Improve your QSR VOC scores in 4 steps

We all know that a positive guest experience is crucial to a restaurant's success—and it also leads to better voice of customer results!

Did you know when customers are strongly satisfied, they are four times more likely to recommend your restaurant to friends, family, or colleagues?

Fortunately, improving your voice of customer (VOC) scores doesn't mean reinventing the wheel or creating a flashy new customer experience program. When you prioritize hiring, training, scheduling, promotions, and communications – your VOC results will improve.

Below are four proven voice of customer best practices to achieve top-tier company performance in customer metrics.

1. Focus hiring and onboarding on the customer experience

It’s no secret that there has been a labor shortage, so it’s understandable if you’re not finding you’re A-team with ease – Despite the shortage, be as picky as possible with your talent. You can be more competitive with hiring if you offer Earned Wage Access (EWA) and competitive wages.

• Hire the right people for the right jobs. One way to verify this is by checking references. It's worth the extra time to get personal insights about potential employees' strengths and weaknesses that you may not pick up on in an interview.
• Have an orientation that radiates hospitality and a customer mindset (see actionable training tips below). Don't put staff in front of guests until they are ready to handle transactions in a personable and professional manner.
• Role model your expectations of the customer experience to your team and with your team. Treat your team well, and they in turn will treat your guests well.

2. Train employees to provide top-notch customer service

You might have spent most of your life in hospitality, but now it’s time to share that wealth of knowledge with your team that might not be as up-to-speed on best practices. Onboard by the brand books, but be sure to also include the following for optimal VOC scores:

• Get the order right! Train to ensure your team clarifies each order by repeating it back to the guest or double-checking it against the drive-thru order confirmation board.
• Focus on speed of service but make sure the food is prepared correctly. Guests come to your location to eat. If the food is poorly made or missing something, nothing else really matters.
• When the order taker gets the guest's name - use it. Referring to guests by name (especially instead of a number) makes it personal and friendly.
• Train your team to table touch, follow up on meals, and respond to negative body language. Role playing scenarios can really help, too.

3. Schedule smart and realistically

• Hire enough employees to honor most requests and be flexible with your team's scheduling needs. Create an expectation (that most of the time) your staff can expect to be off work on time. Nothing is more frustrating for a team member than consistently staying past an assigned shift.
• Compare your daypart results with your schedule. Look at what's working and not working and take immediate corrective action as needed.

4. Keep your team in the know!

4. Transparency is key—Everybody enjoys ‘being in the know’. Let your team know you appreciate their good work, and correct behaviors or habits that might result in negative VOC scores.

• Use shift huddles to get the team motivated and excited about the shift goals, then cheer them on throughout the shift.
• Include your employees' contributions to your success in store-level postings, group recognition, and performance reviews.
• Give 1:1 feedback. If you see something (both positive and negative) say something in the moment.
• Share results! Celebrate successes – perhaps with a treat or an incentive! - and challenge your team to improve when needed.

With these 5 tips, your stores’ VOC scores are sure to climb!

Keep the metrics that matter most to you and your teams in the spotlight by using an operational data dashboard, Delaget Coach.