Reservations – The Front Door To Your Business

In this episode of the PAX Hospitality Podcast, Leon Kennedy sits down with our very own guest services and reservation specialist Loren Daniels to unpack one deceptively simple question: how easy is it to book your restaurant? Sparked by Leon’s recent ABC interview and the flood of operator questions that followed, the pair dig into why “reservation strategy” isn’t a nice-to-have—it’s a revenue lever that can move the needle in days, not months.

Loren breaks reservation strategy down into something ultra-practical: unblocking the digital entrance to your venue. From clunky, multi-screen booking journeys and rigid policies to under-used Google Reserve and out-of-date websites, she shows how friction at the top of the funnel quietly kills trade. They explore how availability settings, table joins, party-size rules and scare-off factors on menus (like obscure ingredients or unclear dietary options) can make guests bounce before they ever walk in the door.

The conversation finishes with a playbook any operator can start on today. Loren spells out simple user-testing (“get your mum to make a booking”), daily reservation checklists, realistic policies and multi-channel contact options that actually get answered. Her big message: you don’t need to overhaul your whole tech stack—chip away at one per cent improvements and you’ll see more bums on seats as early as next week.

Topics covered:

• Why “reservation strategy” is one of the fastest, highest-impact levers in a restaurant.
• Friction in the booking journey: access, barriers to book and clunky policy overload.
• The role of Google Reserve, Google listings and websites in driving (or losing) bookings.
• Menu “scare-off factors” and clear dietary communication as part of reservation strategy.
• Practical systems: daily res-checklists, phones, reviews and incremental one-percenters.

Plus, here are Loren's 5 do-it-today reservation strategy hacks.

PAX acknowledges the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people as the traditional custodians of the land on which we operate. We pay our respects to elders past, present and emerging and to all First Nations People.

Transcript

From Radio Chat To Big Demand

SPEAKER_02 0:05

Welcome to the PAX Hospitality Podcast. I am your host, Leon Kennedy, and today I'm sitting here with the amazing Lauren Daniels. What's up, Lauren? Hey, hey. Thanks for being here. So today it's an interesting one. I recently was able to be interviewed on uh ABC with Rochelle Hunt, so shout out to Rochelle, and I inadvertently talked about the topic of reservation strategies in restaurants. We were I was being interviewed for something else, but that's just kind of what came up. And it was crazy once it did, you know, because I feel like I mean you and I have been working together for so long now, and it kind of feels like a part of our daily conversation or at least weekly strategy planning. It's like it's so central to what we do. And after, you know, I got off the radio that day, my phone just kind of blew up with so many people that were just reaching out, being like, uh, what is a reservation strategy? And how the fuck do I leverage that?

SPEAKER_01 1:04

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Defining Capacity And Cost Model

SPEAKER_02 1:05

And I was like, yeah, actually, this is not a thing that's everywhere, right? Like, there's there is literally probably a restaurant within a hundred metres of where we're sitting right now that is still just using a notebook and a pen to track their bookings, right?

SPEAKER_04 1:19

The golden days.

SPEAKER_02 1:20

Yeah, it's it's funny that like you know, it's it's in our little world, it's such a hot topic, and obviously, you know, we're in an amazing position now to help lots of our our you know clients at PAX, you know, to optimize their businesses with their stuff, but just thought, what an opportunity to do a quick episode about it because it's it's a concept that even if you just understand it on the most rudimentary level, it's gonna add a few percent to your business. You know, it's just gonna make you that little bit better and then and and potentially make a huge material impact. So yeah, how do you feel about walking through that topic today?

SPEAKER_04 1:58

Yeah, yeah. Excited. I think um, like if we're talking about quick wins in this space, this is the fastest results that you'll see if you if you can kind of get under the hood of this in your business, you'll see results in days.

SPEAKER_02 2:13

Got it. So because it's just conversion, right?

SPEAKER_04 2:17

It's uh unblocking funnels.

SPEAKER_02 2:19

Got you. Like and and if we if we just, you know, like those are really buzzy terms, right? Like funnels and conversion. And I mean in a the most simplistic way possible, it's literally just like how easily can I make a booking at a restaurant?

SPEAKER_04 2:33

Yeah. Well, and like I think when you set up a restaurant, right, you cost model the success of that restaurant based on how many people can come through and dine.

SPEAKER_02 2:43

Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_04 2:44

So when you build a restaurant and you buy tables and chairs, that has to line up. Like how many people can actually book in and and dine, and does that stack up against the cost modelling you've done? And so the reservation strategy is that is is making sure that those two things marry up. Got it. And whether that's in a system or it's it's pen and paper, like you need to know how many people we need to get in every single night to hit hit you know the green and the reservation.

