Serving more Customers

It is possible through better management of time and table allocation to generate extra turn over on your tables andtherefore create extra revenue.

Serving more Customers

Capacity management is the art of understanding the many small things you can do to save time and fit in morepeople, WITHOUT rushing customers or making them feel that they have to leave.Time management is one of the dimensions of an efficient restaurant - It has been estimated that as much as 60%of a person’s visiting time to a restaurant is spent NOT eating or drinking - it’s the waiting time!Anything that reduces this creates space for the next customer at the door!Space management is the other dimension, and one key point is the inefficient allocation of tables - The obviousexample is not putting couples on a 4 top table - don’t be afraid to experiment to find out just what a difference itmakes to customer numbers and sales if you adjust table sizes to the average size of the groups you are reallyattracting.

Staffing Levels

Staffing will be related to time management - it may be that by understaffing to ‘save money’ you are reducing thenumber of table turns you can do. Bringing in a runner to clear and deliver may make a big difference to re-seatingtimes - why not try it for yourself!

How to do it

By changing a number of simple operational steps, it should be possible to dramatically improve the maximumrevenue you can achieve. These steps are: • possible seating - count the number of seats in your restaurant • count the number of tables • calculate the average table size - by dividing the number of chairs by the number of tables • find out the average party size by doing a survey over a couple of shifts - divide customer numbers by number of tables served in the shift • your actual capacity - This can be a scary figure - table numbers X average group size. It is often much less than you think! • seating efficiency (actual / possible seating): This is a way to measure your actual capacity as a percentage • average time a customer stays (minutes): measure this by doing a survey during several shifts. Take an honest look at how much time is wasted on unnecessary delays • length of shift (hours): your opening hours • Therefore maximum turns of the tables: Divide your opening hours by the length of time people stay • Maximum seating: Multiplying the number of table turns by your Actual Capacity • Per head spend: Get this figure by dividing total sales by number of customers in a shift. Often lower than expected - because of lack of service, poor selling or underpricingTry this Efficiency Calculator Other blog posts in this series are: How good is your customer service Finding the Best Location for your Cafe Impressing your Bank or Finance Provider Hospitality Industry Business Plans