How to Increase Restaurant Sales: A Guide for Busy Owners

As a busy restaurant owner, you’re likely always looking for creative ways to increase sales. Yet it’s important that you balance a proactive sales strategy with maintaining day-to-day operations at your restaurant. This is a lot to juggle.  

Incremental growth is a good middle ground. These are the small, manageable changes that lead to significant revenue growth overtime. When you take this slow and steady approach to increasing restaurant sales, you can accurately identify which techniques have the greatest impact on your revenue.  

This guide consolidates the most important revenue-boosting strategies. Based on your restaurant’s current performance and most pressing needs, you can prioritize these strategies however you see fit.  

3 Techniques to Optimize the Dining Experience to Drive Sales 

Your restaurant’s ambiance, menu structure, ease of ordering, service, and more all create a holistic and memorable dining experience for your customers. Below are three tips for how you can optimize it to help drive sales.  

1. Enhancing Ambiance and Service

The ambiance of your restaurant should align with its brand. Everything from the lighting and music to the color painted on the walls contributes to the aesthetic. Consider these five tips for how to create a welcoming dining atmosphere: 

1. Music: It’s best to play quiet, generally calm background music. Avoid tunes that are so loud or energetic that customers can’t hear each other in conversation. Also, make sure the music aligns with the kind of dining experience you’re striving to create.  
2. Seating layout: It’s important that tables aren’t too close to each other. Seemingly insignificant choices like using circular or square tables also impact the dining experience. Make sure customers can easily maneuver around occupied tables. 
3. Lighting: Restaurant lighting is one of the most important factors for creating ambiance. A speakeasy may opt for dark, dim, and moody lighting, whereas a neighborhood lunchtime bistro may lean on big windows that provide a lot of natural light. 
4. Color palette and decor: A restaurant’s color palette is reflected everywhere—even down to the color of the napkins you use. Choose the walls’ paint colors, wallpaper, and decor so they reflect your brand.  
5. Cleanliness: Most customers are quick to notice dirt and grime in a restaurant. Make sure you clean it daily, including wiping tables down after each guest. Usually, the bathrooms need cleaning and restocking of supplies more often. 

In addition to the physical characteristics of your restaurant, delivering stellar service can increase customer satisfaction. Customers want to feel valued. Being personable, attentive, and kind to customers goes a long way toward generating repeat business. 

High-quality service means considering the small details. For example, servers should remember a customer’s food allergies, restrictions, or preferences. Likewise, periodic check-ins to ask how customers are enjoying themselves lends itself to a quality dining experience.

2. Menu Engineering

There is a science to how you construct your menu. The average customer’s eyes visit the middle of the menu first, the top right second, and the top left third. Menu engineers refer to this setup the “Golden Triangle.” The takeaway: aim to place menu items with the highest profit margins in these locations.

Here are four additional tips when constructing your menu to increase restaurant sales:

1. Colors contribute to the feeling of the menu. For example, green implies freshness whereas yellow is often associated with happiness and may catch a customer’s eye.  
2. Remove currency signs. Doing so reduces the emphasis of price. Some restaurants will even write out prices in letters. Additionally, try to use round numbers (e.g. 14 instead of 13.89). 
3. Place a slightly more expensive menu item toward the top. This helps the lower menu items feel like a better deal for the customer.  
4. Write a creative description. This can create an emotional attachment to the food. It provides an opportunity for your brand to tell its story. 

As you build your menu, look back at past sales records to see which dishes, drinks, and desserts are most popular. When coupled with the tips listed above, this data can guide how you organize the menu.  

3. Special Promotions and Limited-Time Offers

Special promotions are among the best ways to keep customers engaged with your restaurant. Deals create a sense of urgency—if customers want to take advantage of the current deals, they need to visit at a particular date and/or time. 

You may have exclusive menu items only available for a short time. You may introduce seasonal specials or limited deals during certain hours of the day when foot traffic is slower. These special promotions and limited-time offers (LTOs) prompt customers to visit your restaurant when they might not have otherwise.  

3 Ways to Leverage Technology to Boost Restaurant Sales 

Technology can be a huge asset when finding creative ways to connect with customers and boost restaurant sales. Luckily, there are three simple ways you can uplevel your use of technology to increase engagement.

1. Implementing Online Ordering Systems 

About 40% of customers prefer placing orders for delivery and takeout using the restaurant’s app or website. Third-party ordering systems usually mark-up menu items, making it harder for your restaurant to profit from and retain customers that order this way. Additionally, most customers want to pay the restaurant directly. 

That said, it’s important to have an user-friendly online ordering system. These are four key characteristics to remember as you get started with an online ordering system: 

1. Clear and intuitive navigation: It should be easy for customers to know how to find your menu, read about your restaurant, and place their order.  
2. Mobile friendly: About 60% of customers place orders on their phones. That said, it’s important that your ordering interface be compatible with mobile devices.  
3. Order tracking: Once a customer places an order, they want an estimate of its arrival time. In addition to order tracking, aim to offer real-time order updates.  
4. Secure payment processing: Customers will be hesitant to add their payment information to a system that loots or feels poorly built. Take the proper steps to keep their private information safe.

