New analysis from online reputation specialist Feed It Back has revealed that bar and restaurant customers give ‘satisfaction’ the lowest scores during the evening.
The statistics, which track customer satisfaction scores across breakfast, lunch and dinner time periods, showed that the overall satisfaction score of customers is lowest in the evening at 90.8%. This is followed by the lunchtime (92.4%); and breakfast (93.0%).
“The data shows that customers’ expectations are greater during the evening, with previous research indicating that the majority of special occasion bookings, such as anniversaries or birthdays, taking place at this time. With this in mind, it’s crucial that operators are acting on the feedback and tweaking elements of their offer, or providing additional training so they can positively influence the customer experience,” explains Carlo Platia, CEO of Feed It Back.
The scores are calculated based on customer feedback for six key metrics – food, drink, cleanliness, atmosphere, service and value. Atmosphere played a large part in scoring, with guests being most critical of this factor, followed closely by value.
When Feed It Back dug deeper into what featured frequently in lower scores, loud music was a clear problem for many diners in the evening. This data suggests that diners prefer a more relaxed environment during the evening. The atmosphere score over the lunchtime period was positively driven by the word ‘quiet’, supporting the idea that sometimes less is more when it comes to music in a restaurant.
“Often, subtle changes to the customer journey, such as turning down the volume of the music a few notches, can have a fundamental impact on whether customers would return.”
Alongside ensuring music is set to a reasonable volume, bar and restaurant owners can take other steps to ensure the atmosphere of their restaurant scores highly with customers. This atmosphere is made up of several factors including lighting, décor, seating arrangement and more. Visit the Trent Furniture blog for guides on creating the perfect restaurant atmosphere or explore our restaurant furniture range here.