20th April 2012
No shows in restaurants are not a new concern for the hospitality industry, but apparently they are a growing one, as an increased number of people are booking tables and not turning up to use them. Sometimes there are legitimate reasons and sometimes the customer gets in touch to explain why, but this is often not the case. It presents a number of problems for the industry, as keeping a table for a group who are not going to turn up is bad for business. The table potentially represents a space in a busy restaurant which is going to waste and is dropping the capacity to make a profit. Big Hospitality recently reported that with a proliferation of restaurant booking websites on the internet it seems that the no show issue has become a bigger one. So it is important that businesses decide how to cope with the problem. The first option is to decide not to take bookings – this may mean taking a restaurant off such websites or refusing to take bookings altogether. If this is the case then it must be approached in a sympathetic way, as some customers may see it as an inconvenience and be put off the establishment. One restaurant which has implemented a no booking for groups less than eight strategy in an effective way is Jamie’s Italian, where guests are seated on a first come first service basis. In order to ensure that nobody jumps the queue each group is issued with a pager upon arrival which vibrates when a table becomes available. This has the added benefit of keeping customers in the restaurant for longer and therefore selling more products to them. Whereas a party who have booked a table in advance may have their drinks elsewhere before their meal, customers at Jamie’s Italian are likely to wait at the bar and drink in the restaurant until their table becomes free. This is a far better idea than simply stating to customers that they cannot book and may have a long wait on their hands – customers react well to systems which seem fair to them. Another strategy is to make sure that any no show tables are put back into circulation as soon as possible. This is a very difficult art and is an area where having a specific policy in place is a must. After all nobody wants to see an angry group of a dozen hungry guests being annoyed at their table being given away because they were five minutes late. Restaurant managers should decide on a length of time which it is appropriate to wait – say 20 minutes – and after this time the table will be rearranged and put back into use for other diners. Making customers aware of this when they book is not just polite, but will help to prevent further problems if they turn up half an hour late and still expect their table to be waiting. Staff must be well trained and vigilant with time keeping, making sure they know when the guests are expected and at what time they should give their table up. How bookings are taken is also an important consideration and different places have different policies on the information they ask for. If email addresses or mobile numbers are given then this provides restaurants with the option of sending a reminder of the booking which may result in fewer no shows. Whether no shows should be contacted after the event is a difficult issue and any business which decides to do this must follow up the incident in a sensitive and non-accusatory manner. There will always be no shows in restaurants, but the way that they are dealt with can be the difference between it being a success or a failed business. Other areas of the hospitality industry suffer from a similar problem, though hotels often make it quite clear that anyone failing to turn up will still be charged – should this be the case for restaurants too?