With modern technology at our fingertips, online ordering systems are a must. They’re a great way to create a seamless experience for customers. In fact, 25% of customers spend more on delivery and takeout orders than they do when dining in the restaurant. The simpler and more user-friendly the purchasing process, the more likely you are to increase sales.  

2. Utilizing Point of Sale (POS) Upselling

When a customer places an order online, they are using a point-of-sale (POS) system. It’s a platform where customers can add menu items to their cart, place their order, and track it.

POS upselling entails showing customers additional menu items they may want to add to their order. Usually, these upsell opportunities are related to the items currently in the customer’s cart. POS upselling should be tested during at least one business cycle in your restaurant (usually one week) to determine whether it’s an effective strategy for encouraging customers to add more to their order. 

Say a customer orders a burger and fries. They can scroll down the page to see a list of commonly added items. These menu items could be sides, appetizers, or even adding extra cheese to their burger. It’s all to prompt customers to make order changes resulting in larger tickets.  

3. Digital Reservation and Table Management 

Digital tools streamline the entire process of making reservations and managing tables. Not only does it allow you to better optimize customer seating, but it can also reduce wait times and increase turnover. As a result, you end the business day having serviced more customers and made more sales.

Additionally, customer-driven reservation systems allow them to book a table anytime of day. Instead of needing to wait until your restaurant’s business hours to call and reserve a table, they can do it on their own. The easier it is for customers to make a reservation, the more likely they are to do it. 

Technology can also work behind the scenes to streamline your back-of-house operations.  Managing tables during peak hours can feel overwhelming when done by hand. You’re relying on manual input to track availability and estimate wait times. 

With the help of digital tools, the process becomes far more efficient, and you cut down on the risk of human error. Smooth operations mean you can better serve customers to ensure their satisfaction. 

4 Tips to Master Local SEO and Online Marketing 

Local SEO is a marketing strategy that helps businesses increase visibility in local search inquiries. It’s an effective way to reach more customers in your immediate community. 

These are the four most important components of your local SEO campaign: 

1. Utilize keywords that you target customers search, including specific phrases and terms related to your restaurant 
2. Maintain updated local citations (name, address, phone number, also called NAP) on leading platforms such as Google My Business and Yelp 
3. Manage and respond to reviews on third party platforms 
4. Practice healthy on-page and technical SEO practices to help your website rank higher and stay there

In addition to local SEO, social media can be a huge asset to boosting customer awareness of your business. It’s estimated that 72% of customers discover new restaurants through social media. Here, you can amplify your restaurant’s brand, engage with customers, promote special events, showcase new menu items, and post general updates in one place.

Finally, it’s worthwhile to leverage targeted advertising campaigns to reach your intended audience. Doing so in tandem with your local SEO marketing efforts allows you to effectively reach local demographics and drive more foot traffic to your restaurant.

Consider advertising on platforms like Google Ads, Facebook Ads, Yelp, Instagram, and anywhere else your audience lives online. Whichever one you choose, make sure you set it up in such a way that it collects and displays data in accurate, actionable ways. You can use that information to guide future targeted advertising campaigns.

3 Strategies to Create Community Involvement and Partnerships 

If you’re an active restaurant in your community, locals are more likely to be familiar with your name, brand, and menu. It also allows you to give back to your community. Discover three ways to drive more community momentum below: 

1. Hosting Community Events

Hosting community events can be one of the best ways to gain local visibility. Customers see your logo, brand, and name at these events. Additionally, they get to sample your food. It’s a great chance to take advantage of some word-of-mouth marketing. 

Here are five ideas for community events that you could host: 

1. Cooking classes 
2. Wine tasting 
3. Charity dinners 
4. Silent auctions 
5. Catering at local or private events 

Getting involved in community events generates opportunities to boost revenue. Private cooking classes or wine tastings ask customers to pay for their seat. So, both your restaurant and the partnering business gain more public awareness and generate revenue. 

2. Developing Partnerships with Local Businesses 

Partnerships with local businesses allow you to host collaborative events and promote each other. As a restaurant owner collaborating with a fellow local owner, you might get creative in how you host events or even open a new establishment.

Take a look at this example from Portland, Oregon. The head chef of local restaurant Hat Yai teamed up with the owner of Matt’s BBQ to create the much beloved Eem—a Thai BBQ fusion restaurant. Eem has grown into a local favorite and gained national attention. 

All told, partnerships with local businesses—whether in the form of events or entirely new restaurants—are an effective way to boost restaurant sales.  

3. Participation in Local Food Scenes

Getting involved with local food scenes helps spread awareness of your brand. Maybe you’re a local bakery that maintains a stall at the local farmer’s market every summer. Or you may be a pizza mastermind who participates in a local pizza competition.