SPEAKER_02 3:15

It gives you those parameters, right? Is that yeah, okay, cool.

SPEAKER_04 3:18

Yeah. So if you have um you know a hundred tables and that means a hundred people, we need to make sure the the the levers or the funnels are are are gearing the right way for those people to be able to book in and fill those seats.

Two Booking Journeys Compared

SPEAKER_02 3:33

Sure, because yeah, okay, got it. And I I just keep going to my own anecdotal, you know, experiential, you know, version of this. You know, so like in the last week, there's been two bookings that I've made.

SPEAKER_03 3:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:48

Okay, and one of them was kind of a nightmare. Yeah right, and it was, I don't know, man. I tell me. Yeah. So obviously won't mention the name or anything, but like, you know, I jump in and I'm like, okay, there's just so much information to work through. I've never been there before.

SPEAKER_01 4:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:06

So it's hitting me with these questions like, do you want to sit in one of these three areas? Yeah. And I'm like, I don't know what those are. Yeah. And I'm like, okay, and it was like a business meeting, and so I'm like, all right, I need to be conscious of you know, X, Y, and Z. And then I go through all the shit. Like seven pages later, I finally got my reservation with a$90 deposit, which I was thinking, shit, I don't know. I mean, we might just be having drinks, and I don't know if we're gonna rack up 90 bucks, whatever, I'll pay it because it's an important meeting. But anyway, and then um, like an hour, you know, after I made the booking, one of the people in the meeting was like, Hey, can we actually meet at three o'clock instead of four? And I'm like, fuck.

SPEAKER_04 4:46

I've got to go through the got one.

SPEAKER_02 4:48

I couldn't, I couldn't actually do it. I clicked the you know, there's a button saying manage booking, I tried to hit that, yeah. It took me to just nowhere. I went so I literally had to resort to emailing the restaurant, yeah, hoping for the best. And I was like, you know what? I'd already gone through all these other scenarios of how I'm like, look, if they don't respond to me, or if they get back and say no, or maybe they don't open that early, I'm like, all right, where else can I go for an hour? Yeah, you know, and then pause the meeting, then move us to just nightmare, right? Yeah. Then the other experience was literally last night.

SPEAKER_03 5:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:18

So we got like a you know, date night tonight, a book dissert, 400 gradi.

SPEAKER_01 5:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:22

Now these guys really understand this topic, yeah, right. Literally from hitting their Google listening to making a booking was like two buttons. Right. And I was in.

SPEAKER_04 5:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:35

And I'm like, okay, this is great. Yeah. So that's is that a good representation of the spectrum?

Access Versus Barriers To Book

SPEAKER_04 5:42

Yeah, because you're talking about two things. You're talking about access. So, so how quickly can I do what I need to do?

SPEAKER_00 5:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 5:50

And and is the optimal availability there that that restaurant actually has. And then the other part of it is barriers to book.

SPEAKER_00 5:58

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 5:59

So the more layers you add, the more likely you are to lose people.

SPEAKER_02 6:02

Right, and and that's a really good point. So, in the first instance of my little experience this week, yeah, there was just so much policy being shouted at me at the end of the year.

SPEAKER_04 6:13

But then you had to email them anyway.

SPEAKER_02 6:14

Oh, I know. So I had to put my credit card detail, I had to do so much work to get this booking.

SPEAKER_01 6:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:21

And the only reason, like I so you know, I don't live in a city of Melbourne, right? I live, you know, pretty far, like half an hour out.

SPEAKER_01 6:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:27

And so it's the only reason I persevered is because there was just no other options out there.

SPEAKER_01 6:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:31

You know, and so I had to do it.

SPEAKER_04 6:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:33

But if I was like, you know, uh if I was booking somewhere around here, I just wouldn't, I would have given up.

SPEAKER_04 6:37

Yeah, given up after screen three.

SPEAKER_02 6:39

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_04 6:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:41

So then I guess, you know, you you make that point, right? So it's around that initial part, which is just access and removing those lines of friction. Obviously, there's a lot more to it.

SPEAKER_03 6:51

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:52

But just from a tangibility perspective, like if I had a restaurant, you know, and I was coming to you for advice, and you only had 40 seconds, and that's all you gave me, I could go, alright, I'm gonna go home tonight and I'm gonna work through that user experience and try and reduce the friction. Yeah, how much of a result is that gonna get me on its own?

SPEAKER_04 7:15

Well, a lot, particularly if there's if there's friction there, you know, if you're not looking at it, and I think that's one of the biggest mistakes venues do is they set up their reservation strategy early early days and never really adjust it again.

