Restaurant owners and managers are responsible for overseeing the restaurant, which include making sure that both the front of house and back of house play nicely together and that customer responses are honored. One way to solicit customer responses is through the use of customer comment cards.
A customer card system, if it’s done well, can not only put you in touch with the feelings of your patrons but also alert you to changing trends and put your finger more fully on what it takes to help customers come to your restaurant.
Suggestions for Customer Comment Cards
The customer comment card should be direct and simple. There shouldn’t be any mistake as to what the card is or the type of information that you’re looking for. Basically, you don’t want to overwhelm your customer.
- Easy to read, professionally printed
Professional printing and typesetting is essential for your customer comment card system. Everything must be clear. When you’re initiating the program, print a smaller run to see how it flies.
- 10 questions at the MOST
Your customers shouldn’t feel like they’ve gone back to school with a lot of questions. You’re more likely to get false answers which do no good for you or your restaurant.
- Room for comments
Some of your diners want to leave comments rather than rate your restaurant from 1-10. Give them a chance with ample space on the form.
- Put them in a great location
There are some places who leave customer comment cards on the table for diners to look at during their meal. There are others who include a card with every check. There are still others who leave the cards with the cashier.
- Give them a reason to fill them out
Bribery works. And it works well. Give your patrons a chance to get something for giving you their opinion. Maybe you can offer a little free food or something to ‘grease the wheels’ of your restaurant empire.
Instead of putting your customer comment cards into the check folder, you can also conduct those surveys online if you’ve got a more web savvy clientele. The manner of gathering information doesn’t matter, as long as the information is gathered.
