Ah, Comment Cards - the mainstay of customer feedback for restaurants! My favorite is the card you are to mail, if you have a stamp. Or, those cards you leave with the server or cashier, which mention the performance of that particular server or other associates. I wonder where they go, if the commentary is negative. Yup, I sure would pass along to management a less than perfect commentary. Let's not forget those comments which state a pressing problem - poor service, condition of the bathrooms, meal preparation and the like. Fortunately, we see those at some point in time, usually way after the fact, so the unsatisfactory experience is etched in our guest's memory, although we might send a letter (a lost opportunity, too little, too late). Comment cards are not much better than nothing - lip service for many (of course, we care what our guest says; just don't make it too loud, too frequent or too honest. I am trying to run a business here). Do not become obsolete in your prime. You certainly can do better.

Start with the premise of feedback. This is the mechanism to report upon our performance - what we did well and what we need to improve upon. We want to keep our survey questions short (due to the respondent's attention span), simple (not tax the cranium) and relevant to our operation (so we have some benchmarks). Most importantly, we want to match our chosen feedback mechanism to our audience, in order to elicit the greatest response.

Here comes a major disconnect, just like the hospitality businesses which felt they did not need a web site. Your audience is connected and wired, and e-mail and texting are their every day communication vehicles. Think about it. In your operations, you have moved to the 'paperless', using electronics for your financials, your daily reports, and your payrolls. Take the next step - get your message on the right mediums.

Gathering "Feedback" requires a blend. Every day, you take an inventory of your business, walking the restaurant, speaking with staff and guests, reviewing reports. But, probably, you are too close to the business (the old trees and forest analogy).

Mystery or secret shops are a good means to get a snapshot in time of your operation or particular aspects of your business. These are unannounced, incognito evaluations of your SOP's (what you want your customer or guest to experience). You now have this "thumb nail sketch". If the shops are done frequently enough, you start to see trends, training opportunities, standards which need some tweaking, etc. Plus, it keeps your staff on their toes and wearing name tags, if required.

For a more comprehensive evaluation of your business, you might consider the services of a Hospitality Assessment or Quality Assurance company. These professionals provide an in-depth review of your entire operation, considering industry norms and standards for product, service and condition of the facilities. Their reports provide a map for continuous improvement.

Ultimately, the bottom line is what your customers and guest think. You can ask them directly, if you have the time, and they are prepared to respond honestly. You can await their comment cards. You can scan all those internet portals for unsolicited reviews of your business, respond where you can, but, ultimately, "suck it up", as your consumer has spoken to that vast global audience of critics and potential business.

Or, you can proactively solicit feedback which is immediate, actionable, and credible through technological solutions. And, here are two key words: immediate and actionable. What we learn months or even a week after the fact has absolutely no credibility; hence, you want to know about their experience right away and share it with your management (their performance report). Immediacy means you can take action right away and address an issue, and, perhaps, save or enhance the experience. Technology can prompt feedback on-line, through POS, and other means. To survive and prosper, this is where you need to be. Raise your game!

It is time to move to the next plateau, the next frontier, and use "Guest Feedback" technology for the following reasons:

• Comment cards simply do not provide a meaningful response about the guest experience, because not everyone participates (usually only the disgruntled and the gruntled) and you have a critical time gap. Comment cards are superficial;
• Technology reaches a broader, more representative and diverse audience, quickly, because the majority of your guests are technology savvy in some fashion. The responses are timely, and they validate your relationship with the guest and allow you to better manage the experience;
• With a request for an e-mail address at reception or point-of-sale, you begin to build a significant data base, which serves as a super marketing opportunity for your business, from guest preferences to special announcements and deals;
• Just because the guest may be satisfied with one visit does not mean they will rebook or revisit. But, now you have another opportunity - to build loyalty. It is easier to retain an existing guest than recruit a new one.

There is no better time to better manage the experience, frame the expectations, create real value, which you can then market! Get with the program(s)!