Agile Policies For Different Nights

SPEAKER_02 7:29

Dude, yeah, so that was kind of where I was hoping you'd go because that's the other thing, right? It's like you kind of, you know, you you go on and you set up the put the platform, yeah, and you go, okay, I've got to do this and I've got to do that because I you're thinking worst-case scenario, yeah, you know, which is like, uh, well, what happens if it's Saturday night and too many people want to book?

SPEAKER_03 7:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:49

That you should be like, that would be a great problem to have.

SPEAKER_03 7:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:52

Right? Let's first achieve that and work out the policies because then you then you just go, all right, well, here's my rules now, my architecture for a Saturday night, and then it's the same thing on a Tuesday night.

SPEAKER_01 8:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:04

And it's like, man, you're never gonna have that problem on a Tuesday. But you're not in there daily, you don't look at it as an agile tech platform.

SPEAKER_04 8:12

A lot of operators don't. Like that's why there are dedicated teams that do this, that sit in front of it all day. Right. There's a reason for that.

SPEAKER_02 8:19

Yeah um but why does why does it have to be to that extent? Like, how come you can't just be like, hey, venue manager, yeah, make sure you're on this every day.

SPEAKER_04 8:27

Well, you well you can and you shouldn't. And I think the the change that's happened in hospitality over the last 10 years with with um more emphasis on digital and pre-dining, that pre-dining experience. I just don't know if operators have caught up to that.

SPEAKER_01 8:44

Sure.

Daily Dials And Foresight

SPEAKER_04 8:45

So it should be part of their morning checklist of what am I looking at not just for tonight on the books, but what am I looking at next week? How's our Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday our our typically soft nights? Have I set that up to do hundreds like a Saturday? And that's not gonna happen.

SPEAKER_00 9:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 9:01

So I've got, you know, my my availability doesn't reflect how how many spots I've got in the restaurant. If you've got to turn that, turn those dials daily, not just for today.

SPEAKER_02 9:11

Sure, you've got to be always thinking about it and looking ahead.

SPEAKER_04 9:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:14

And so if I what I hear in that is step one is just unblock the entrance. Yeah. Right?

SPEAKER_03 9:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:20

And you know, because it's it's it's literally like, you know, you were liken it to, you know, you turn up to work and the council's suddenly ripping up your street to work for 10 days, and you're going, where goes my trade?

SPEAKER_01 9:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:31

It's it's kind of like that, right? But a digital version. So you gotta unblock that. And then I think where we're gonna go with this is into all of the supporting stuff that will help you once you've unblocked the funnel. Yeah. But just while we're on this, yeah. So if I'm listening to this going, holy shit, I've never thought about this before. Yeah, how many guests and how many tables am I losing a night? And I want to get stuck in, where do I start? Like just practically speaking.

Start With User Testing

SPEAKER_04 9:56

I I the first place would be test it like a customer or like get your mum on it, right? Because if if they can't make a booking really easily, that's a problem. If when when when you're testing it and making a booking, if that doesn't reflect to you, it's like I've got I know I've got shitloads of space, I've only got you know 20 covers on the books tonight, I can definitely do some more. If that's not reflecting in your availability online or or on your Google reserve, then you need then you've got work to do.

SPEAKER_02 10:28

Love that. So that that's genius. So I mean effectively it's user testing, but I I just I like actually want to do this is like hit up my most non-hospo mate. They're like, bro, jump on a Google meet with me, share your screen, and I'm just gonna record you making a booking in this restaurant tonight.

SPEAKER_04 10:46

I do it all the time. I've worked on a venue recently that has you know one million different booking options, and to set them up is quite complex. So it's get on the phone to my little sister and make a booking and tell me how annoyed you were with it.

SPEAKER_02 11:00

We should um actually incorporate this into the PAX audit that we do.

SPEAKER_04 11:05

Your mum.

SPEAKER_02 11:07

I mean, I'm already trying to get her to help us with leadership development.

SPEAKER_04 11:10

So if you like your mum's quite astute, we should probably we should probably the bar should be lower.

SPEAKER_02 11:14

Yeah, okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. Find a better, a better test case. Okay, so okay, so that's first step. Do some user testing, yeah, experience it, yeah, see what pops out, and just be logical.

SPEAKER_04 11:24

Exactly. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:24

What are what are some of the things? Um tell me two things. What so what what are some of the things you'd expect to pop up in that? And then also what are some things that might not pop up in that that I then also have to think about.

SPEAKER_04 11:38

Uh what should pop up is is your ultimate availability. So if I'm a party of two, three, four, five, six, like test all of them.

SPEAKER_02 11:47

Yes.

