What operators need to consider to get positive reviews during dinner occasions
A study says dinner time diners are the hardest to please.
Dinner proves to be a crucial time for operators to exert efforts in driving customer satisfaction, with consumers most critical during the evening daypart, according to online reputation specialist Feed It Back.
Analysing hundreds of thousands of reviews across the restaurant and bar industries, data revealed that overall satisfaction score of customers is the lowest in the evening at 90.8%, followed by the lunchtime daypart (92.4%) and the breakfast daypart (93.0%).
The satisfaction scores were created by aggregating elements tracked in every guest satisfaction survey by Feed It Back, which give businesses a score out of five across six key metrics – food, drink, cleanliness, atmosphere, service and value.
Looking at the drivers of the results, guests were particularly critical of the evening daypart when it came to atmosphere and value, which scored 4.5 and 4.4 out of five, respectively. A closer look at the ‘atmosphere’ category revealed that loud music features prominently on negative review scores, which Feed It Back says suggests that “customers seek out a more relaxed environment for their evening meal.”
Conversely, the atmosphere score over the lunchtime period was positively driven by the word ‘quiet’, with 11% of respondents giving a positive rating when referencing this. Another key theme for the said daypart was speed of service, with many respondents specifically mentioning the word ‘quick’ in a positive review.
“The data shows that customers’ expectations are greater during the evening, with previous research indicating that the majority of special occasion bookings, such as anniversaries or birthdays, taking place at this time. With this in mind, it’s crucial that operators are acting on the feedback and tweaking elements of their offer, or providing additional training so they can positively influence the customer experience,” explains Feed It Back CEO Carlo Platia.
“Often, subtle changes to the customer journey, such as turning down the volume of the music a few notches, can have a fundamental impact on whether customers would return. The businesses that thrive in the current competitive marketplace, will be the ones who succeed in driving loyalty and to do this, particularly across large estates, they will need to harness the power of insight,” he added.
