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With summer still lingering in the air, the last thought on most people's mind is Christmas- that is unless you work in the hospitality industry, where Christmas always seems to be just around the corner. As one of the most profitable times of year for the industry, it's no wonder it weighs so heavily. We've done some research into service levels around the period and how it could affect your business this year; it's time to get planning!
Using benchmark questions from hundreds of consumer responses that we receive monthly we've highlighted a few patterns that may impact on the service your customers receive and could cost you in terms of opportunities lost.
The research suggests that over the festive period companies could be losing track of the individual customer experience; we saw managerial presence on the restaurant floor drop by 22% last year and the number of diners who were wished goodbye dropped by over a quarter. This, combined with the 20% reduction in check backs, perhaps highlights the need for operators to re-focus and ensure that customer engagement is still a priority. These areas are likely to affect whether your customers return and recommend you and as a result we have seen a drop in NPS by around 10% during the festive season in comparison to other times of the year.
In terms of opportunities lost, staff offering customers a second drink dropped by a considerable 40%, which could equate to a significant loss of revenue over the period.
So, this festive season, keep your ducks (or partridges) in a row and keep an eye on your service standards; an increase in your NPS over Christmas may do you wonders in the year to come.
Ben Hibbard, Marketing Manager for Boston Tea Party, uses our Guest Feedback and Engagement systems and he sees the Christmas period as a time to be on top form. He comments, "With Christmas approaching and the anticipated uplift in footfall and sales, we want to ensure our cafes are at their best in order to maximise the sales opportunity. We use weekly mystery shop visits, along with online feedback in all of our sites to allow us to monitor the cafes performance from the customer's point of view."
Read more on how we can help you to prepare for Christmas.
