A business website is not advertising, it’s Customer Service!
Nov 25th, 2009 by JoeC
One of my Boston social media buddies, Todd van Hoosear (@toddvanhoosear), set me off on a rant a couple of days ago by retweeting this from Jon Silk (@prgeek) in London.
I responded with a string of tweets, about how restaurants should put their actual street address in a prominent place so I can enter it into my car GPS navigation system, and also to use regular HTML text (as opposed to a pretty image) so I can copy it easily. I also went off on “fake FAQs” that have softball questions written by the marketing department as a contrived way to push their message. For instance, “How does your restaurant have such consistently awesome food?”
Poor Todd. He had unknowingly triggered one of my hot buttons about business web sites, which is that a company’s site should be about customer service, not marketing. To me, it’s the simplest way to keep in mind the proper design approach and overall goal of the site.
One of my favorite quotes (author unknown) on this topic is, “Please. Just help me. Don’t make me endure the sales process.” I’m sure this will resonate with anyone who has been frustrated trying to find the simplest, most mundane piece of information on a over-wrought, cutesy, Flashy web site that was clearly designed by an agency accustomed to creating TV commercials or print ads.
It’s not about what you want to say, it’s about what they want to know.
As a restaurant owner, I’m sure you want to tell me about all the great things you have to offer, from drinks, appetizers, to decor. But often that’s not what I need to know. When I’m going to a restaurant, I want to know things like:
Where are you? Give me a real street address for my GPS system. If it’s in a crowded city location, give me some landmarks nearby so I can find the entrance. And as Jon Silk said, a Google maps link, not some cutesy schematic map.
Parking. This is huge one for me. If you have on-site parking, SAY SO! If you don’t, tell me where I can park without getting ticketed or towed. Tell me where the most affordable, accessible lot is nearby. Give me pictures of them, so I can find them easily. Don’t make me first double park outside, run inside, ask you where, and then have to go out again.
Dietary options. Are you vegetarian or vegan friendly? Or conversely, for veggie-oriented places, do you accommodate carnivores? How about gluten or lactose sensitivities? Do you use MSG? The list goes on. Know your customer base and let them know what to expect.
Busy/Slack time. Of course restaurants want their places packed all the time. Some actually enjoy that status, but most places have slack time. Personally, I prefer going at quieter times, when I can have a little privacy, talk and perhaps get better service. Rather than people be frustrated having wait an hour for a table, let them know when it’s quieter. You might even out your traffic and get more business overall.
Seating options. Does your restaurant have features like a child-friendly or adults-only section? (I’d LOVE an adults-only section, by the way). Handicapped access should go without saying, but provide details, if necessary. Older buildings sometimes have to use alternate entrances or elevators.
The more real-time, the better…
Nothing’s worse than an out-of-date site with stale information. I’ve actually seen sites lately with the wrong address after they’ve relocated, or bios of the former owners still up.
The ultimate is real-time information. I want to jump on a chat or be able to send a Tweet to a restaurant and ask them a question if their site doesn’t already provide it. I think a lot of people are like me and have grown to detest using a telephone to get customer service. I don’t like being tethered to a handset while being on hold, or getting a sales pitch (live or recorded) or having to deal with some officious hostess who acts like she’s doing you a favor to talk to you.
How about an accurate wait-time, or even perhaps web-cams, so I can see what’s going on? Give people a Twitter hash tag to use so they can tweet while they’re there. If you love your customers and treat them right, they’ll do right by you, too. And it will give you a real-time sense of what kind of experience people are having, while they’re there, so you can do something about it!
FAQs that aren’t faux
Every restaurant manager knows the questions people ask and what they want to know. Just answer those questions. Ok, you may want to shy away from the last three health department citations you got, but if that’s the kind of place you’re running, this advice won’t help you much.
So, don’t look at your website as just another advertising or promotion medium. Use it to really help your customers and they’ll love you for it!
Though I agree with much of what you are saying and I lost track of the number of times I found an outdated website that gives completely wrong information, I think its a bit unrealistic to expect a restaurant to provide information in real time on Twitter.
However, I like the idea of customers tweeting with a hash tag while eating there, certainly that’s user generated content and others can search that content later but I would rather have the restaurant staff focus on cooking me a nice meal.
As far as a map and directions go, you can do a Google map search using the actual name of the restaurant (no address needed) and city it’s located in (either via the web or the iphone or other mobile app) that is fairly accurate not having to rely on the restaurants website for that information.
Real-time is just a matter of time, I think. As more people become constantly connected and have their mobile device with them all the time, it will (should?) become commonplace for the hostess or maître d’ to notify people by twitter or text that their table is ready using their personal device.
Why have to sit in crowded waiting room or lounge when you can be out and about anywhere? In fact, I’ve always thought a restaurant should have an on-line waiting list that you could monitor on your phone, so you always know where you stand. This would actually be a cost reduction for the restaurant if they could get rid of a purpose-built flashing pager systems.
Looks like somebody wants to learn more about Textaurant!
Great rant, Joe. I agree with most of what you said, although I highly doubt you’ll ever find a restaurant that will publish their busy/off hours. They want you to drop in and find out first-hand when those are, or at least commit a bit of time by calling.
At Textaurant, we want to change the way you wait for a table, by automating what Dan and you mentioned in the comments – we text/tweet/email you when your table is *almost* ready, giving you time to return to the restaurant and claim your seat. We also have plans to show the wait times of every Textaurant-enabled restaurant, so you can choose the one that’s right for you.
If you’re interested in learning more, drop me a line!
Thanks,
– Josh