3 reasons to invest in a restaurant phone answering service

Restaurants are becoming more automated by the day, from both the customer experience side and the business operations side. People are interested in trying new restaurants, and highly influenced by online presence and customer service. 

Almost 86% of millennials will try a new spot to eat after seeing their food-related media online, and more than 9 in 10 consumers read online restaurant reviews. If the first thing they read is that your restaurant has terrible customer service, never answers the phone, doesn’t have updated hours online, or doesn’t offer online ordering and delivery, they’re likely to move on. And when they do move on, they’ve got plenty of options to choose from who are firmly in the 21st century — from helpful voicemail options to check reservations, to automated texts when the table is ready, to digital checks and rewards programs.

Source: TikTok

Restaurants are turning to technology to keep up with what customers want, and they don’t have to code an app from scratch or learn how to manage their own website. There are tons of options for restaurant-specific technology that can help you up your guest experience tenfold, like Toast, the POS for restaurants, Resy and OpenTable, digital reservation solutions, GrubHub, Uber Eats, and DoorDash for online ordering and delivery, and Slang.ai for your restaurant’s automated phone answering service. 

Here’s why you should invest in restaurant phone answering technology to improve operations and save your staff time, all while growing your business and creating delightful customer experiences. 

1. Customers expect a seamless experience from reservation to review

Over the past few years, it went from being a “nice to have” for restaurants to offer online ordering, delivery, online or automated reservations, and contactless payment. Now, it’s an expectation. Customers want to be able to manage their reservations themselves, and may call several times to make changes. Two of the top three reasons people call restaurants are to make reservations and change reservations, so you can imagine how much staff time this takes up. 

Take time to review your restaurant experience from making a reservation or ordering online, to dining, to leaving a review and coming back for another visit. Do you have online options for each step? 

2. Automation and technology help restaurants provide better service without breaking the bank

If you could serve more customers and provide a better dining experience, all with lower overhead costs, you would, right? Well, guess what? Now you can!

Virtual answering services help restaurants by giving humans their time back to help guests who need individualized service. Other folks are happy to use a smart, virtual  assistant to complete their request. 

For example, if every other guest who calls wants to know your hours, but you can provide them with an answer through a virtual assistant, then you just saved hundreds of hours of your team’s valuable time. And the customer got an answer right away. Win-win.

How much does a restaurant answering service cost?

There are a few virtual answering services out there for restaurants to use, and they range in price. Slang.ai starts at $159/month for up to 500 calls, and other services may charge by the minute or by the call. Certain features or integrations may cost more, too (but end up saving you lots in the long run). 

3. Restaurant phone answering services can handle over 50% of incoming calls

Yep, you read that right. Automated restaurant answering services can handle more than half of incoming calls. Whether you have limited staff, high call volumes, or have seen an uptick in calls since you launched your Google Business Profile, restaurants can always use more phone support. A smart answering service can cut down on your host’s phone time and give employees time back to help in-house guests.

Why use Slang.ai for your restaurant phone answering service?

Automated answering services like Slang.ai save restaurants an average of 200 hours of staff time per month while maintaining high caller satisfaction. 

See how Slang.ai works and get set up in 30 minutes or less.