Handling Party Sizes And Policies

SPEAKER_04 11:48

Uh because if you know if the if the availability isn't spitting out your larger party sizes, for example, it means in the back end you haven't set things up correctly to for table joins and you know.

SPEAKER_02 12:00

The larger party one's great as well because so many people just have a one policy rule, right? It's kind of like, hey, if you're more than six, yeah, then you have to be set menu because you're thinking about that worst case scenario on a Saturday night. Whereas, hey, if it's Tuesday, take 'em.

SPEAKER_01 12:15

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:16

Like you've probably got space for it. So even if you're like, oh, you need to be at eight packs or at ten packs that needs to be on a set menu, maybe on a Tuesday it's alright.

SPEAKER_04 12:24

It's okay. Yeah, yeah. Be a bit more realistic. Like a 50% of something is better than 100% of nothing. Totally vibe.

SPEAKER_02 12:32

I mean, and is it relatively easy to um make like what sort of platform like there's lots of different platforms you can use, right?

SPEAKER_01 12:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:41

And some are gonna be better than others. Yeah. Because you want the thing that's gonna enable you to just jump in, untick that box, done. Yeah. Not have to be like, shit, alright, I'm gonna have to go in, yeah, do this, then make sure it exports there, then contact.

SPEAKER_04 12:55

I think if we talk about the the main players, so uh OB, uh seven rooms and open table, pretty much dominate the whole market here. All of their back ends are the uh is the same, is the same sort of setup.

SPEAKER_00 13:07

Got it.

SPEAKER_04 13:08

In that every single table that you have in the restaurant, you set up what capability that table has.

Platforms And Back-End Setup

SPEAKER_02 13:13

Yeah, gotcha. Okay. So then you you you're likely to experience, like you said, so full availability is a great one. Um and and specific to the night as well is a great one. Um then do you go into um like the policy stuff around you know, shouting rules at people?

SPEAKER_04 13:31

Yeah, I and you know, some venues need to have rules, and you know, if they are in the country and somebody doesn't show up, like I get it.

SPEAKER_02 13:38

Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_04 13:38

But I think the times have changed a lot and and diners are far more respectful of that. Um and if your reservation strategy is is as open as possible, you won't care about an idea.

SPEAKER_02 13:51

Right. Because someone else will just book it.

SPEAKER_04 13:54

Yeah, and I think uh we sort of covered it before, but setting things up with this ultimate lens of being conservative, of oh my god, we're gonna be so busy every single night, so I need to plan my reservations based on the fact that we might do 120 covers. It's like just get realistic before you set that up.

SPEAKER_02 14:13

Yeah, 100%. Let's go. Um yeah, it makes so much sense. And I'm just my mind's reeling now with just like all the one percenters that oh and this is what Red Strategy is, it's one percenters. Yeah, right. Okay, so it's just an aggregate of how many you can get on.

SPEAKER_04 14:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:28

So then um okay, what do you think might be some of the hidden things that I wouldn't observe if I was getting my mate to make a booking and I was watching him just struggle?

SPEAKER_04 14:39

Um you were watching them struggle and trying to figure out well why are they struggling?

SPEAKER_02 14:44

No, more like obviously I'm gonna watch that experience and be like, okay, we've got to change that, we've got to change that, we've got to change that. But then after that experience is over, are there other things that are blocking that funnel that I might not see in that experience?

Google Reserve As A Deal Maker

SPEAKER_04 14:54

Yeah, I Google Reserve is a big one, right? Okay. So if you don't have that talking to your reservation system and so many more people are booking on Google Reserve than ever before, right? Like a year ago, I this wouldn't have been as high on my radar. So if you if if you don't have them synced or you're not updating it, people will just assume that they don't have availability based on just searching for you on Google.

SPEAKER_02 15:17

Gotcha.

SPEAKER_04 15:18

They'll check, they'll they'll they'll go to make a booking, not see availability, and then bounce. They won't even go to your website.

SPEAKER_02 15:25

Right, totally. So then this is a good not a segue necessarily, but I feel like we're venturing into maybe the shared space on the Venn diagram.

SPEAKER_01 15:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:35

Something that you and Michael have talked about a lot that has really resonated with me is the idea of like um like the scare-off factor on menus, because you you nailed it, right? You're like, man, all the data, it's really fucking clear. People experience your brand somewhere, yeah, and they go immediately to your website. And what is it, like 99.8% of people that visit a website only go to the menu.

SPEAKER_01 16:01

Yeah.

Menu Scare-Off And Confidence

SPEAKER_02 16:02

So then if you click that menu and the menu is either not up to date, or it's just got things, it's it's got um obscure ingredients on there that I don't understand, or it's got really expensive, you know, market items on there that might not be representative of your overall experience. But these are all things that are gonna make me go, oh, maybe I shouldn't cook here.

