you can assign one of your employees to watch customers who wish to takeaway food from your restaurant. Let your staff approach them and get their order. As the staff receives orders, they will instruct the customers to get back at the said time and hand them their order. It can be better if the crew wears gloves and uses communication radios to make communication faster.
What if our restaurant doesn’t have a car park? You can do a pickup service.
If the two options do not work for you, you need to implement a safe distance to your customers. According to the announcement, each establishment should only have ten customers inside. You can provide seats and set at least 2 meters distance. If your restaurants can accommodate ten customers with 2 meters distance, you can reduce it. Avoid putting tables or any surfaces that can be touched by the customers.
As the other customers wait for their turn outside, tell them to practice social distancing while waiting.
Like for takeaway services, suggest to your customer some contactless options like bank transfer or charge them using credit cards. During the delivery, instruct your customer that you’ll put the food bag at your doorstep as the bell rings. From afar, the delivery man will wait until the customer gets his or her order.
In this option, you need to relay updates about your business. First, you need to update your operation hours on your Facebook page and also in Google My Business (GMB). Notify people if you’re open today and up to what time your operations. You need to tell your customers what you can offer only takeaways and deliveries in the meantime. You also need to post your general policy regarding how to make them safe and healthy.
During this crisis, it can be better to reduce your menu to prevent over expenses. As you finalize your menu, you also need to come up with great exclusive deals for your customers. Don’t worry, and you can still go back to your full menu when everything goes normal.
To drive more sales, you can create package deals where customers can get a meal now and go for another meal for the next few days. For example, a customer orders for a chicken meal today. By using the package deal, he or she will have another meal that can be delivered or takeaway in a couple of days. With these package deals, you can increase your sales. It can also minimize waste, and you can freeze excess foods. As for your customers, package deals can save them more money, and they don’t have to think about their meal in the next few days and minimize going out just to buy food.
To promote your services, you need to show your takeaway menu on your Facebook Page and also to your Google My Business page, so that people or prospective customers will know what to order from you. Also, you can make a Facebook header that shows that you’re only accepting takeaways and deliveries.
If you are using a delivery service like Grubhub, Seamless, Uber Eats, Postmates, Doordash, and many more. Tell your customers how they can find you these apps. If you’re not yet affiliated with these delivery services, try to connect with them even for a short-term period only.
At this moment, most people will have more time to stay at home and of course be bored. As people stay at home, they can have more and more time to engage with social media. So, this is the perfect time and place to tell more about your restaurants like your offering takeaways and deliveries. You can also notify them of your ongoing special offers and your safety insights to keep them safe from the virus.
Regardless of what social media platform you are using, you need to post or tweet regularly about your business. It is highly suggested to post every two days on each social media so that your restaurant will remain in the mind of your customers.
Through regular posting on Facebook and other social media platforms, you can guarantee that people around your area will see you open and serve safe yet quality food during this outbreak. We all know that many people will look after ordering takeaways and deliveries, and you need to utilize the right content that will make them choose your restaurant.
Another way to attract more local people is to boost your Facebook posts. As we all know, a regular post can only reach your page followers. When you boost your post, it can reach people around your area effectively, even if they don’t follow your page. To do this, you need to spend a dollar or $5, which can drive new customers around your local area.
You can also try connecting with people through email. You can send an email to a list of email addresses and tell them that your restaurant is open for takeaways and deliveries. You can also add your special offers and your policy regarding health and safety.
You can attract more customers, and you can make a Facebook Offer. It can be in the form of discounts, freebies, or exclusive deals. As for the record, Facebook Offer gives much exposure, and it can be seen to various people around your place.
There are many ways on how to keep your customers from you. So, how can you keep your customers during takeaways and deliveries?
You can include a discount coupon in their takeaway bag. Maybe a 10% off or free dessert on the next order. The coupon should be presented on the customer’s next transaction.
You can also ask satisfied customers to take a photo of their food with them and post it on your Facebook page or to their profile. Through that post, it can be seen to their friends and have a better chance to generate potential buyers.
You can also ask your customers to check-in at your restaurant when eating their takeaway. They can still do this thing even at home. This action can give you exposure as their friends can see it.
So, this is the Restaurant Survival Guide for restaurants in Massachusetts. This guide enables restaurant owners on how to promote takeaway and delivery service in the right way while securing the safety of their customers. By following this guide, it can help you survive the recession and thrive as everything goes normal.
Generally, the survival guide could help your restaurant. The question is, do you know how to do it in the right way? If not, let our team help you.
For more than ten years, we have helped various restaurants to drive more customers. Our clients usually pay us between $199 and $499 per month for our marketing and social media services.
At this moment, we understand that your restaurant is straggling.
At the said special package, it includes;
Here, there is no long term contract, and your $99 will only ensure that we will help you for a month. However, if the crisis is finally over, and wish to continue our services, just notify us.
We hope that this survival guide will help your restaurant survive this crisis and achieve more great things in the future. If you want to discuss more about what we can help you, contact us now.
This page supports various restaurant owners in the United States who are affected by the new coronavirus crisis. We give priority to Restaurant Owners & Managers who need help. In this challenging time, we need to help each other and share what we can do to surpass the recession.