Got a question about restaurantdiary.com™?
We have pulled together questions and answers that our customers have put to us and provided the answers that help you to make informed decisions. We rely on customer feedback to shape the future development of our product and welcome any feedback you may have. If your question is not answered here just contact us and we'll be right back to you.
FAQs for Restaurants
How can restaurantdiary.com™ makes the restaurant run more profitably?
How do I set-up the system with my own information?
I use a 3rd party system to provide my bookings. Can you work with that?
My staff don't use computers. Does that mean this is not for me?
Does restaurantdiary.com™ help me keep in touch with my customers?
Do I need to have a web site?
How can restaurantdiary.com™ work with my existing web site?
How will I know if someone has made a booking?
Can I really throw away my paper-based reservations system if I use this?
Your question not answered here? Just contact us...
FAQs for Restaurants
How can restaurantdiary.com™ make my restaurant run more profitably?
Quite simply, restaurantdiary.com™ forces the restaurant to operate in a more efficient way. Our system helps managers increase efficiency, occupancy and profitability.
Our flexible, rule-based system books out tables in a way that maximises the resources you have available. You set the parameters for maximum booking size, maximum covers at any one time, time at table and time at tables. Also, the system can allocate parties of 2 to the tables that are made for 2 (only on your busy nights), and so on. You can effectively reduce under-utilisation of capacity to zero provided customers want to come and eat in your restaurant!
The system does this regardless of the source of the booking, so it makes no difference if the customer is booking directly from your restaurantdiary.com™ window on your web site or if they called your restaurant and spoke to a member of staff who placed the booking. What's even better is that your customer database moves online and our feature packed management area makes it practically impossible not to build customer loyalty and increase the total volume of bookings!
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How do I set-up the system with my own information?
The initial setup of your account with restaurantdiary.com™ is handled by us. We take details of your tables, numbers of covers, opening times etc. and create a system that's ready to go. For most restaurants this can be done within 24 hours. From there, we give you a secure and unique username and password and encourage you to log in and look round. In no time you'll be using all the great features of restaurantdiary.com™ to manage all your bookings. You'll wonder how you ever managed without us!
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I use a 3rd party system to provide my bookings. Can you work with that?
Another great feature of restaurantdiary.com™ is our ability to work with 3rd party booking and marketing systems. For example, if you use systems like OpenTable as a marketing tool but want to use the power and flexibility of restaurantdiary.com™ to manage your bookings then no problem. We can extract booking data from any email and then place the booking directly, and automatically, into the diary! Sounds clever? Yes...we think so...
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My staff don't use computers. Does that mean this is not for me?
In tests we have found that restaurantdiary.com™ can be used easily by staff who have little or no computer expertise. If they can use a keyboard and mouse then they can use restaurantdiary.com™. In fact, they are likely to prefer it to using the messy and confusing paper-based systems that so many restaurants still rely on. Think of the benefits of being able to track who entered a booking!
There's an easy answer to the question of increased efficiency and the computer outsmarting your staff. Only experienced restaurant staff know how to maximise bookings while maintaining a manageable flow through the kitchen. Throw in the problems of juggling tables at busy times, and trying to accommodate last minute requests and it's easy to see why restaurants don't always operate at peak performance.
Now, restaurantdiary.com™ changes all that. The system doesn't get stressed under pressure. It excels at helping you allocate bookings efficiently and showing you precisely what's available and when!
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Does restaurantdiary.com™ help me keep in touch with my customers?
It certainly does. Every customer who books is allocated a unique customer record. You can also take details on customer interests for use in promotions that can be run at any time.
With a customer email address and/or mobile phone number, the power of restaurantdiary.com™ as a customer relationship management tool really gets to work. We have features like Triggers that automatically reward customers for loyalty, e.g. make 10 bookings with us and get a free bottle of champagne. We have a complete customer list and a built-in email marketing system. Create a discount coupon online or add a promotion in seconds, then email all your customers to let them know. Try doing that with a paper-based system!
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Do I need to have a web site?
No, not at all. In fact, many of our customers don't have web sites. They simply use restaurantdiary.com™ as their booking manager. That's right... they've already thrown away the diary and getting the benefits of a web-based booking management system every day. You can add the web-based booking integration at any time.
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How can restaurantdiary.com™ work with my existing web site?
restaurantdiary.com™ is unique in the way in which it plugs directly into an existing web site. With just a couple of lines of code we can add your very own web-based booking system and allow you to instantly transform your web site into a source of bookings. Great news for customers who can reserve their tables at their convenience and great news for you as you can now take real-time confirmed bookings on a self-service basis 24 hours a day! Imagine the benefits of having all your customer bookings stored in a secure database for you to interrogate and analyse any time. With a couple of clicks you can now create promotions and email all your customers. Just another way that restaurantdiary.com™ maximises efficiency!
All restaurants that subscribe to restaurantdiary.com™ are provided with access to our restaurantdiary.com™ customer interface which can usually be added to their own website in just a few minutes. This powerful interface provides the restaurant with a direct, real time, online booking system for your customers.
Unlike many of our competitors, this is not just a link through to our own booking site, but a dedicated interface that can be seamlessly integrated into your own site. This actively encourages your customers to return to your website to book in the future.
Drive customers to your own web site and reduce those 3rd party commission fees to a fraction.
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How will I know if someone has made a booking?
restaurantdiary.com™ has a choice of notification methods. Each time a booking is made, online or when your staff enter it into the diary, an email confirmation is produced. This is sent directly to the customer (provided they have an email address) and a copy sent to the restaurant. We also support faxing and SMS. For example you can choose to have an SMS alert each time a new booking is made.
We go further... take a mobile number for each booking and you can tell restaurantdiary.com™ to send a text message to remind your customer to get ready for their booking time!
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Can I really throw away my paper-based reservations system if I use this?
Yes...you really can. In fact, you'll wonder how you ever managed without us. The traditional way of handling bookings is fraught with difficulties that just evaporate when you use restaurantdiary.com™. No more scribbles, no more scoring out, no more tearing up and starting again. Just a stress-free, easy and powerful way to manage all your bookings - using only the web browser and Internet connection you already have!
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