SPEAKER_01 16:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:21

Or I don't really know what that is, maybe next time kind of vibe.

SPEAKER_01 16:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:25

And so is so is that would you consider that type of thinking part of res strategy or part of a bigger thing? Or both?

SPEAKER_04 16:32

It's it's both. So re I mean, res strategy guest services to me encompasses everything that happens before the guest is in the restaurant dining and after.

SPEAKER_02 16:41

Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_04 16:42

With the purpose of of capturing them and getting them through, and and on the other side the purpose of getting them back again.

SPEAKER_02 16:48

Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_04 16:49

So that's what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_02 16:50

So on the first part about getting them through, yeah, that's where you've got to think about those things. Like, you know, your Google listing, yeah, is it representing who you actually are?

SPEAKER_03 17:00

Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 17:00

Because how many times do you look at someone's Google listing, it doesn't even tell you what they do.

SPEAKER_01 17:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:05

Yeah, so so that's another easy one, right? Like I could just jump onto my Google listing as long as you know I can remember the password and just like update that.

SPEAKER_04 17:16

It but if you don't even have a website, you need to own your Google listing.

SPEAKER_02 17:20

Got you. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 17:21

But nobody, yeah, nobody doesn't have a website. Yeah. Your Google listing, your website, and your social media, whatever the hell you are, make sure all three of those things say the same thing.

SPEAKER_02 17:31

Okay, and then if we just stay on the menu side of it for a second, so you know, you've got to go through that process, right? Make sure it's like I can go from Instagram or Google or whatever very quickly to the to looking at a menu.

SPEAKER_01 17:43

Yeah.

Align Google, Website, Social

SPEAKER_02 17:43

And when I'm looking at that menu, I want it to basically um not have any scare-off factors in there. So things like price point obscurity, but also something um something that's really, really cool is probably I don't know, I reckon we're going back about eight months ago. Um, I got to see live in front of me that I was having lunch with someone who's vegan.

SPEAKER_01 18:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:05

And we were it was just like a kind of like a meeting and lunch, and we and we sat down, and it was just really awkward, the whole experience for them. Because, you know, the the restaurant that we were at, you can understand where they were coming from. Their mindset is hey, we cater for everyone. Yeah, but we don't tell you that up front.

SPEAKER_01 18:27

Yeah.

Website Basics That Convert

SPEAKER_02 18:27

So for this person, they were like just looking at a menu because it's you know, we walk in, they seat us, they give us menus, and then they bounce, and then they sort of come back at some point to explain the menu. And that's the point where they're just like, hey, are there any you know, dietries or whatever? And then once you say, Oh yeah, hey, I'm vegan, then they go and talk you through your own little individual spiel, um, and it kind of feels like you're in trouble. And it's like, okay, but so you're obviously catering for people that have particular dietary requirements, but you kind of make them work for it to know what they are. And so this person, I was asking this person, I was like, Hey, how did it how was that for you? And they were just like, Oh, yeah, pretty awkward, like it was tough. And you know, I don't want to be singled out as the vegan that needs a special program. Like, I just you know, I don't like I wish it would just say it on the menu. You know, if we just say that, okay, cool, I know what I can have. Because Chef will look at it, oh, but that could be vegan, that could be vegan, that but man, no one's gonna walk into your restaurant, sit there, and make those assumptions.

SPEAKER_01 19:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:24

So one of the things that was really smart that we acted on at the time, um, which which Michael did was to sort of go, hey, you know what? Let's have dietary requirement menus, like let's have a vegan menu on the website. Yeah. You know, because you know, when when that you know, test case, that that vegan person is doing the thing, and they can go click on the menu and then see right there, this is everything I can do on the night. Like they're so much more likely to just go ahead and book, right? Well, there's confidence there, but there's confidence there, yeah. So so that as a thing is like a really important consideration. Right, like is understanding what are people seeing and what does it say about you?

SPEAKER_04 20:03

Well, and reflect your offering, yeah. So if that's part of your offer and you you back it in as being something that you're good at, and you're and you and we're accommodating in a way that's more thoughtful than just we can adapt stuff, yeah, because tell people that.

SPEAKER_02 20:15

It's just unit's unblocking the entrance to more people, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 20:19

A vegan is still a person, yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 20:21

So what what are the pitfalls then that that you know often um chefs or restaurant operators unwittingly you know succumb to when they're trying to portray a certain food offering?