Reader Feedback:

As a previous wine bar and bistro owner, I realize that comment cards on tables can lower the level of appearance. They also tend to be ignored and can be an expense that is not monitored, thrown away etc. We all know in this business every cent counts especially in advertising or gaining a guest list for our social media and newsletter advertising.

Immediate comments from all guests are a necessity. Once they are out the door, there is no turning back.

I found that I could utilize my reps liquor/food etc. to incur the printing costs with one of their featured items, on the back I would have a place for sign-up for email and newsletter and a comments section. I would have the servers present this with the check instructing the guest to complete NOW for a free appetizer or dessert on their next visit. (of course changing out items every month, good for a $5 glass of wine, a free corkscrew, a free espresso, etc, this also helps clear out any additional inventory)

The server immediately returned the comment to floor manager or owner and WE would present the free offer. This also keeps the (free items) coupons from disappearing into servers friends hands.

This ultimately allowed us to address the comment card at the same time. It worked every time, and the guests like being thanked at the end. It also gave me a chance to introduce myself, get their names and establish a one on one. Immediately those are entered in to our system and a thank you for dining with us email sent the following day. Our guests loved it and it was a very simple option for gaining customer loyalty, compiling email lists and mainly - addressing any guests concerns immediately.

Debbie

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While I agree with Mr Hendrie's view that technology is definitely important to building a database and securing who your clients actually are, I completely disagree that the "comment card" is worthless. I myself participate in those all the time if they have them in a restaurant - whether my comment is positive or negative! In fact, I filled one out recently at Roy's (yes the Hawaiian place) and about a month later I received a letter which told me that my "comment card" was chosen from a drawing that they had (which I knew nothing about) and I received a $50 gift certificate (no expiration date). Now, Roy's knows well that they have about a $50 check average so we still kicked in $50 plus the 20 percent tip, but it made us GO THERE to use that and then I got another one (I guess from being on the list now) for $20 which I will use as well!

This kind of comment-carding is very proactive and the fact that it was a surprise was cool too! I think personal communication with your guests are best. One of my clients, Va Pensiero in Evanston, IL does an amazing job at having oodles of interesting and delicious promotions to offer their guests. They have built up a very large database which seems to grow by the day and I even get personal questions from their guests commenting on the press releases which they get--and they get the same ones that I send to the media--and they are usually all very positive!

Years ago, I had a client, (a very popular place over 80 years in business) in Chicago who utilized a service such as he is talking about - a hospitality company which critiques all the aspects of your business and they found it to be overly expensive and pretty much worthless. I got to look at the report as well and I had to agree that their suggestions were worthless and nothing that the restaurant couldn't have figured out if they had spent their own time on it. Public relations on the other hand, is an on-going effort which marries the restaurant and the pr person and if the relationship is good than the efforts work for both the restaurant and the customer.

So you asked for comments those are mine. I say long live the comment card - which is also an excellent way of capturing emails of walk-ins who might have never visited your website! I also think I am going to steal that idea of the contest connected to the comment card because I think it's a great idea to get people to return when they might not have done so right away, especially in this economy!

Ward Regards,
Sherri
Maddick Media

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What a great article: Comment Cards - Why They Are Not Much Better Than Nothing!

This article spotlights the immeasurable importance of 'effective' customer feedback. The restaurant industry spends millions of dollars each year to obtain customer feedback via survey cards, online surveys and even mystery shoppers. Why? Because understanding the customer is vitally important. Because understanding the customer experience in our restaurant is critical. Because business owners and leaders must understand company positioning and customer loyalty.

We teach our clients that they should be building the business around the customer, yet so many never really know what the customers' expectations and/or perceptions are of the restaurant Restaurateurs should be asking the customer questions about the experience; wait times to be seated and greeted, the server experience, the cleanliness of the restaurant (and restrooms), the food, and yes even the competition. Who is your competition and how do you compare? A proper survey would ask, "How often do you eat out?" in addition to, "Where else do you dine locally?" I am amazed, even in this economy, how often people are eating out. Will the customer recommend you to family and friends? What selections are you missing? Did the customer even remember their servers' name?

