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Restaurant answering services: No to pressure, yes to sales

November 1, 2024

Discover how AI-empowered human answering services can save restaurants time, reduce stress, and boost revenue.

It’s rush hour. You have a line from the counter to the door, the phone is ringing, and two customers are tapping their feet at the pickup line. You wanted to run a restaurant, not become a pro juggler. The restaurant business moves fast, and you should, too—but you can only do so much at once. 

Now imagine that same busy line. Instead of missing your phone calls, your restaurant answering service takes charge. You might not be able to lie back in a chair and sip a piña colada, but things have gotten a lot easier. The pressure is gone.

The answering team can process new orders and create a positive customer experience. You can focus on customer satisfaction and provide the highest-quality food and service possible without worrying about the next ring. The best part is that you can save on labor costs, increase sales, and take more orders, too—and that means you can grow your business.

Learn the key features you need for an answering service, how to get started, and the right tool to provide the service you and your customers need. And hey, maybe you should treat yourself to an icy beverage because you’ll finally have a phone-ordering program that’s on autopilot. 

Why a tech-based restaurant answering service makes a difference

You already know how the craziness of the restaurant business makes it difficult to get a phone order right every time because of human error. Or the feeling you get when there’s a missed call. That same customer might ring another restaurant. You can't blame them—they're starving.

The worst part? All this pressure makes it feel impossible to find, hire, and manage staff. It’s not like it used to be, when you might have been able to hire family members to fill all the roles in your restaurant.

And even when you do finally find an A+ team, it doesn’t last long. 

They get burned out like the egg your trainee left in the oil for 30 seconds too long. You're not just dealing with a line of customers to the door—you’re also tallying the line of no-shows from unreliable employees.

These challenges don't have to be challenges anymore. Humans, empowered by AI, can provide the same high-quality service and enjoyable staff experience you prefer without burning out, missing calls, or getting details wrong.

While outsourcing to a traditional service provider can be valuable, AI-empowered human order-takers are even better. It's why 76% of restaurant operators know technology gives them a competitive edge like consistency, accuracy, and affordability. 

Through speedy phone system ordering, you can provide the best service in your community and create a reputation for consistency. Customers know they can call your restaurant and order right away. For example, restaurants that use Tarro for their answering service see 10 to 20% more revenue and 5 to 10% savings. Those increased sales and savings make a huge difference, especially when supporting your family and staff. 

Customers experience a 99.5% order accuracy, too, so they're happy with successful orders. You don't have to worry about throwing away meals or upsetting guests because of avoidable mistakes.

Phone orders and delivery are super easy thanks to professional answering representatives and AI powered by Tarro
(Source)

So, how would AI-empowered human answering services look? Imagine your most loyal customer calling tomorrow after you've upgraded your experience:

  • Your customer calls the restaurant.
  • After one ring, the call transfers to your voice ordering platform.
  • Then, a service professional speaks to your customer and takes the order.
  • Your service sends the order right to you so you can get started on it immediately.
  • Depending on what the customer chooses, some services can send a delivery driver to pick up the order and deliver it to the customer, or the guest can pick it up.
  • Your staff can enjoy their work and focus on what they do best. It’s easier to find employees and keep them. You can reduce your stress and shift your focus to growth and improvement.

That’s a much more efficient way to receive orders, and you know customers will get a great experience with accurate orders, every time. The AI-human approach gives you immediate benefits like:

  • 24/7 availability: Your customers can order whenever they need to, no matter how busy you are. No more missed calls.
  • High accuracy: With a dedicated professional and through an organized point-of-service platform, you can expect the correct order every time.
  • Restaurant experience consistency: As customers experience quick, easy, and accurate orders, they know they can get a positive experience every time they order from you.

An answering service that uses AI and high-quality experts gives you the best of both worlds. Customers get a personalized experience with a human, and AI makes sure that customers get an answer and the correct order as quickly as possible.

Features you should consider in an answering service

24/7 availability. Better accuracy. That all sounds good. But just like a fast food chain restaurant giving you a miniature, squished version of the dish pictured on the menu, too many promises fall flat. Not all restaurant answering services are equal. 

It's important to know what features you need to successfully process all the menu items, ordering options, and personal customer requests. You can start by tackling these key questions:

1. Does the answering service enable delivery?

Whether you want to add delivery now or plan to do so in the future, find a service that can power your remote restaurant experience.

You can add new revenue to your business, improve your delivery experience, and increase profit margins. 

