10 Most Important Questions to Ask in a Restaurant Survey
A restaurant survey is an essential tool for improving the customer’s experience. Several restaurants have started incorporating surveys into their customer service strategy to gather valuable feedback and data points to make powerful decisions across every spectrum –operations, customer service, décor, and even menu design.
Surveying guests regularly is a powerful tool that can stimulate continuous growth and improvement. It helps you stay up to date with the latest trends since customers don’t shy away from letting you know when they feel something’s missing.
That said, here are ten of the most important questions you should ask in your restaurant’s survey.
- Did the restaurant have a sufficient offering of healthy options?
Healthy eating has become somewhat of a priority for restaurants nowadays. The Keto diet, plant-based food, intermittent fasting, and several other buzzwords have made it into the mainstream conversation, which is why staying in line (if not ahead) of the curve is crucial. Your restaurant must offer a selection of healthy items to cater to this demand.
Not only will it make your customers happy, but it will also help you stay competitive in the restaurant industry. Asking your customers whether you’re offering an adequate amount of healthy eating options will help you make an educated decision if you decide to modify your restaurant’s menu.
- Were you satisfied with the speed of service?
Nobody likes waiting for an unreasonably long amount of time for their food in a restaurant. This is particularly true for fast-food restaurants. In fact, the speed of service has a huge impact on restaurants’ retention rates. Getting an idea of the customer’s thoughts on your service speed will tell you whether or not there are any improvements you should make.
- How satisfied were you with the employee’s ability to fulfill your needs?
This question sums up your customer’s entire dining experience with you. The ultimate goal of this question is to learn whether your staff met their needs. When asking this question, consider your employee’s hospitality and friendliness. It’s also essential to remember that customer satisfaction goes beyond menu satisfaction and speed of service. It also incorporates hospitality and knowing what your customers want.
Several factors can impact a customer’s dining experience. One idea that can help take your restaurant’s reputation to the next level is emphasizing stellar customer service. Go to a customer before they raise their hand to call you. Deliver service before they ask for it. The difference will be clear in the reviews they leave.
- Was the restaurant clean?
A dirty restaurant won’t make any customer happy, regardless of how good the food is. When a restaurant is too dirty, your customers won’t even stick around to order; they’ll simply leave. Your restaurant’s cleanliness and ambiance are essential since they’re usually the first factors your customers notice.
This is why you should focus on your workplace’s cleanliness before your customers point it out. While the cleanliness factor may not always be apparent, it plays a vital role in customer loyalty. As a business that feeds people daily, cleanliness should be second nature.
- Which platform did you use to place your order?
Your customer may have several options for food delivery, such as your website or a platform like UberEats or Doordash. If your customer does not order from your website, ask them why they chose another application perhaps like this: “is there a particular reason you chose _____?”
Two things can be accomplished by asking them this follow-up question. It will show what needs to be done to make you website more attractive. It will drive customers from a third-party application to your application, which will help increase your business’s revenue.
- Were you satisfied with the restaurant’s environment?
You may have a certain image of your restaurant in your mind. For instance, you may think that you’ve created a family-friendly environment in your restaurant – but have you really? Let your customers be the judge of that. Asking your customers this question will help you gauge whether your customers perceive your restaurant just like you want them to.
If they aren’t, you can work on this aspect and create an environment they want to see.
- Was it easy to find the restaurant?
While this question isn’t directly related to the food, the service, or the price, it is related to that one factor that often goes unnoticed: having an online presence. This is specifically more important for customers visiting your restaurant for the first time and aren’t aware of the route they need to take.
In most cases, people prefer following Google Maps. But have you gone ahead and created a Google My Business profile for your restaurant? If you don’t, other customers will suggest details for your listing based on their knowledge. This is helpful when customers get it right but catastrophic when they get it wrong.
- Will you recommend us to your friends and family?
Asking whether your customers will recommend you to others will give you an overall understanding of your restaurant’s appeal. It is highly unlikely that people will recommend a restaurant to a loved one if they didn’t enjoy their experience. If you see a lot of negative responses, ask your waiter what the customer was served, how the interaction went, and then evaluate what went wrong.
- How can we improve?
Not every customer is a critic, and by helping you improve, they may not help you get nominated for a Michelin star, but customers can have neat ideas in some instances. It’s important to know that thinking from a layman’s perspective can often be a blessing. It helps you think without restrictions, which is why your customers may have solutions to problems you may not. Even if they don’t, your waiter can read their response and help provide a more personalized experience.
- Lastly, ask them to rate you out of 5.
You may choose a different rating method, but try to stick to this instead of asking them a question. Don’t ask open-ended questions like “how was the food?” or “did you like the experience?” qualitative answers to a survey give you many unnecessary details that can be hard to document. Using the star rating to evaluate yourself can help you improve.
For instance, if your restaurant gets 3.8 out of 5 in the first quarter of 2022, you can aim for a 20% increase in your rating for the next quarter.
Wrapping Up
Running a restaurant without knowing what customers are thinking is a sure-fire recipe for disaster. Incorporate a survey into your customer service strategy before pandemonium ensues, and you see a train of negative reviews.
Work on the feedback you get – the impact will surprise you!
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