Just like on American Idol; the experience, service, food and yes, the server must combine to create an awesome and "Memorable Performance." The customers are your judges and they will decide who is worthy of receiving their continued "Votes"...and the customer "Votes" with dollars! Yet in our industry many performances are memorable for the wrong reasons. The economy is tough right now. Many businesses are really competing for each customer. Yet, some businesses are really not competing; they are not planned, proactive and intentional about garnering market share.

Many of our clients are finding out through the use of our online surveys how many customers are repeat loyal customers. They are now able to validate and measure customer loyalty in their business. What is the real percentage of repeat traffic in your restaurant?

It is NOT about turning tables, it is about RE-Turning customers!

Restaurants are able to use our online surveys to uncover strategic initiatives. Strategic initiatives are centered around the business and operations things. Such things as competition, advertising and marketing, selections, cleanliness and food preparation.

Our clients are also using our online customer surveys to uncover training initiatives. Training initiatives are centered around the people things. Training initiatives can include overall service, professionalism, voice tone and demeanor, courtesy, attire and personal grooming and even knowledge of the menu selections.

Dan has 6 locations in Utah. He says our online surveys are worth every penny because he feels the team steps it up a notch. They are more professional and polite because they never know who will take a survey. They provide a better experience. (And he says he cannot be everywhere all the time.) Dan is using surveys to form the basis of team member evaluations too. A survey done right is NOT an ineffective receipt survey solicit or table card. Receipt survey solicits only survey the "Bill Payer". This is a big missed opportunity. What about the other adult patrons in the party? They have perceptions too. (And they have money too!) Our surveys are facilitated by the use of invitation cards the wait staff provides the customers. This personal invitation goes a long way in cementing the customer relationship. How many of your survey respondents would remember the servers name?

The data you receive from surveys should also be immediate and actionable. If you have a customer with a negative experience in your restaurant and they take the time to respond to your survey, you should respond immediately. This is difficult if the survey sits in some mysterious server in the sky for a few weeks until you check the survey site. There is a huge difference between an "Analytical Survey" and a "Customer Relationship Management Survey". If your desire is to be able to respond to customers, these survey results should not be pretty reports filled with beautiful graphs and charts because it is difficult to drill down to an individual respondent. If it is not easy to instantly reply and save the customer you have simply exacerbated the customer issue and probably lost a customer for life! Our online surveys are 'Customer Relationship Management Surveys.' The system will send the results of each survey instantly to your leadership teams' email inbox 24/7/365. Now you can contact the customer immediately and turn the critic into a fan!

It is time for restaurants to realize the lifetime value of a customer and what it means to the bottom line.

Restaurants should also entice or reward customers for taking their time to respond to your survey. Our Patent Pending system has married online customer surveys with email coupon marketing. Our system will automatically get a post survey "Thank You" coupon in the hands of each respondent. Each customer will also have the opportunity to sign up for the preferred customer monthly email coupon list for the restaurant. What would it mean to your business to have hundreds if not thousands of your customers who want your email coupon offers? And yes, with coupons you can also very easily validate the (ROI) Return On Investment. That is not always the case with radio, TV, ROP or Cable.

Steve owns a Tex-Mex restaurant in Dallas. An amazing 89% of his survey respondents sign up for and want his monthly email coupons!

Imagine this: Kelly and Kristi own Creekside Grille in Alabama. One of their customers was so thrilled with her post survey "Thank You" coupons that she forwarded the coupons to everyone in her email contacts list. Now that's positive and instant word of mouth!

Business owners are and should be looking for REAL answers. In this economy we must fight for each and every customer. The customer experience in your restaurant can be a huge competitive advantage or it can be a huge competitive disadvantage. The customer experience is one thing in this economy you have control over. As the restaurant owner, you are completely capable and able to control the level of service in your operation.

90% is not good enough in this economy. Now is the time to really focus all of our efforts on the customer relationship.

Hal McClamma
President and CEO
Integrity Retail Solutions LLC
http://www.SurveyWow.com