How to manage queues in my restaurant ?

Queuing in a restaurant can be frustrating not only for customers, but for your staff too, and can actually reduce your turnover in the long run. That's why it's important to have an internal management system that allows you to deal with your queues quickly and efficiently. What is the impact of a long queue? What products are available to tackle long queues? We'll look at the different solutions in this article. 

What are the effects of long queues at your restaurant?

Lower productivity 

Having a queue and an accumulation of people will only increase the pressure on your service and thus lower your personal performance, as well as that of all your employees, who will have to work under the pressure of impatient and insistent customers.

On the other hand, working and serving your customers without rushing and the fear of ordering the wrong thing is much more pleasant and will be reflected in your quality of service. 

Having a bad reputation 

What could be worse for a restaurant than a reputation for slow service or not being able to get your meal on time? 

It can drive away a lot of customers and encourage them to go to the competition instead—particularly for lunchtime, when people don't have time to sit down and wait for their meal.

Having shorter queues and a fast service will give you a good reputation and therefore more customers to increase your turnover. 

How to optimise your customer waiting time?

Despite the various tricks at your disposal, achieving zero queue can be complicated. There are, however, a number of techniques you can use to ensure that your customers don't have to wait in line for too long. 

Train your staff 

Your restaurant staff will have a big part to play in reducing waiting times. Staff whose aim is to optimise time will perform well if they are well-trained. Taking orders quickly and efficiently, without keeping customers waiting, should become a priority. The same goes for being autonomous and taking charge if they see a customer waiting. These details will go a long way to ensuring that your customers are satisfied. 

During this training, you can also teach your staff to make additional sales when taking orders—an excellent way of increasing your turnover. 

Analyse peak times 

Your restaurant has days and times that are clearly busier. This data rarely varies, and once identified, it can help you enormously to know whether you need more staff on duty, and thus optimise your management during peak periods.  

Creating entertainment zones 

The aim is for your customers to have some sort of entertainment or distraction in case they need to wait to order.

One practical tip is to set up entertainment centres such as digital animations. The aim of these animations is to attract customers, and you can display your menu or special offers—a way of giving your establishment a marketing boost at the same time.

Installing self-service kiosks 

Self-service kiosks are an innovation that represent a very practical aspect of the restaurant business. 

There's no need to take care of the customer's order, the customer is autonomous and has a complete digital menu. Customers can browse through the different menus and pay directly from the kiosk. 

This system makes it possible to deal with customer requests in sequence and avoid mistakes or misunderstandings between staff and customers. 

Setting up Click & Collect 

Click & Collect is a system that you can set up in your restaurant that is perfect for customers who are worried about waiting too long. The order is placed in advance and the customer simply has to collect it when it's ready. 

For optimum management, you'll need to dedicate a single area for collection orders, as well as training staff to ensure that collection runs smoothly. 

Opt for an intuitive POS system 

In addition to all its practical benefits, the point of sale set up in your restaurant will become your fully-fledged companion for the internal management of your establishment.

With a POS system at each of your tills, ordering will be easy not only for customers but also for your staff, who won't have to worry about taking orders one by one and wasting precious time writing on a piece of paper.

With a POS system, you have the possibility of adding extensions that make internal management even easier—with the possibility of keeping track of each customer visit with their order history. 

With SumUp's Point of Sale Pro, your POS software and hardware can be made available to support restaurants, stadiums, festivals and multi-channel businesses with dedicated functions that streamline your services.

• Fast, high-performance checkout

• Flexible ordering system

• Elegant hardware and easy-to-use software

• Real-time data and reports

• Multi-user access

By equipping your restaurants with a solution like this, you'll no longer have to deal with endless queues just to take an order. 

How to optimise the in-house customer experience 

Be honest with your customers

If you have a long wait time during service, let your customers know straight away so that they don't get frustrated by your restaurant's surprise wait. 

Make the wait comfortable for your customers 

Making the wait comfortable for your customers can make their experience much less unpleasant, by arranging a place where people can sit and wait while you find them a table. 

Accept customer feedback 

Whether the customer experience went well or not, customers always have something to say about their personal experience. You can put in place various ways of collecting your customers' opinions.