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The entire hospitality industry is experiencing a massive influx of tech into its customer-oriented business models. The idea that the customer is in the spotlight and the center of attention no longer serves as an excuse to not implement the latest and the most innovative digital and tech solutions into those ever-growing systems. 

Even for family-owned restaurants where the brand is based on warmth and that personal interaction, tech can become the pillar of financial stability and better service. While every single restaurant today has its own digital strategy, whether it’s a single local place or a chain of restaurants scattered across the globe, it requires the touch and refinement of modern solutions.

Going beyond digital marketing in your effort to add the touch of tech to your human-centric business can be quite a challenge. Trying to keep and grow that personal interaction can become an even greater one when you introduce more tech-driven elements. However, both are perfectly possible with the right tools and the right mindset. Here are a few essentials to consider for your restaurant’s digital strategy, and hopefully, your 2020 will start in the spirit of innovation and even greater success.

Transform your training with digital

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Yes, the hospitality industry dwells upon the idea that you need to make your customers feel pampered, cherished, and truly heard. When it comes to your employees, not everyone can spot a potential conflict from a mile away or work with the same efficiency under the stress of the upcoming holidays. So, you face undesirable situations and you try to prepare your staff to handle the most demanding guests, food critics, or celebrities with utmost care and respect, without losing their mind in the process. 

Surprisingly, technology can help you in the realm of training your staff, too, since various online courses are available nowadays to provide your employees with the most relevant information and skillset for their job. Everything from handling food safety precautions, ensuring superior service, all the way to perfecting your bartender’s cocktail-making skills can now be taught via digital platforms. So, instead of sending your staff far away for yet another extremely expensive seminar, use the perks of tech. 

Tableside processes with a tech-twist

Human-centered businesses such as running a restaurant come with the risk of human error, too. Sometimes your waiter might note down the wrong side dish or fail to mention that the guest in question wants their whipped cream on the side. Then again, customers in restaurants can be very prickly when they make a mistake and will rarely own up to their own errors. Enter: tableside ordering with a comprehensive mobile pos system that helps automate the process, but also reduces the chances of human error. 

Your wait staff will have more flexibility and their communication will be far easier and more streamlined with the help of such a system. Add to that, a range of payment systems available on such platforms makes the experience more enjoyable for the customer and gives you the ability to tailor-make your service even more. 

Elevate your marketing efforts

Of course, marketing is by far the most common segment of any restaurant business where managers tend to get creative when they rely on digital solutions. This makes perfect sense, so we should certainly mention a few smart ways to improve your digital campaigns and ensure better exposure as well as a stronger brand reputation for your restaurant. Since your business is all about sensual experiences, you need to find the most relatable ways to communicate them digitally, starting with social media. 

Thanks to recent developments, you can actually create more interactive experiences through polls, live-streaming, and stories, and give your future guests a glimpse into your restaurant atmosphere, thus making it more appealing. Of course, collaborating with foodies is another great way to improve your reputation through guest-generated content. 

Finally, you need to make sure that your website is not only in line with your brand, but that it also gives an alluring presentation of the experience your establishment provides. Through stellar content that is regularly updated as well as rich, original imagery, you have a chance to transform how your restaurant is perceived in the digital world. 


Communications made simpler

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Your restaurant heavily depends on its innermost workings. That simply means that when your staff cannot exchange information and advice effectively, they are in fact preventing your restaurant from boosting its overall performance. Utilizing free software tools such as WhatsApp can be helpful for restaurants of all sizes, although you can invest in paid options for greater flexibility and personalization.

No matter which way you choose to go, your internal communication should be simplified to enable transparency to become a part of your company culture, which will in turn help improve internal communication among your staff and management. In addition to transparency, you will help your staff become more efficient, your workload distribution will become simpler, and you can swap relevant knowledge in an instant. 

The hospitality industry has always been and always will be one that will thrive with direct human interaction and sublime experiences for all the senses. However, enabling your business to grow with the help of technology and digital solutions means that you can focus precisely on those human elements and refine your service even further. Consider tech your best ally in becoming a restaurant that truly puts the customer and their pleasure first.