Case Study: Restaurant Needs Assistance With To-Go Phone Orders

Restaurant Increases Efficiency and Orders with Virtual Phone System

Running a business in a crowded marketplace comes with multiple challenges. First, you need a product that sets you apart or above the crowd. Next, you need customers. Then a reason to keep those customers coming back. But an aspect that gets talked about much less is training your customers on how your business operates.

AccessDirect was contacted recently by a restaurant owner struggling to communicate how his ordering process worked. They had transitioned from phone orders to an online system but kept receiving take-out calls. After working with them to determine the right balance between educating and assisting their customers, we helped them build a pizza phone system that fit their specific needs. Here’s how we were able to help.

The Issue: An Atlanta pizzeria switched to an online ordering system and needed to stop taking phone orders. They had found that employees were spending a great deal of time on the phone taking orders, which delayed pizzas being made and cooked, which led to longer waiting times. They hoped that by transitioning to an online system for orders their employees could focus on food instead of the phone.
Unfortunately, after implementing the new online system, they continued receiving phone calls from customers wanting to place orders. Answering the same number of calls while fulfilling online orders took more time than before. As a result, their turnaround time on orders saw no improvement, and their customers and employees were getting frustrated.
How We Helped: Having discussed these issues with the restaurant owner, AccessDirect started designing a custom system to solve their dilemma. We realized that their problem was twofold: they needed to keep employees off the phone while educating customers on the online ordering system. The ideal solution would be a phone system that helped callers understand the new system while making that process easier and more convenient.
Knowing giving callers options to choose from could help solve the problem, we started creating a pizza phone system based on our Direct Receptionist plan template. Customers calling after business hours were directed to a greeting letting callers know they were closed and providing their regular hours. Customers calling during normal business hours could choose to place an online order by pressing 1. If they needed to speak to a restaurant employee (but not to place an order), they could press 2.
When callers pressed 1, a recording informed them that a link would be texted to them, which would allow them to place an online order. Callers could click on the texted link and immediately go to their website. If they pressed 2, the pizzeria’s phone line would ring, and if no one was available the call went to voicemail. A copy of the voicemail message would then be sent to the owner via email as an MP3 file alongside a transcript, allowing them to determine the urgency of the call.
The End Result: AccessDirect solved both the restaurant’s issues with a single phone system. Callers were instructed to use the online website to place orders by a recording rather than a live employee. The system then conveniently sent a link to the website from the phone system to make ordering easier. Employees could now spend more time making food and helping guests in the restaurant and less instructing callers on their ordering system. The system worked so well that only four days into their week-long trial, the owner decided to purchase a subscription for both of his locations.

Since 1997, AccessDirect has helped hundreds of restaurants all over the United States and Canada make their phone calls more professional, efficient, and productive. Our systems are designed to help with high call volumes while cutting down on the amount of time your employees spend on the phone. See how features like business text messaging and voicemail transcription can improve your restaurant’s operations and increase diner satisfaction. Contact us to get started with a free trial today!