Restaurant Survey: 10 Most Important Questions To Ask

How to get Customer Feedback

Why are customer surveys important?

In the restaurant and hospitality industry, majority of the success of the business involves customer satisfaction. It’s normal to experience customer complaints and customer dissatisfaction all throughout the week, and this is why achieving customer satisfaction in business is very important. When you have customer feedback, you must know which aspects you should focus on improving on. For instance, if a customer isn’t satisfied with your overall service, you’d know that there’s something in your service that needs improvement whether it be speed of service or the process itself. Customer feedback comes in the form of restaurant surveys, and these are the questions that are asked right after customers dine. It’s used to get a rating from the customers on how their overall dining experience has been. In your restaurant survey, it’s best to avoid yes or no questions because you’re going to need specifics. With that being said, the following are some important questions to ask in a restaurant survey:

1. How Often do you Dine With us?

   

Asking this lets you know the demographics of who your regular customers are. This question gathers information on your target market and acquires the changes you need to alter to attract more of your target market. It isn’t enough that you get customers to dine at your restaurant regularly. You must know what keeps them coming back and what makes them stay. Knowing your target market is beneficial to the marketing of your restaurant because you’d know who exactly you’re trying to acquire. In promotions and advertisements, you will know the kind of strategy you would be implementing specifically for your target market.

2. How Adequate is our Healthy Selection of Food?

   

With the constant rise of healthy food trend in the industry, this has become a significant question to ask your customers. Various people value their health nowadays which is inclined towards food that is made from less fat or less carbs. You’d want to make sure that your menu has an option that offers healthy selections for your customers. This question makes you see if you’re able to satisfy your customers by thinking of their needs and if not, this makes you aware of any changes you need to make.

3. What About our Food and Services Satisfied you the Most?

This question focuses on the strength you have as a restaurant. By asking this question, you get your customers’ perspective on the assets that your restaurant has. It lets you gather the information on what you’re doing right as a business, so you know what strengths you must maintain. You’d also be able to find out which among your menu is the bestselling for your customers and you can edit your menu accordingly with this information. Oftentimes, especially for new customers, they would ask you what your bestselling products are. Having this question in your restaurant survey helps you answer your customers also.

4. What did you Disliked About our Food and Services?

   

This counters the exact purpose of the previous question. Asking what customers dislike about your food and services lets you focus on the weaknesses of your restaurant and overall business. This lets you observe what causes majority of customer dissatisfaction and customer complains. With this, you’d be aware on which aspects to improve on, in the aspects of both your products and your service. If there’s a common ground in the menu that customers tend to dislike, it’s best to alter that specific product in the menu.

5. How Fast was the Service?

Majority of the success of a restaurant is based on the speed of service. The fastest way to frustrate a customer is to have a slow service. Customers want a convenient and efficient service, and this question would be asking just that. Most often than not, speed of service comprises of majority of the rating and satisfaction that a customer gives. If majority of your restaurant survey says that your customers are happy with your speed of service, that means your restaurant is doing a great job.

6. Was There a Sufficient and Wide Selection of Beverages?

   

Today, beverages are just as important as the food selection in a menu. Food and beverages go hand in hand when it comes to the importance of products you offer to your customers. By asking this question, you’re letting customers tell you if your restaurant offers enough options for beverages.

7. How Would you Rate our Employee’s ability to Meet Your Needs?

   

This is another question focused on the comfort of your customers; however the difference of this question is that it summarizes the entirety of your customer’s dining experience. With this question, you’re asking if your staff was able to satisfy the wants and needs of your customers. Aspects with this question include the friendliness, hospitable personality of your staff, and if they were able to meet the expectations of the customers appropriately. Hospitality and being able to meet your customers’ needs and wants are both important aspects in customer satisfaction, and it isn’t just limited to the speed of service and menu satisfaction. These all play contributing factors in a customer’s dining experience. One of the aspects that are promoted that helps in the success of the restaurant business is being able to meet your customers’ needs without them to verbally say it and call your attention every time. For instance, don’t wait for the customer to wave on you for you to refill their water if you find that their glass is empty. It’s also all about body language and instincts.

8. Customer Feedback on the Cleanliness of the Restaurant

   

Of course, no customer would be satisfied with an unclean and dirty restaurant. Ambiance and cleanliness are everything because that’s the first thing that a customer notices the moment that they enter your restaurant. Aside from your menu, their first impression on your restaurant matters by so much. This question confirms if the cleanliness of your restaurant meets the expectation of the customer and if not, you may ask yourself, which aspects of the restaurant you could improve on maintaining and cleaning? It may not be obvious, but cleanliness is a significant aspect in making customers keep coming back. Various of the bad reviews you see on restaurants online are criticizing the cleanliness of a restaurant. It may seem not that big of a deal, but customers lose their appetite if they are eating in an untidy place.

9. Does the restaurant promote a family-friendly environment?

   

Restaurants are normally the place you go to if you want to spend time with your loved ones. This question asks your customers if they see your restaurant as a family-friendly environment. In order for your customers to feel comfortable in your restaurant and to spend time with their family, you should ensure that it has an ambiance that promotes the essence of family. This means, you have to have the right resources for kids in families such as high chairs or your menu should have a portion dedicated to kids. These are the things you should consider if you find that your customers don’t see your restaurant as a family-friendly one.

10. Would Recommend the Restaurant to Other People?

    

Word of mouth plays a powerful aspect with the success of your restaurant. One bad review from a customer and this could play negatively with regards to the success of your restaurant. In the same sense, if your customer leaves your restaurant more than satisfied, this would benefit you immensely. This question would be letting you know if they are indeed satisfied with their overall dining experience. When your customers are satisfied with you, they would be telling their friends and family all about it. Maybe, these satisfied customers would even bring their loved ones with them the next time around. This is why this question is very important, it basically summarizes all the nine questions above with regards to the well being of the customers and if they’re going to dine with the restaurant again.

Room for Improvement

In conclusion, restaurant surveys are the best way to know all about your customers and if their needs are being met. This is why this is normally being given out after your dining experience- for the overall improvement of the restaurant to give customers a better and more satisfying dining experience. The restaurant survey doesn’t only focus on your weaknesses, but also on your strengths as a business, This way, you’d know which aspects to maintain and which aspects to improve on. Without restaurant surveys, you’d just be assuming that your customers are satisfied with your food and service, when the opposite could be true, After all, there’s always room for improvement.