SPEAKER_04 20:35

Aesthetic, aesthetic, yeah, and design, and you know, like in an ideal world, nobody has to have a website because word of mouth and and the integrity is already there, but we're not living in those times. So that's that's a battle I've had for years is how do we make something look on brand and sexy and and designed really well and and not have a million pages on your website, but at the same time um offer up all of the info to a very diverse range of people who are dining for very different reasons to be able to get the info that they need. But um yeah, wording, everyone likes things to be minimalistic, but um in this space you kind of have to um be challenged a little bit on that online.

SPEAKER_02 21:23

Tailor it to the experience and the audience.

SPEAKER_04 21:25

You need words on your homepage.

Phones, Voicemail, And Expectations

SPEAKER_02 21:27

Love that. Okay, top of the funnel stuff. So so you know, you you mentioned it's like everything that happens to the guest before they enter your establishment. Any other ones there that you'd that you'd point out? Like there's obviously the Google listing, the reducing friction on the booking experience, um, scare-off attack factors that might exist on your website or on your menu. What what else?

SPEAKER_04 21:50

Yeah. Well I think those three points of contact are the are the major ones that are uh drawing customers into you. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:58

Um I mean there's a there's there's a thousand points I could go into about um the the problems or the all the or the issues that people can we do that because yeah, you know, I know it's gonna be at risk of you, you know, dropping a lot of your IP on air, but like spill the tea, man. Oh, this is an IP.

SPEAKER_04 22:24

This is to me, it's common sense, right? Yeah. Because I've been in it for a million years.

SPEAKER_02 22:29

But so you you uh I love the approach that you have, which is that you you go in with your health check, right? Yeah. And you've got this insane diagnostic with like a bajillion points of value, and you effectively review a venue, kind of do like a health check, right? On all these things, and then it's like, cool, now there's a really clear roadmap on where to put the object.

SPEAKER_04 22:49

How how many things that fit into that reservation strategy category?

SPEAKER_02 22:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 22:54

Can we make little bumps and adjustments on?

Reviews, Replies, And Search Lift

SPEAKER_02 22:57

So let's go granular. What are you just shout some shit at all? Right.

SPEAKER_04 23:00

So on your Google listing, right?

SPEAKER_02 23:01

Yep.

SPEAKER_04 23:02

So your hours, your tagline, yeah, is Google Reserve activated? Are your menus up there? Yes. Are you updating your images yourself or are you just relying on the kind of mongrel ones of the public? Are your social profiles linked? And then there's all these other enhancements that you can do with your Google profile, like offers and special events. Google loves you when you work on your Google listing.

SPEAKER_02 23:26

Got you. So it will optimize you if you're. It'll help. Yeah, okay, gotcha.

SPEAKER_04 23:30

Um of course, right? If they're curating it, they're gonna and just think of again, think about your mum searching um a wine bar in Richmond. If your Google listing hasn't identified that you're that, right, you'll never come up. So it's it's marrying all that information up.

SPEAKER_00 23:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 23:52

And then on your your website, similarly, like, are your hours accurate? Are the menus up to date?

SPEAKER_00 23:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 23:58

What's the booking user experience like? I, you know, e.g., the the 52-page booking journey you went on the other day.

SPEAKER_00 24:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 24:06

Anything more than three clicks to book is just like are you kind of losing people?

SPEAKER_02 24:10

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 24:11

Social links, are there images that represent the venue? Can people get in contact with you? What's the load time? Can people sign up to databases, all that kind of stuff?

SPEAKER_02 24:21

That can I jump in on that?

SPEAKER_04 24:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:23

That's a really big one, right? Again, anecdotal, but can people contact you?

SPEAKER_03 24:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:29

Like that's a I feel like we are so notorious, right? That like in a in our industry, we're so we've just got this really bad stigma of just not getting back to people.

SPEAKER_00 24:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:42

Like, there's always this embedded anxiety around how am I going to contact this person? So, you know, and funnily enough, I'd tried to book somewhere else before I booked 400 gradi last night.

SPEAKER_03 24:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:54

And this other place, because it like totally different cuisine, and it was a bit of a throwback to, you know, one of our anniversaries. And the only way that you could book is by ringing them.

SPEAKER_04 25:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:04

And I was just like, okay, it's quarter to seven at night.

SPEAKER_03 25:08

Yeah.

Multi-Channel Capture And Prompts

SPEAKER_02 25:09

There's no way they're picking up the phone. Tried them anyway. And natural, and of course, they didn't pick up the phone.

SPEAKER_03 25:14

Right.

SPEAKER_02 25:14

So and no answering machine, no way of like, I guess we're done here. So A, that just seemed completely fucking stupid to me. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 25:21

But they're all around and they don't need, you know.

SPEAKER_02 25:24

Yeah, well, there you go, right? They don't need me.

SPEAKER_04 25:26

Yeah. They're living in Utopia.

