How to Lose a Customer in 10 Minutes

4 minutes read

We’ve all been there, haven’t we? Been put in an awkward situation where we have to deal with the customer complaint, who is providing you the revenue for your business, and dealing with your staff, the lifeblood of your business. Each pointing the finger at each other with you, the business owner, in the middle, unsure what to do. Never fear, klikit is here to help you make better and more decisive decisions to keep the status quo. Just never do these things:

 

Be Unresponsive

In a ballooning age of ever growing customer expectations and increasing social media presence business and customers share, being unresponsive is one thing restaurants need to avoid. Whether it be a request for their order, or replying to a review, customers simply want to be heard. Customers want to be heard because it is the easiest way to communicate with the restaurant on any matters that affect the customer. Restaurants can practice responsiveness by replying thoughtfully to reviews, phoning the customer in case an item is out of stock, or even writing a note and slipping it in the delivery bag! Actions speak louder than words!

 

Make the Customer Feel Unimportant

Unforgivable in the customer’s view? Why? Every customer needs to feel what they say matters, but it is so easy for a business to fail on this part. It might come down to a restaurant’s operating policies or it might be that one of your staff has just had a bad day. This is pertinent in delivery, especially since your customers aren’t front facing. Take the opportunity to buy loyalty in this case, whether it be throwing in a couple more pieces of fried chicken or placing a complimentary item in their delivery bag. This will increase the likelihood of having return customers in an environment where delivery loyalty is scarce. 

 

Poor/Inconsistent Food Quality

The main reason customers order your food for the first time is that they’ve had it recommended to them by a friend, they’ve read great reviews about your food or they’ve stumbled upon it by accident! Regardless of how they’ve found you, the customer is hungry and wants to eat! Your customers are expecting to have a great experience, and this is what defines your restaurant. Food quality for delivery is king, and it is what makes you stand out amongst your competitors. Moreso, food quality and consistency is affected during peak times or the holiday period because of the higher order volumes, and thus order management might be affected. This can be curtailed with an integrated order management software, like klikit, to aggregate all your delivery orders into one single device!

 

Inexperienced Staff

You think you’ve trained your staff well until something bad happens. They have forgotten to pack the delivery bag right, they have talked incorrectly to a customer, they have missed orders. It has all happened before! Despite being a learning curve, inexperienced staff can attribute to lost revenue and missed orders because they usually have less knowledge about operating procedures and the menu. In the advent of online food delivery, and your restaurant being on multiple delivery platforms, this can be just overwhelming. To reduce this, having your restaurant use order aggregation software to avoid technology fatigue on your staff will not only increase productivity but reduce order management time.

 

Delayed Wait Times 

From long wait times in person, to phone orders, to extended delivery times. Customers merely don’t want to wait anymore, they want everything, fast. When it comes to delivery, there are a few things to reduce the wait time for the customer to avoid any unnecessary loss in trust and increase customer loyalty. Ensure you have an easy to prepare menu that takes little to no time to prepare, reducing the ultimate delivery time for your customers. In addition, a dedicated pick-up area for your delivery drivers also reduces the confusion when you have multiple orders coming in.

 

Customer service is hard, let klikit help you! Reach out to learn more.

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