The restaurant business is notoriously fickle, featuring a feast-or-famine fluctuation between busy and slow times. One way to smooth out your eatery’s income while simultaneously making it even more of a fixture in your community is to turn it into a sought-after space.
Hosting parties, receptions, and other special events can help you achieve this. But just how do you go about making this transformation? Read on to learn the top strategies.
1. Get your infrastructure ready
One of the most important keys to your success as an event host isn’t even something your guests will see. It involves taking steps to ensure that your behind-the-scenes equipment and procedures are modern, streamlined, and ready to take on your new venture.
It starts by obtaining an upgraded restaurant POS system that contains a robust set of features specifically designed to streamline numerous aspects of the restaurant and diner experience.
These features allow for secure payment processing, customer relationships, employee management, online ordering, kitchen displays and communication. They also allow for inventory management, menu customization, and much more.
As you speak with your payment services provider about the best POS for your restaurant, be sure to ask about pay-at-the-table solutions. While these are not necessarily right for every establishment, they provide an elevated guest experience.
They also allow your busy staff members to spend more of their time on paying attention to customer needs.
2. Plan ahead
When people are contemplating a special event, they generally make plans weeks or months in advance. Holiday parties, for instance, are often scheduled up to six months ahead. Expect to plan even further in advance for wedding receptions and special milestone birthdays, particularly if your restaurant has become a sought-after venue.
In order to get the word out about your new event space, focus on unleashing the power of social media. Create pages for your eatery that show off your most popular menu items and showcase upcoming seasonal offerings.
Then make it clear that you are ready, willing, and able to open your doors to the community for their landmark parties and events. You can sweeten the appeal even further with engaging videos and positive customer reviews.
3. Customize your content
Would-be patrons want to be able to imagine themselves and their guests enjoying their special day in your space. Far more than textual descriptions, posting videos gives you a way to bring your venue and menu to life.
Start by thinking of the audience you want to attract, then craft your atmosphere and food choices accordingly. Set up a romantic, softly lit room and refined food selections for a potential rehearsal dinner; alternatively, create an upbeat mood and fun foods for a holiday celebration.
Now you’re ready to do a dry run, including decorations, real hors d’oeuvres and entrees, and even “guests” that you can video as they enjoy what you have to offer.
4. Make your restaurant stand out
Potential renters have numerous options from which to choose. Therefore, you need to come up with what sets your place apart from and above the rest. In other words, people want more than just a nuts-and-bolts description of square footage and seating capacity.
Think about why you love your restaurant, the impetus that drives you. Is it your ability to create a custom menu, or your open kitchen that puts guests right in the middle of the action?
Does your chef have an outsized personality and a gift for gab that makes customers feel at home and part of the family as soon as they walk in the door?
As you tout your establishment’s virtues to prospective customers who contact you, be sure to sing the praises of those unique features that make your space special and memorable.
5. Generate future bookings from current happy customers
Your mock videos are a great way to start, but soon you will have the ability to harness the power of testimonials from genuine clients. Pave the way by asking them if you can take a few photos or video clips of their events that can be used later in your social media and marketing materials.
If you have the space, consider installing a photo booth to inspire additional Instagram-worthy content.
Your main priority is to ensure that your page and photos come up when people do local business searches for event spaces. To that end, include popular keywords in your content, and ask your guests to tag their photos and to include a specific hashtag that includes your restaurant name.
6. Encourage repeat visits
Although some events occur once in a lifetime, many can become traditions. For that reason, you should work hard to ingratiate yourself and your restaurant to customers and event planners alike. When you do, you are much more likely to obtain repeat bookings.
People who appreciate your full-service payment options and customized menu offerings are especially prone to make future event bookings if you provide incentives. Along with your post-party thank-you note, send coupons that can be used to discount a party during the next twelve months.
Your goal should be to make re-booking as easy and appealing as possible.
Establishing your eatery as the next big thing for events in your local area isn’t as hard as it may seem at first. All it takes is some organization, a modern restaurant POS system, and the willingness to market yourself aggressively. Combine these elements, and you will have landed upon the ultimate recipe for success.
North is a leading financial technology company that builds innovative, frictionless end-to-end payment solutions designed to simplify and grow businesses of all sizes. From the front door, to the back office, the developer world, and partnerships that expand the payments landscape, North offers proactive, comprehensive merchant services, in-house processing, and more.
