COVID19 opportunities to brand your restaurant

Now the difference between restaurants that survive the ill effects of the pandemic and continue doing business and the ones that don’t, may well depend on how restaurants take into account the customer experience and what measures are followed to make them feel protected against COVID-19. 

The restaurants with more customers are definitely the ones that are taking the issue at hand more seriously by implementing plenty of signage allocations and proper social distancing measures in place. Restaurants which took the pandemic more seriously and came up with measures in a proactive way have emerged successful in keeping their business active.

As restaurants reopen, it's important for owners to look beyond the public health rules, guidelines and focus equally on enhancing the customer experience. 

The observation on how the future of restaurants will unfold and that it will largely depend on how they perceive their COVID-19 strategy is based on research. Zagat’s Future of Dining Survey, after an opinion poll from about 6,500 diners found out that 50 percent of them were not ready to dine out even after restaurants reopened and their opinion was purely based on health and safety factors. 

Therefore it is inevitable that restaurants work on improving the safety features against COVID-19 to make customers more safe and secure. More often than not, it is likely that restaurants that follow public health guidelines will boost the confidence level of diners to dine out whereas the ones that don’t are going to create a negative image in the minds of diners. The restaurants that give importance and implement a safe dining experience for customers are going to regain their lost glory among diners who are still hesitant about dining out.

Be proactive and on the offensive       

Restaurants should be plotting a strategy at a time like this on how to capitalize this challenge and bring on a positive dining experience for customers rather than thinking backwards 

Right from developing a mobile app for restaurant ordering if you already don’t have one to updating your existing methods of operations can do wonders in enhancing the customer experience. We will take a look at some measures here 

1. Mobile ordering during dine-in  

Gesturing for a waiter is definitely a thing that some diners might be missing but according to the new normal it is definitely an act that most don’t want to continue. Ordering dishes through mobile phones or a tablet would be ideal to minimize human interaction and assure more safety for diners. For this, restaurants will have to upgrade their technological resources so that customers are happy to dine at your place.

2. Signage that increase your brand reputation   

Now is the time to introspect if your signage are placed in the proper places and how it is contributing in improving your brand reputation. It is important to place signage conveying your public health strategy at noticeable points like in the entry to your restaurant. The signage should also be true to your restaurant brand. The signage should have a professional tone and design to it. Replace the method of pasting tape on the floor for social distancing with floor markers of good quality which will last long. 

3. Impartial execution of safety measures 

Customers should be able to identify that your staff are functioning in line with the safety measures put forward by your restaurant, otherwise it will tarnish your brand reputation even after we are done with the pandemic. Educating staff on the importance of wearing masks and other safety measures and training them properly to consistently follow the new measures will help in maintaining safety features consistently.

4. Keep your customers digitally informed 

Before diners venture outdoors, dining, it is very likely that they will research online to know more about how you are going on with your safety measures. Customers will be keeping a keen eye on the health procedures of restaurants by visiting websites. Therefore restaurants with a digital gateway to communicate their processes with potential diners will likely have an upper hand as far as the number of customers visiting their premises are concerned, post reopening. 

You can think of updating your website regularly with COVID-19 measures taken and also sending emails or text messages to customers regarding the same. 

Conclusion 

COVID-19 is definitely one of the biggest hurdles that restaurant owners need to overcome. How restaurants respond to the pandemic and bring out the positives of their brand will eventually play a big role in deciding the number of customers that will be loyal towards your restaurant. Those restaurants ready to embrace this challenge are more likely to build their brand name among diners and generate more revenue.