Recovery through the eyes of your guests

As we proceed into a transformative era for hospitality, the industry will be welcoming back a new type of consumer. After nearly a year of digitally-driven experiences in the books, from online grocery shopping to virtual gatherings, customers have been conditioned to expect convenience, speed, and accuracy with every purchase. And with multiple ways to engage with a brand, the consistency across digital channels and service styles has become exponentially more challenging to manage.

In a recent webinar with Propel, I had the pleasure of joining leading operators from Nando’s, Azzurri Group, and Bistrot Pierre to discuss how they have used lockdown to get closer to their customer and how with Yumpingo they are ‘surfacing the voice of the guest’ in their organisations to drive ever-improving standards and experience.

Vikram Badhwar, Nando’s Global Head of Operations Technology, shared how the team has overcome operational challenges around delivery, team performance, and service consistency across locations. 

“For our managers and staff, it can be rewarding to get real-time feedback from the guests. We’re getting dish-level feedback from Yumpingo, and now we have a whole host of insights we didn’t previously have. We do extensive research to understand where our brand sits within a given market, how consumers feel about us as a brand and our real-time NPS score. To be able to drive changes in the restaurant this year, nearly real-time will be our sweet spot.”

For the hospitality sector, understanding consumer behaviour and building back loyalty will remain a top priority, but navigating 2021’s unchartered territory will be incredibly challenging. Any leader making a significant adjustment to their business right now is facing:

• Managing evolving guest expectations with price-conscious and value-driven purchases
• Keeping a close eye on margins as food costs rise, irregular staffing, and to-go/delivery revenue staggers
• Getting the entire organisation, from the CEO to front-line team member, on the same page when it comes to new company policies and priorities 

In the same session, Joel Robinson, Digital & Technology Director at Azzurri Group, shared, “What we can do with digital is infinite - but the harder question is what should we do. And we answer that with the voice of our customers.” For the sector, word of mouth is critical to your success. Seamless in-person and digital experiences will be paramount in driving more happy guests and creating lasting advocates of your brand. The more we can leverage technology to remove friction from each touchpoint and enrich the process, the more likely they are to return. It’s what will separate a leading brand from the rest.

If we take a step back and start with why - why does your business exist? Why do customers choose your brand over another? Why are your detractors more vocal than your promoters? It boils down to delivering on your brand promise and having the metrics in place to know precisely when and where you’re not meeting expectations. Brands that put guests at the heart of their business and focus on retention, win.

Closing the loop between guest perception and reality

Guests are typically willing to share feedback when satisfaction hits extreme levels - an utterly great experience and an exceptionally terrible one. But the majority in the middle, where happiness can be easily influenced with the right action, gets left on the floor. Creating opportunities to capture guest feedback throughout their journey, on- or off-prem will give brands the competitive advantage they need and provide customers with a chance to be a part of the hospitality experience.

In the coming months, as teams unravel the menu changes, seating arrangements, and service hour adjustments to prepare for in-store traffic, consumers will be looking where to invest their time and money. An air of uncertainty will remain for quite some time as customers get reacquainted with traditional, yet liberating, socialisation. As traffic and sales volume fluctuates at unprecedented levels between revenue centers during this time, meeting your guests anywhere they wish to engage with your brand, whether click-and-collect, in-store, or delivery with a consistent brand experience, will help retain those customers for when they’re ready to share a table again in your restaurant.

To rebuild customer confidence, we have to fundamentally change the way we think about excellent service, food, and ultimately experiences to deliver the hospitality that guests are looking for in this new era by:

• Acting on constructive feedback to strengthen every step of the guest journey
• Closing the loop between service perception and reality to unlock unparalleled hospitality
• Removing the risk of subjective decision-making to make adjustments to menu, dish, or service performance

 Connecting the guest experience to NPS

A key metric for understanding guest satisfaction and confidence in your brand: Net Promoter Score. NPS can span across all venues, menus, or a single dish. We do a lot of work around value with operators, both in terms of overall value and value perceptions by dish. This often involves testing different price points and the impact on value perceptions. If guest perceptions of a dish they had delivered are massively low, in value terms, it tends to suggest that the menu item is inconsistent with delivery expectations. Operators have an opportunity to optimise the dish with cost-effective ingredient adjustments or charge a little less for the menu item.

Operators tell us that head chefs and executive chefs may not always appreciate individual opinions or feedback on their dishes but are highly receptive to understanding if the NPS for a specific dish is:

• Lower and under-performing
• Out of step with the rest of the menu
• Inconsistent across service styles

And, of course, they are eager to do something about it. Food teams, in general, seem to appreciate the opportunities to drive up the consistency of performance and NPS across a menu.

This is a resilient and adaptable sector, and it is vital for teams to sustain momentum to build back trust and loyalty with consumers. By leveraging customer feedback and behaviour data, brands will improve performance, build personalised experiences and increase guest satisfaction across NPS, CSAT, and every review channel. We released a whitepaper, “Recovery through the eyes of your guests,” revealing how seven brands and varying service models were able to realise double-digit gains on their NPS score by tapping into guest analytics to drive incremental changes throughout the business. This in-depth guide will help many operators struggling to identify and implement adjustments for a successful reopening.

We have to get back to what we do best - delivering authentic dining experiences in venues well lit by buzzing conversations and delighted guests. Operators must determine if they have the tools needed to make data-driven decisions that improve experience and brand performance. With effective performance management, this work will have a massive impact on NPS, underpinning brand health and financial performance. It’s time to run better businesses with data-driven insights, creating more happy guests.