Why People Might Not Be Making Table Reservations Online?

Feb 4, 2020 6:11:03 PM

How is is that there are still people who don’t make reservations online? Many people just aren’t in the habit of course, but there is also one more reason that is worth discussing which is the presence of a poor online reservation tool which can put people off booking.

Request vs Reservation Systems

Oftentimes, people may not trust the results of an online booking process. It’s important for a client to see a resulting action from their online request which in the case of a table booking, would be an immediately confirmed reservation.

Potential diners are often asked to fill in a booking form, and after pressing the button “Book”, they (instead) receive a response that asks them to wait for further confirmation. Well, is it booked, or not? That’s not a reservation system, it’s a request system!

Booking systems should be instant as customers will often desire an immediate confirmation so they know whether or not to book somewhere else. Many reservation systems require a responsible restaurant staff member to manually complete this request which slows the whole process down.

It is obvious to customers that reservations made on pending confirmation offers no guarantees. and that’s why online reservations should always be immediate.

What Can Happen if the Person Doesn’t Get an Immediate Confirmation?

The guest might get irritated having spent time filling in the ‘booking’ form and not getting the confirmation they expect. This could result in lost trust too.
The guest might also feel the need to make a follow-up call to the restaurant if they need an immediate answer. This creates double the workload for the restaurant in checking and changing the reservation calendar manually, as well overviewing all the pending online reservations to action and synchronise with the phone calls.
The guest might have the patience to wait a short-while, but without receiving confirmation in the very near future they may choose another restaurant.
In the best scenario, the guest will not be in a rush to confirm the booking and therefore the confirmation will be sent a few hours later.

Advices

How to Build Trust?

Immediate confirmations build trust. That’s why when you make a decision to start accepting online bookings, only advanced table reservation systems should be considered. Reservation tool, like Tablein, can offer:

Immediate 24/7 confirmation
Real-time choices
Automatic reminders
Changes and cancellations in one click

Best of all, a simple, convenient, and guaranteed tool, will be efficient in building trust and result in the desired completed action by the customer – come to the restaurant and pay! Better yet, a positive booking experience will encourage your customers to use the booking service again, which offers you as a restaurant owner, a convenient tool for smooth restaurant management allowing effective planning, and better use of time, staff, and resources.

Automatic bookings not only make your reservation management smooth & easy but also help to increase restaurant occupancy without any effort. Give a try to Tablein system with a free 14-day trial.