3 restaurant metrics that signify the need for operational process changes

Why do people love metrics so much? In part, it’s security. When you have data to back your decisions, you can feel much more confident that you’re on the right track. But, in addition to this, metrics can reveal innovations that you may have never stumbled upon on your own.

Metrics are so valuable that governments, universities, and businesses fund thousands of research projects each year just to gain new insights. As a QSR owner, you don’t have to pay a researcher to do this work for you. You already have access to all of the metrics you need. These metrics can help identify a need for operational changes if necessary.

So, what are those metrics?

Sales and comparable transactions

Some think that sales are the true sign of growth in any organization, but understanding sales growth can be very difficult. If you only track sales revenue, you may miss some valuable intel. Tracking transactions and/or comparable transactions (against the previous year) could give you a different picture. For example, what if sales are up while transactions have actually gone down? What could cause this type of change? Reasons might include menu positioning, marketing, prices, speed of service, and what your competitors are doing.

Looking at your sales in dayparts is also important. If you're known for your late-night snack food, you'll want to have strong sales at night. But if you check your nighttime daypart numbers and you notice it's your slowest time of day, you may need to make some changes (including looking into loss prevention data, considering there’s a higher risk of theft at night). Doing this type of deep exploration into your metrics can help you understand which operational changes might fix the situation.

Speed of service

Brands are continually tweaking their speed of service. This can be the result of a growing menu or perhaps the introduction of more complex dishes. When your speed of service starts to slow down, you need to ask yourself a few questions.

Is the food good enough to be worth the wait? Is your speed of service resulting in fewer total transactions? Answering these questions can help you decide whether this slower speed of service is viable or if you need to speed up your operations.

Voice of the customer

Voice of the customer programs can help you gather and track customer feedback. By seeking out the trends in this program, you’ll be able to choose which operational changes to make. This has worked like a charm for brands like Taco Bell that updated its wrappings based on voice of the customer programs.

Running a voice of the customer program and carefully tracking the input can be very motivating. By taking this step, you’ll keep yourself accountable and continually improve your operations.

Make the most of your metrics

Your restaurant metrics are a goldmine of information that can help you enhance every aspect of your operations. If you aren’t sure where to start, then use these three metrics to look for insights. This information will help your QSRs run as smoothly as possible.