SPEAKER_02 25:28

So they can get away.

SPEAKER_04 25:29

Yeah, they're like, we don't want to deal with online booking.

SPEAKER_02 25:32

But for everyone else, though, like, do you need a phone or can you just digitize it all and optimise that experience? Like, what's the aren't there chatbots and shit now? Like, what's the landscape?

SPEAKER_04 25:41

I mean, yeah, there's there's a whole lot of AI solutions coming and and that are in play. It all means nothing if you haven't got the setup right to start with. So if a human struggles, like a robot will probably struggle too.

SPEAKER_02 25:57

Yeah, that's very true.

SPEAKER_04 25:58

Um having online bookings or phone, like if you've got the capability to have both, you should have both. Sure. Some people want to call. Some people want to call.

SPEAKER_01 26:07

Sure.

SPEAKER_04 26:07

Um, but if you're only doing online because your resources are limited, that's cool, but make sure you tell people that.

SPEAKER_00 26:14

Nice, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 26:14

Make sure you don't have a phone number listed on Google that people can't call you on.

SPEAKER_02 26:18

Yeah. And and and also to your to that point, it's like tell people that. Like just even if you just say, hey, we respond within 24 hours, it's like, okay, cool.

SPEAKER_04 26:27

All of our booking availability is online. Go there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don't email us. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:31

Yeah, gosh.

SPEAKER_04 26:33

Um and yeah, and if you're gonna have a phone, make sure people answer it.

SPEAKER_02 26:37

Yeah, that's it.

SPEAKER_04 26:39

The battle, the battle of operations answering the phone service.

SPEAKER_02 26:42

Who's who holds on to the bat phone? Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 26:46

Uh reviews is another one that's connected to your Google listing.

SPEAKER_02 26:51

What do you mean? Like, yeah, when you say reviews, what what should I be doing?

SPEAKER_04 26:55

Responding to everyone.

ROI, Time, And Quick Wins

SPEAKER_02 26:56

Responding to them. No matter what. And and do you mean like, is just a copy-paste job enough, or do I need to go really thoughtful and unique and specific?

SPEAKER_04 27:06

You can absolutely set up templates and you should, because you know, for people that are just chucking a four-star review with not a lot there, you can all all it needs is validation.

SPEAKER_00 27:15

Sure.

SPEAKER_04 27:16

But for complaints or things that require more, um that's that's a personalized approach. Yeah. And again, Google loves you when you respond to everybody.

SPEAKER_00 27:28

Yeah, good or good or bad. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 27:30

And particularly the bad ones. If you are responding publicly, acknowledging something's happened and offering an alternative point of contact, it's a really good look for your brand that you're getting in front of it.

SPEAKER_02 27:44

Yeah, and I mean, and for everyone else that's yeah, that's reading the review. They go, okay, this these guys care.

SPEAKER_04 27:49

Yeah, this could be an anomaly, which is what you want people to think about.

SPEAKER_02 27:52

Absolutely. Well, even there's also like, you know, consumer behaviour type thing. There's a really one of the greatest sales quotes, you know, I've ever kind of heard and absorbed was this kind of I'll probably butcher it, but it was something along the lines of like your customers don't expect you to be perfect, yeah, but they do expect you to fix things when things go wrong.

SPEAKER_00 28:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:10

You know, and it's just such an important distinction. Yeah. You know, like when something goes wrong, you you you can't just be perfect and never have things go wrong. Yeah. It's just more about, hey, if something did go wrong, how did we deal with it? Yeah. You know, and that's the thing that business.

SPEAKER_04 28:22

If we haven't been out of validator in venue at the time, and they've and they've jumped online, that that they're giving you an opportunity to fix things or acknowledge it.

SPEAKER_02 28:32

Totally.

SPEAKER_04 28:33

So respond.

SPEAKER_02 28:34

Yeah, and and show your intent as to how you deal with difficult situations.

Ten-Minute Daily Checklist

SPEAKER_04 28:38

Yeah, yeah. And and and I guess the reason why this sits in kind of res strategy guest services for me is that if you're doing all of the right things that you should be doing within your Google, you'll never have to worry about uh showing up in search results. And check your search results often, right? Like it's something I would do weekly. Um I coming up for what people, you know, 400 gradient pizza restaurant Melbourne or pizza restaurant Carlton.

SPEAKER_02 29:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 29:08

If I'm not coming up, I've got some I I've got some work to do. Yep, yep, got it.

