This year, Halloween falls on a Thursday, known as ‘little Friday’ in Denmark. And on little Friday, be prepared to encounter a few ghosts in the form of no-shows—a term that continues to spook the restaurant industry. Here are 2 tricks and 1 treat from DinnerBooking HQ to help prevent those ghosting guests from haunting your restaurant.
As featured in September’s edition of ‘What’s Cooking,’ this is the chilling tale of 31 fake bookings in a single night—imagine the horror!
The owner of the restaurant ‘Becws Melys’ in Wales claims that 31 out of 50 bookings were false, causing the business to lose as much as £1,000 in one evening. ‘Someone had booked multiple tables of four, five, six, and seven people under different names and fake email addresses,’ says the owner. So, what trick do we have up our sleeve to prevent this kind of situation from happening?
Prepayment (of course!)
Why not ask guests to pay a deposit or a portion of the menu in advance to secure their booking and ensure they show up? Worried this will spook your guests? With a system like DinnerBooking, you can fully customise your prepayment rules to cater to your restaurant’s clientele and needs.
Don’t fall victim to your own no-show horror show…
Top tip: Trialing prepayment one day a week—especially during peak no-show times—could be just what your restaurant needs.
Why not host more events? Whether it’s Halloween or Christmas, hosting events is a surefire way to make sure that guests commit to their visit—all through ticket sales. This means you don’t have to worry about asking for a down payment; it’s a given!
Events can also be themed and unique, attracting a crowd that may not usually visit your restaurant, leading to potential new regulars. And oh, guess what? Your social media (that’s SO-ME for you old-timers) loves events! We’re talking Instagram, Facebook, TikTok—(I bet you’re feeling a bit nervous now). Don’t be! Events give you something exciting to share across all these channels, keeping potential or futureguests engaged.
But where do you begin? Start by checking out this post on event planning, or simply book a meeting with an event specialist.
And it’s very Ghostbusters.
We call it… No-Show Alerts, a feature exclusive to the DinnerBooking system. As the name suggests, DinnerBooking users are alerted when a guest double-books at another DinnerBooking restaurant on the same day and time—smart, right?
The cool thing? The more restaurants that join DinnerBooking, the more no-shows will be detected and busted… That’s a big win! So when there’s something strange in your restaurant book, who you gonna call?
DinnerBooking!
Seriously, give us a call.
So, as you gear up for Halloween, remember: It’s not just the ghosts you need to worry about—it’s those annoying no-shows hiding in the shadows! With these tricks and treats you can turn the tables on ghosting guests and keep your tables busy. Now, go out there, find your inner no-show buster, and make this Halloween a frightfully successful night!
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