Restaurant order-taking: 3 tips to improve it

Improving the customer experience, reducing employee stress, increasing profitability, there are many reasons to improve order taking in your restaurant. 

Yes, but in a hectic day-to-day life like yours, it can be difficult to find solutions to deal with staff shortages, peak traffic, and all the vagaries of the restaurant business.

In this article, discover the gestures and tools to adopt to optimize the order taking in your establishment. 

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Staff as a means to improve order taking

Your employees play a crucial role in optimizing the ordering process. Their knowledge of the menu and their professionalism are crucial to the efficiency of this process. 

Excellent knowledge of the menu 

The staff must be able to answer quickly and correctly to the different questions asked by the customers. To do this, you can provide them with a set of technical sheets. These are one-page documents containing technical information about a dish or a drink.

You will find the following information: 

• the presentation of the dish or drink,
• the list of ingredients,
• Allergens, if any,
• the origin of the raw material,
• preparation time,
• the cost price and the selling price,
• a photo,
• possible labels,

These cards will allow your staff to memorize the essential information about the dishes and drinks and thus answer customers' questions or make recommendations. Ultimately, this translates into greater efficiency and productivity in order taking, which is reflected in the overall operation of your restaurant. 

A trained team 

Optimizing order taking in your establishment also requires a solid training of your front of house employees. They must be trained in customer reception, sales techniques, interpersonal skills and must also know how to master the art of the table as well as the various digital solutions available to them. This training will allow them to acquire automatisms and this will be felt on the time of order taking. A good training avoids that your teams are scattered between the different tables and, on the contrary, that each one is aware of the tasks that are incumbent on him and that he respects them. 

Before each service, do not hesitate to brief your teams on the dishes of the day, possible stock shortages, the absence of one of the employees, the functions of each one, the particular points of attention, etc. 

Finally, don't forget to recognize and value your employees' efforts by letting them know how satisfied you are. 

A powerful cash register software to optimize order taking

Many restaurant management software programs can allow you to automate a number of tasks that will impact the efficiency of order taking. 

A cash register software 

A cash register software helps to optimize the order taking process. A simplified menu accessibility and an intuitive navigation have been specially developed for the fast food business .

It's a tool designed for the restaurant owner to go faster and save time:

• multiple collections
• differentiated roles thanks to the different operator accounts
• automatic menu detection

The cash register software also participates in a better processing of orders. It facilitates the communication between the different teams of your restaurant. Waiters, cooks and cashiers are now connected and informed of each other's actions.

With a cash register software, you can efficiently manage all the activity of your restaurant and thus improve communication and productivity.

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Solutions to simplify ordering

When you say optimize the order taking, you obviously mean digital. The QR code, the order terminal, the online order are all digital solutions that can improve your productivity.

QR codes: scan, pay and redeem

The QR code is a two-dimensional barcode often displayed on the window of the restaurant or placed on the tables. With his phone, the customer scans this code and is immediately redirected to the menu of your restaurant. Some solutions allow not only the discovery of the menu, but also the taking of an order and the payment online. 

This gives customers greater autonomy, so they don't have to wait for the waiter to arrive to find out what's on the à la carte menu and choose what to eat. It also saves staff from having to go back and forth several times. This time-saving has a significant impact on table turnover, and allows your front-of-house staff to concentrate on higher value-added tasks. They are more available to make recommendations or improve the quality of their service. 

👉 To go further: why adopt the QR code in your restaurant?

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The order terminal: customer autonomy

The ordering terminal allows customers to place their orders completely independently, without having to wait for a waiter to arrive. Once they cross the threshold of the restaurant, they consult the different options available to them in terms of dishes and drinks. Then, they make their choice directly on the kiosk screen and proceed with payment. The order is immediately transmitted to the kitchen. All they have to do is wait for it to be prepared. The waiting time between the moment the customer enters your restaurant and the moment he receives his order is considerably reduced. 

By allowing you to serve more people in less time, this ordering channel allows you to increase traffic in your establishment without clogging it. This is reflected in your restaurant's profitability as well as in the customer experience. 

For any question, customers can turn to the teams in the dining room. They will be in a better position to answer and advise them because of the time saved in taking the order .

Ordering kiosks allow for an optimized ordering process for the customer. Indeed, the customer does not feel the pressure to make a quick choice in front of the waiter and they take their time which allows a higher average basket.

"80% of my customers pay via the terminal." Albert Fitoussi, founder of Alfi

Online ordering: streamlining service

To further streamline the ordering process, also consider offering your customers the option of ordering online via an app or website. They can then consult your menu anytime and anywhere. 

By offering this alternative, you adapt to your customers' consumption habits and enable them to order by click & collect, drive or delivery. This enables you to anticipate peaks in traffic by preparing by preparing orders in advance.

Taking orders over the phone wastes your employees' time and disrupts the customer experience in your establishment. With online ordering, you can avoid order-taking errors and improve the customer experience.

"Online ordering has allowed me to streamline service because customers order at the time they want. No more long waiting lines!" Charlene, BCHEF franchisee

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How do you transmit orders to the kitchen?

Usually, it's the waiter who communicates orders placed in the dining room to the kitchen. When he uses a paper notepad, this involves going back and forth between the dining room and the kitchen to pass on order details.

On the other hand, with the use of a kitchen production screen, orders are sent directly from the dining room to the kitchen on this digital solution. This method enables the teams to receive the order instantly, and to start preparing it without delay. This approach makes for smoother service!

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Would you like to improve your order taking thanks to digital technology? Contact an Innovorder expert to get personalized advice for your restaurant!