Why It’s Important To Deliver On Time… And How To Do So
How do you win the loyalty of your customers? It comes down to the experience that they have with your restaurant. Was the food what they expected? Did they like the taste? Did they feel they got value for their money? Were any issues they had resolved quickly? Did their food arrive on time? Was the food fresh? All of these little moments of customer experience and interaction can really make a difference when it comes to how loyal someone is to your business. Did you know that a typical loyal customer will spend over £400 with you, but you can lose them with one late delivery?
Many restaurants such as Dominos, Pizza Hut and Papa John’s have built their reputation on specific customer guarantees, like food arriving on time. Customers expect this level of service and by living up their reputation of success in the delivery space they win the loyalty of their customers.
A successful business is built upon living up to its promises like delivering food on time and here are some of the ways that you can deliver on time!
Trade Area
Plan your delivery area so that the furthest point is no more than an 8 minute drive from your restaurant. It’s better to have a smaller area and provide good service, than go 5 miles out and be late. Use time slots to manage capacity. Set up time slots on your website when people are ordering. Then, designate how many orders you can reasonably do and deliver during that time. If you know the kitchen is slammed at dinner time with the in-restaurant dining, adjust delivery time slots accordingly. Keep capacity in mind so you are supporting customers in person and those looking for delivery.
Schedule efficiently
If you know your busy delivery hours, make sure you have the right number of drivers working at that time. You don’t want to be short-staffed causing customers to wait an unreasonable amount of time to actually receive their food once they have ordered it. Andromeda provides the reports you need to see how efficient your orders, sales and delivery performance is operating, hour by hour.
Measure your performance and improve it
When did you promise the customer they would receive their order and when did they actually receive it? What feedback from customers have you received that you should take to heart in changing your operations OR what have they said you have gotten right that you want to continue doing? You should constantly be measuring the performance of your delivery service so that your customers are having the experience they expect to have, and come back to you time and time again. Andromeda will provide you with key metrics such as average delivery time, percent of orders delivered in under 30 minutes and under 45 minutes, and average drive time. These are the same metrics used by the big chains to drive success.
Dispatch singles and some doubles – BUT DON’T OVERDO IT!
You should not overload your delivery drivers as you are simply setting up your customers to receive food that is no longer warm, has gotten soggy, or just isn’t as close to the quality they receive dining in your restaurant. Imagine if you are the third customer on a three-drop run, there is a good chance it is going to be late, cold and you likely will try somewhere else the next time. The big chains send 75% or more of their orders one at a time – and they do so for a reason – it works!
With these five tips in mind, you can increase your chances of your delivery operations running on time. You will also have the chance to improve your customer experience, increasing your number of repeat customers. If you are ready to take on delivery services or improve your existing delivery service, Andromeda has the services you need to make that possible. Our customizable packages, along with the driver management capabilities and the Mission Control App give you all of the insight and power you need to revolutionize your delivery offerings, or get them started.