For example, instead of relying on third-party delivery apps, you can make it part of your answering service experience when a customer calls or orders online. With solutions like Tarro, you'll save more on the delivery service, and customers can save an average of $10 an order (*cough* hello “Next meal on us: Save $10 on delivery” marketing campaign *cough*). It's a win-win for everyone.

Imagine making more cash while not worrying about phone orders or delivery. That's a whole lot of weight off your shoulders and you're getting more sales—not bad.

2. Does the service efficiently work with the tools and platform I already use?

Make sure your restaurant answering service can seamlessly communicate takeout orders to your team. When someone calls to place an order, you should get the ticket immediately after. If your answering service sends your orders through clunky processes, they might as well mail them to you with a three-day delivery. You’ll miss many orders due to delays and too many third-party touchpoints. 

3. Does the service provide the right customization? 

Every restaurant and its customers are different. If you run a Chinese takeout restaurant or a sushi establishment, your service provider should offer personalized and multilingual customer experiences, and the professionals should understand every detail of your menu and dish.

For example:

  • Personalization: A friendly service professional can recommend dishes and help navigate the menu. If a caller has a dietary need, the representative can help them find the perfect meal. Instead of a customer going through a confusing experience or getting a dish that doesn’t match their preference, they get a personal walk-through and will likely order again.
  • Customization: When customers order, they want options for their meal, like eliminating onions or adding extra garlic. A professional service should be able to fulfill those requests every time, as Tarro does, with 99.5% order accuracy.
  • Multilingual experience: It’s a global economy, and that means you get customers from many different backgrounds, cultures, and languages. Customers should be able to call and speak in their language comfortably. Representatives with Tarro, for example, can engage with callers in fluent English and Spanish. No more misunderstandings or friction while ordering: your customers can place their orders with pin-point accuracy as fast and smoothly as possible.

Real-life benefits of choosing the right restaurant answering service

Mr. Zhao runs multiple restaurants without the pressure he and his staff used to have before using Tarro’s call center service. He can now provide high-quality experiences in the hospitality industry.
(Source)

Once you can verify that your restaurant answering service gives you the needed features, you can focus on the quality. 

Your answering service is your partner. It’s like hiring a new chef. You want to make sure they’re making food that brings customers back—not chasing them away.

Every contact the answering service has with your customer represents your brand and your restaurant. Just like you, they are helping build loyal customers for your business.

A high-quality restaurant answering service can grow your restaurant by providing consistent and fast experiences with A+ customer service. Once you can find a partner to take care of your online orders, the sky's the limit—just like what the owner of Golden Dragon experienced.

When Mr. Zhao, owner of Golden Dragon and multiple Chinese takeout restaurants, started his journey to improve his business, he needed to streamline calls and operations to provide the best front desk service possible.

Mr. Zhao chose Tarro for its AI-human-empowered solutions. He said, "Before, the front desk was always the biggest hassle. [Staff] didn't want to answer the phone [...], pack orders, and handle payments. It was overwhelming."

After choosing Tarro, Mr. Zhao said, "Restaurant staff can focus on packing and handling payments, making things much easier and reducing pressure. Their attitude toward customers improved, too." Because of the adoption of advanced technology ordering services, Mr. Zhao has been able to open new restaurants. His business runs smoother and quicker, and it's easier to hire staff with a great support system.

An AI-powered answering service that stands out above the rest

Save time, process more orders, and focus more on your restaurant with our restaurant answering service
(Source)

Tarro provides the all-in-one restaurant answering service you need to reduce stress, lower labor costs, and make more money.

Tarro's team and technology can handle multiple phone lines for quick and accurate ordering that can boost your revenue. With our professionally trained service staff, you can trust that your customers will get the high-quality experience you've always wanted—especially when callers can reach someone in three seconds or less.

No language barriers. Personal, professional people—fluent in English and Spanish—take incoming calls. They can answer questions about the menu and operating hours free of charge. Only pay when you get the order. And you don't have to worry about language barriers for your staff, either. Your orders can be sent to you in English or Chinese, making hiring and empowering in-house talent much easier.

Before, you could answer only one call at a time. With Tarro, our team can receive multiple calls on the same line and answer them simultaneously. If you want to audit the calls yourself, you can listen to live calls—so you always know you're providing the highest-quality service to your customers. You can also add delivery with Tarro to create a new revenue stream that is fully managed for you.

Learn more about how you can leverage Tarro quickly and easily today.

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Join thousands of restaurant owners who’ve ended staffing headaches, botched orders, and cost overruns with Tarro.

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