One in eight bookings didn't turn up on a Friday or Saturday, and the team had no time to confirm them or work the waitlist. Reviews were left to chance. They wanted full tables and a steadier reputation.
Three things kept going wrong, and each cost the business time, money or a customer.
Booking and review agents, connected to the systems the business already ran on, with approvals on anything irreversible and a full log of every action.
The restaurant had no time on a Friday to confirm bookings or work the waitlist, so both were being left to chance. We connected the agent to the reservations system and the phone line, agreed the confirmation and release rules with the owner, and ran it on two quiet weekday services before letting it run a full weekend.
No-shows fell from one in eight to three per cent, and released tables are refilled from the waitlist rather than sitting empty. Google reviews quadrupled because guests are asked while the meal is still fresh, and the two complaints in the first month reached the manager privately.
'Saturday night used to be a guessing game. Now every table is either confirmed or filled.'
Owner
The practice's two receptionists were also running the front desk, so a third of calls went to voicemail at lunch and after 5pm. They wanted every call answered and every cancellation refilled, without hiring.
Enquiries arrived through Instagram, the website and WhatsApp at all hours, and the clinic replied the next working day. By then many had booked elsewhere. They wanted every enquiry answered within minutes and turned into a consultation.
A free 45-minute call. Tell us where the time goes; we'll tell you honestly whether an agent would help and what it would save.
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