Here are our six SMS secret ingredients:

Get More People in the Door

When it comes to communicating with your patrons, one of the greatest advantages of SMS messages is that it allows you to connect with customers in real time. This is great when you send a text message about timely deals and promotions, especially since the average response time for a text message is 90 seconds! You can quickly send relevant messages alerting only local customers to special promotions for dinner or lunch.

Reduce Cost and Increase Revenue

Restaurants need to use their ingredients before they spoil otherwise they are throwing money down the drain. Using SMS messages in your restaurant, you can promote weekly specials in order to increase the number of customers coming in this will cut down food costs and increase your bottom line. By having a more reliable form of customer engagement like SMS messaging, you can make sure your expiring ingredients are used.

Harness the Power of Mobile Coupons

Mobile coupons are redeemed ten times more often than paper ones, meaning your offers will actually get people in the door. Send past customers specialized coupons and offers that are most relevant to them, this will increase the chances of them being a return customer giving you a more stable revenue stream of loyal customers.

Use MMS messaging to send an eye catching picture to engage a customer's attention making them hungry and fantasize over your meals keeping them coming back to your restaurant.  

Loyalty Programs

One of the best ways to promote customer loyalty is through a loyalty program that offers special promotions and coupons for those customers who visit often. Your restaurant can easily integrate text messages into your loyalty program, and the personalized touch you can add can really make your loyal customers feel important.

It’s important to keep up with your loyal customers, and text message are perfect for offering rewards to your customers while they are on the go. In addition to offering great incentives to join your loyalty program, you can also use text messages to start conversations and get respond to their feedback.

Communicate with Customers Better

People are busy and plans often change, so it is important for restaurants to make sure reservations are kept. When you send a text message to your customers, a reservation reminder an hour or even the day before will make sure your customer doesn’t forget about their reservations. By adding two-way texting, allow a customer to cancel their reservations which means you are able to eliminate empty tables, allowing your revenue to be more consistent on nights where you are booked.

While buzzers may be novel the first-time guests use them, their clunkiness is quickly tiresome and they are costly to replace. With a texting platform, you can easily send customers a text when their table is ready allowing them the freedom to explore their area and you don’t have to purchase extra equipment.

Get Better Feedback

Feedback from your customers is crucial, but you also want to address any issues with your restaurant before they end up on review sites like Foursquare or Yelp. An sms notification is a quick and convenient way to get useful customer feedback that can help your restaurant improve service and customer satisfaction.

Through text message surveys, you can gather information from your customers about what your restaurant is doing well and where you can improve. You can also use text message polls to ask about what type of menu items customers would like to see or what types of promotions would bring them into the restaurant. For best results, offer customers some incentive for completing the text message surveys.

Is your restaurant looking to keep your tables booked? Click here to learn more!