Restaurant customers are, of their own will, flocking to convenient technologies such as using online ordering for takeout & delivery.  But, as one hospitality executive observed in The Wall Street Journal last month, "When you lose the experience of ordering with somebody who can give you an intelligent answer, you lose, well, hospitality."

Although it’s the ideal way to order, personal touch is still important in online ordering.  How can restaurants that grow their business with online ordering keep customers happy by maintaining a personal touch?  Consider some of these tips and tactics:

1.    Select your pickup counter personnel and delivery crew based, in part, how personable they are. A friendly greeting and exchanging quick, pleasant niceties goes a long way with customers and your brand.

2.    Make sure the personnel who handle pickups and deliveries know and use the names of the customers.  As Dale Carnegie said, “Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.”

3.    As an owner, pick up the phone periodically and call a customer who ordered online.  Ask them how their order was, how the delivery driver treated them, and thank them for their business.  Not only will you make a personal contact, but you will receive invaluable feedback and respect.

Good waiters and waitresses work hard to upsell dine-in customers - to gently suggest they add items to their order, whether it’s a side of sautéed mushrooms with their filet mignon or an order of breadsticks with their pizza.

Does this same upselling occur with phone-in orders?  Probably not.

Why?  The employee taking the order is multi-tasking three other jobs simultaneously and the customer placing the order is more concerned that the employee get it right, rather than add more items.

NetWaiter, however, guarantees each customer ordering online from your restaurant will be properly upsold, netting larger orders and greater profits. This upselling happens in two phases.  The best thing – both are done in an unobtrusive way to generate larger orders, without slowing down the customer’s ordering process.

The first phase allows a customer to select additional options while customizing an item.  This can be done with any item.  If someone is ordering a sandwich, you may need to ask which type of bread they want (along with their topping choices).  You can also upsell the sandwich with additional suggestions, such as adding “Extra Turkey” for $1.50 or a “Bag of Chips” for $1.25.

The second phase tracks which categories a customer has ordered from and prompts them to add items from categories that haven’t been selected.  NetWaiter highlights the three or four most popular items from a suggested category and allows a customer to make a selection after adding any item to their order.  The specific categories are set based on a hierarchy configured by the restaurant. 

As mentioned in a recent blog post, appetizers, desserts, and beverages are the most overlooked items for takeout.  The hierarchy of categories for upselling can be set with this in mind.  You should set appetizers and desserts towards the top of the hierarchy.  Other categories at the top should include those with high profit-margin items and items with price points that make them an easy add-on to any order. 

The next time you update your online menu, make sure the categories in your upselling hierarchy are optimized to maximize online sales.  If needed, a NetWaiter Success Specialist can help you with your configurations.