SPEAKER_02 29:13

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 29:14

Um what else? Oh, the phone. The phone is something that gets forgotten about um in that if you have one and people can't get through to you, do you have a voicemail activated? Yeah, yeah. And is somebody checking it? So, you know, unfortunately, it we don't live in a world where people can just have one channel to make a booking, so one thing to monitor. People are making bookings on email, on social, uh, on um direct through the res system, maybe third parties, and then on the phone. So I would be thinking, you know, if you're looking at your business tomorrow, is are you capturing all of those, or is there a shitload of old messages for bookings on a Tuesday night that you missed?

SPEAKER_00 30:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 30:01

Um and then there's other capabilities you can you can dial up or down on your depending on your phone system. Like if it is in the middle of service and somebody is calling to try and talk about a function in three months, do we have a um voicemail prompts and things set up to be able to validate them?

SPEAKER_02 30:20

It's another journey, right? That you've got to be thinking about.

SPEAKER_04 30:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 30:22

Hey, so you've given us so much to think about, and I think it would be great to jump to the other parts, but before we do, yeah, one of the barriers to implementing this stuff, right?

SPEAKER_00 30:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 30:35

Like it doesn't matter whether you are like I feel like there's always barriers to trying to make this stuff happen because it's a bit intangible and it's a little bit even though you just explained it so tangibly, it is still a little bit obscure to people. And there's always this idea of like ROI and cost versus effort, and yeah, it doesn't matter whether you're, you know, running a big group and you need to pitch this to a board, or whether you are just a single sole operator going, well, I don't have the fucking time. Like, how do you kind of stack this stuff up? Is there like I mean, like if you're talking to a restaurant group CEO or you're talking to one person who's an owner operator, how do you get through to them to be like, hey, you can unlock this stuff, you know, without it being such a big deal?

SPEAKER_04 31:24

I I think it's talking to some of those basics, you know, the the um cross-check your setup first and foremost. And I do think of venue, smaller venue owner operators with this mindset, because that's like if they they need to get it right before we even think about how we can do this on scale for a group. So it's it's um like reservation strategy is making sure that people can access your venue first and foremost. So yes, care about what's on the menu, yes, care about the quality of service, yes, care about how how good it feels in your restaurant. But if you aren't looking at the way that people can come in and experience that, then you're kind of not looking everywhere. Sure. You're being a little ignorant to just opening the doors and turning on the lights in the oven and hoping for the best.

SPEAKER_02 32:24

What what what about the idea that it's just like you know, something's better than nothing? Like when I remember my dad told me once when it came to cooking, he's like, hey, even marinating something for 30 seconds is better than not at all.

SPEAKER_01 32:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:37

And is it a bit like this? Like I can go, hey, uh, you know, everyone falls into this trap of going, oh, I just need to get it one day that I can just go lock myself in an office and get all this done, and that might not happen for a month.

SPEAKER_01 32:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:47

It's like, hey, if you've got five minutes to just do one of these things and just do that every day, yeah, after you know, two weeks, you'll have 14 amazing one percenters in the bank.

Five Things To Do Today

SPEAKER_04 32:58

Massively. And and and just looking at the back end of your system before you even get overwhelmed thinking about Google or websites or social, it it would be uh implementing a checklist for your supervisor or manager to to cross-check these things in in your reservation setup every day.

SPEAKER_01 33:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 33:17

Which could take 10 minutes because if you're onto it, you're not adjusting a massive amount of different things, you're actually just tweaking and and pulling different levers. Totally. So it's it's not complex and it's not difficult to do, and it's not that time consuming. Yeah, it but it's got to be on the radar.

SPEAKER_02 33:39

So it's just chip away at it.

SPEAKER_04 33:40

Chip away at it, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 33:41

Totally, and that's just often the answer to so many things.

SPEAKER_04 33:44

Yeah, and if if if you logged in today and you noticed that your availability was cooked for midweek, um, and you change the dials today, you'll do more covers next week.

SPEAKER_02 33:58

Yeah, so like, you know. Start now.

SPEAKER_04 34:01

Start there.

SPEAKER_02 34:01

Yeah. Hey, I I know there is like so much more to get through. Like, I feel like we could spend another hour talking about more of just like what you do, but I reckon we might have to part to it because yeah, you've just given us so much to talk about, dude. And it's just this is useful stuff, you know, it's not vague, it's not obscure. Usually anything associated to marketing has this kind of you know, intangible element to it. You just literally gave us some gold.

SPEAKER_03 34:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:27

So you're a weapon, dude. Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 34:29

We can chuck on like five things to just look at in red strategy.

SPEAKER_02 34:33

Yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 34:34

Get under the hood and do that today.

SPEAKER_02 34:35

Which maybe we'll throw like a little shared doc in the show notes or something.

SPEAKER_03 34:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:39

Love it. Okay. Legend, thanks for your time.