Send SMS confirmations in restaurants

The COVID-19 pandemic brought about all types of complications for people’s everyday lives. Many companies and businesses were affected by this, having to close their doors during the confinement and then with progressive openings. Different rules were established together with new behaviors to fight against the virus.

So, businesses had to adapt to new methods. Today more than ever, the digital format is a key tool for success. For example, restaurants can be used when sending SMS to confirm a reservation. 

How does an SMS work?

Due to the pandemic and the social distancing necessary to stop the spread of the virus, restaurants are working with limited capacity. They cannot offer the same number of tables than they did before. So, losing a reservation is not something they can afford. As a result, SMS appears as an ideal alternative.

In general, clients call the restaurant to make a reservation for the next day or the following 3. Since then, the business can use text messages as a method to confirm the reservation.

The process works using two messages

• The first of them is almost instant: it’s useful to greet the client and thank them for their choice. Besides, you can tell them again about the date of reservation. This message must be personalized, that is, using the name of the client. This allows for more personalized communication and to establish rapport. 
• Then, a day before or in the morning, you can send a new SMS to confirm the booking. This is a simple and clear message, with a simple answer. This avoids the losing of reservations due to absent clients. Besides, it can go with an external link informing about the last rules about COVID-19 and the sanitary measures that should be complied with. 

Advantages of SMS

SMS bring about many advantages when compared with other methods, like email: 

• Their delivery rate is over 95%
• Almost none of them is considered to be SPAM, while emails have a 70% chance of being SPAM. 
• It’s not necessary to have an Internet connection to get an SMS. 
• People usually read messages within 2 minutes of reception. 
• They are easy and quickly to understand as they are very short. 

Another positive point is that businesses, in this case a restaurant, can store the phone number of a client in a database. Then, they can use it to send SMS with promotions and offers that stimulate consumerism.

Send SMS confirmations in restaurants

A very common alternative is the sending of discount coupons, for example: “Make a reservation for next Friday using this coupon and obtain a 10% discount in your dinner”. It’s also great to inform about daily offers, a new menu, and other options that motivate the client to make a new reservation.