In a sit-down restaurant, new menu items are sold through menu inserts, easels, and as part of the introduction given by the wait staff.  In an online environment such as NetWaiter there are also a number of ways you can promote new menu items and changes.  Here are a few tips:

Maintain an Interactive Online Menu.  Nothing makes a customer twitch more than outdated information on a website.  With an easy-to-use interactive web-based menu, you can also update your menu without calling a website designer.  It’s also easy to highlight changes or new additions.

High Quality Images.  We’ve talked about this before, but it’s worth repeating.  A quality photo of a new menu item says more than any description.  Post it on your interactive menu, but also get it on Facebook, Twitter, and other sites.  You want those images shared.

Include Social Media Buttons.  Facebook, Twitter, Instagram - all of them.  Make it easy for people to spread the word about your new menu items.  Remember that certain social media sites are favored by different age groups.  Facebook is now considered an “old folks” platform.  Younger people tend to use Instagram and Twitter.  You may want to alter your message based on the platform.

Create Buzz with “Partnerships”.  Try naming a new item after someone popular in the community.  At the very least, they will promote the item and your restaurant for you.  You’ll make this person and all their family and friends advocates for your restaurant. Imagine the buzz.

Has your restaurant ever been blindsided by an online complaint?  It doesn’t matter if it’s about your online business, or an in-restaurant experience – it’s not a good feeling.  Whether it’s legitimate, or something totally unwarranted – you need to know how to respond. 

Often it’s based on a misunderstanding or a failure to respond early, when a complaint is fresh.  A recent webinar from the National Restaurant Association had some tips on how to respond to these online complaints.

• Don’t be the last person to find out about a problem at your restaurant, or with a takeout order. Get familiar with the tools.  Use Google Alerts, monitor Yelp.  Have systems in place. 

• This isn’t personal, so don’t get defensive.  Your goal is to neutralize these incidents. 

• Take responsibility online.  Denying that it happened is usually the wrong tactic.  If it’s a completely false or bogus complaint, contact the site (i.e. Yelp) and have them remove it. 

• Get the response public and prominent.  Don’t be the 75th person to comment.  Tell the complainant that you want make it right.  Make sure everyone sees it. 

• Treat your online communication as carefully and as thoughtfully as you would in-person.  You don’t want these things going viral.

• If you are posting online, keep everything positive.  If a customer persists with negativity, take the conversation offline by suggesting they call you. 

• Train employees with your approach to handling complaints so that your staff speaks in one voice. 

• If complaints are routine or happening in patterns, it can indicate a weakness in your operation.  Use that information to your benefit and correct the issues. 

Be persistent to make things right.  People tend to remember the last thing you did for them.  It could be a big problem or small dilemma, but if you bend over backwards to make things right, that’s what they will remember most. 

We saw three trends, among many, changing the restaurant industry this last year, and they can all be addressed with online ordering from NetWaiter. 

Have It Your Way — This used to be the marketing line of Burger King, but now everyone is on the customizable bandwagon.  Extra meat, extra cheese, replace the bun with a lettuce wrap. NetWaiter’s online ordering system makes it easy to allow for this type of customization.  Even when a customer has pre-paid for their online order and throws in a special request that should cost extra, NetWaiter has enabled a way for you to politely go back and charge them the additional fee (see our March newsletter, out in a few weeks).

Unconventional Hours — A substantial number of people saw their traditional jobs go away for good over the last decade.  Some estimates have as much as one-third of the workforce in “freelance” jobs.  Others are working two jobs to replace the one that went away, or commuting a considerable distance. The 9-to-5 workday has been replaced by “whenever and wherever."  Online ordering accommodates these new and unconventional work hours by making your menu always available and easily accessible.   

More Competition from Unconventional Places — Some hotels are pondering takeout parking spots for their in-house restaurant as they struggle for new ways to bring in more revenue.  Supermarkets and even big-box retailers like Wal-Mart and Target are offering pre-packaged meals for shoppers that are on-the-go.  To compete with these places, you need to be more convenient and innovative than they are, and never let your customers forget it.