Quick Service and Fast Casual restaurants live by their name, “quick & fast” and when it comes to service and customer expectations. Customers want their food, they want their order to be correct, and they want it ASAP. What complicates this is the increased pain point of QRS operators. What is it you ask? Employees! Not enough, they come and go as they please, retention, quality, etc. With constant turnover labor costs are going through the roof. Thankfully, there are signage and technological approaches that can be taken to lessen this burden.
Self Service Digital Menu Boards
In their infancy, digital signage was sought mostly for their “wow” factor. Several years later, content management systems like “Origin Elite” offer a suite of capabilities that allows for much more benefit. For example, automatic menu dayparts so you don’t have to manually do it, inventory control so you don’t need tape over something or make announcements. They also offer more pointed messaging that makes decision making easier for your customers and lessens the Q&A for your employees. Taken a step further, digital, self-ordering-kiosks can take orders and upsell for you. And hey, they don’t talk back, they show up on time and they don’t mind working nights and weekends!
Drive-Thrus:
Unfortunately, not all locations are set up for a drive-thru. It is unfortunate because it is a game changer to lessen labor costs. When done with thought and precision, a single person can take orders from multiple lanes. To accomplish this, you’ll have to have a POS and headset system that meshes with a drive-thru setup. While we don’t promote losing jobs to AI, new communication systems like the HME Nexeo Pro have AI order taking capabilities that tie into your POS. Lastly, if you have a drive-thru, you can close your dining room in the early morning and late hours and direct people to the drive-thru only. Less employees are needed, you get condiments, silverware and napkin inventory control and less cleanup / maintenance is needed as well. These are all benefits.
Communication Equipment:
Too often we see our prospective customers try to skimp by using lesser systems for communication. This is the single most “return call” we get 6 months-2 years down the line. Clear messaging is critical for a drive-thru employee taking orders or a front-of-house staff member trying to coordinate with runners, managers and other employees to get a job done. With seamless messaging, it cuts down on redundancy, errors, and idle moments; all which play into increased labor costs.
Integrated Technology
When integrated, POS system, digital signage, communication equipment, drive-thru timer systems, scheduling software, etc. can offer invaluable data that can increase efficiency. They can help identify menu items that may take too long to produce for your operation and flag bottlenecks that may be process based or impacted by employees. In addition, these systems will inform you on when to anticipate busy vs slow times so you can staff those hours appropriately.
Summary
No one size fits all. We understand that replacing human beings with technology may impact the vibe and ambiance you’re looking for. In addition, there is no denying that investing in technology could come with a high upfront cost. That said, whether you jump in with two feet or find a few areas where technology can assist you, there is no question that there are strategies that exist to reduce staff during slow hours, minimize errors, automate the order ordering process, lessen the maintenance and ancillary expenses and much more.
Do you need help making these determinations for your business? Give us a call today at 888-235-2579, email us at info@origindisplays.com or contact us here to speak with a solutions specialist.