By putting your brand out in the community, you allow locals to get to know you. Share your restaurant’s story and the love that goes into crafting each menu item. In doing so, you invite local customers to connect with your business and get to know the people running the show behind the scenes.

Consider these three ideas for how improving restaurant sales by getting involved in your local food scenes: 

1. Local food festivals  
2. Culinary competitions 
3. Markets, festivals, or other events 

Pro tip: If your community doesn’t have local food festivals or competitions, consider starting one yourself! Pair up with two or three local businesses to host an event that increases brand awareness and generates sales for all of you. 

3 Steps to Implement Effective Internal Marketing Strategies 

1. Creating a Loyalty Program

Once you’ve caught the attention of new customers, you need to keep them engaged. Creating a loyalty program is one of the best ways for restaurants to do it.

The core mission of loyalty programs is to encourage repeat visits by offering compelling rewards for specific actions. With each visit, customers spend money, thus boosting your sales. Most restaurants make more money catering to repeat customers than trying to attract new ones.

Loyalty programs generate compelling rewards that keep customers returning to your restaurant. Maybe they earn points with each purchase that can be used toward future purchases or they receive discounts on favorite menu items. A gift card program can also help you drive sales.

A successful loyalty program creates a feeling of exclusivity and belonging. As a result, customers feel more connected to your brand.

Pro tip: Consider implementing a tiered loyalty program. In this model, customers earn a reward for reaching each milestone in the program. It gives them something to aspire toward. Businesses with tiered loyalty programs report 1.8X higher ROI than those that opt for an alternate setup.  

2. Employee Training and Incentives

For your loyalty program to reach peak effectiveness, your in-house team needs to understand the ins and outs of how it works. If a customer has questions, your employees can answer in detail. You could also create opportunities for employees to offer customers lesser known tips to make the most of your rewards program.  

Consider offering incentives to employees who get customers to sign up for the rewards program. For example, an employee encourages a customer to register for your loyalty membership and the employee receives a percentage bonus based on the membership fee. Overall, aim to make it a core practice of your restaurant for employees to communicate the value of your rewards offerings.

3. Collecting and Acting on Customer Feedback

Customer feedback is one of the most valuable assets you have in understanding how individuals experience your restaurant. It’s best to be as proactive as possible with collecting customer feedback. Create a regular cadence for customer check-ins. When you get feedback often, you can continue to iterate on your business and meet customer needs.

Here are six channels through which to collect customer feedback to drive more restaurant sales:

1. Reviews on Google or Yelp 
2. Coordinated customer feedback initiatives 
3. Send emails to members of your loyalty program 
4. Ask questions on social media 
5. Create a focus group 
6. Customer satisfaction score (CSAT) surveys 

Seek feedback on everything from your menu design to reward programs. If you have in-depth data available, you could ask specific demographics for feedback on certain aspects of your business. 

Once you have the feedback, the most important part is acting on it. Here are five tips for implementing the most valuable data: 

1. Aggregate the data and identify trends 
2. Send follow-up surveys or questions to customers to respond 
3. Identify customer pain points that might contribute to churn 
4. Use positive feedback as testimonials on your website 
5. Reward the customer for offering their feedback 

Remember, customer feedback also tells you what you’re doing well. If customers love a particular part of your restaurant, maybe you find a way to amplify it in your marketing strategy.  

The Bottom Line 

There are many moving parts as you build a strategy to improve restaurant sales. As a busy owner, you need to be able to prioritize the techniques that will be the most impactful for your restaurant. Here’s a breakdown of the top eight factors to keep in mind: 

1. Dining experience: Everything from the design of the physical space to the layout of the menu contributes to a customer’s experience, and overall satisfaction, when dining at your restaurant. 
2. Leveraging technology to your benefit: Technology must streamline your restaurant’s behind-the-scenes operations, so you can focus on improving everything else.  
3. Efficient online ordering: Make it as easy as possible for customers to place and track orders directly with your restaurant online (first party ordering vs. third party ordering). 
4. Local SEO and online marketing: Localized SEO increases the chance of your restaurant appearing for a nearby customer’s search query. 
5. Community involvement: Participating in community events or festivals is a great way to generate relevant brand awareness. 
6. Partnerships with local businesses: When you team up with a local business, you can support and promote each other. 
7. Loyalty programs: Customer rewards programs invite customers to return, turning them into repeat business and generating more revenue. 
8. Customer feedback: Insights from customers’ experience can guide how you make improvements to your business as well as what you’re doing well. 

The first step is to assess your current standing in each of these categories. It’s the baseline while you work on how to increase restaurant sales. Leverage customer feedback to point you toward the areas of your business that need the most improvement.

As you improve restaurant operations, the best thing you can do is stay proactive. It’s important that you’re dynamic and responsive in a competitive market. The better you can meet customer needs and increase their satisfaction, the more you’ll stay ahead of competitors.

From customer insights to loyalty programs, Paytronix is the all-in-one guest engagement platform for your restaurant. Schedule a demo today.