Find the best Restaurant CRM

In the restaurant business, growing your customer base is important, but it isn't the ultimate prize. The real prize is your list of regular patrons, which you must constantly try to expand by turning new patrons into repeat customers. Sure, your food plays a big role here, but technology can also help.

According to Toast's 2017 Restaurant Technology report, 95% of restaurateurs agree that technology improves their business' efficiency. Regardless of the format—quick-service restaurant (QSR) or fine dining, a chain or a stand-alone establishment—restaurant customer relationship management (CRM) tools can change how you engage with your customers.

These solutions allow you to personalize customer interactions, roll out customer outreach and loyalty programs, and integrate with third-party aggregators to expand market reach. Interested? We'll help you learn more about restaurant CRMs and what you should consider while evaluating options.

In this buyer's guide, we'll cover:

What is restaurant CRM software?

Common features of restaurant CRM software

What type of buyer are you?

Benefits of having a restaurant CRM

Market trends to understand

What is restaurant CRM software?

Restaurant CRM software helps restaurant managers and owners maintain a centralized database of information on customers who have visited a restaurant or have ordered online. Restaurants of all categories and size can use this data for marketing and sales promotions, email or social media campaigns, and to support loyalty programs.

This type of software offers standardized communication templates, workflows, and automated processes, which make it easier for users to regularly interact with customers and share personalized offers and updates.

Restaurant CRMs also incorporate functionality for table reservations and online ordering (through a restaurant website or third-party platforms). They can also track customer orders and preferences and record details such as allergies, milestones (e.g., birthdays), and past order suggestions to allow restaurants provide personalized offers and services to customers.

Customer information dashboard in Eatapp Restaurant CRM (Source)

Benefits of a restaurant CRM

There are many benefits of using a restaurant CRM. Here's a look at the most notable:

• Improved customer connections: A CRM helps you reach out to your customers through personalized email marketing campaigns, which are equally vital for multibranch QSRs and single-location establishments.

• Ease of rolling out loyalty and discount programs: With a restaurant CRM, you can leverage your customers' preferences to create customized loyalty and discount programs to improve customer retention. You can also track the success of your ad campaigns with dashboard views.

• Integrations with with mobile apps and popular ordering websites. A majority of customers now order food and make reservations through third-party apps and websites. CRMs specifically designed for restaurants usually offer integration with these apps.

Common features of restaurant CRM software

Here are the important features to look for when choosing your restaurant CRM software:

What type of buyer are you?

You need restaurant CRM software if you own or manage any of the following:

• Food truck or independent restaurant: Outlets operating out of a single location looking to gain competitive edge with customer retention and brand loyalty will benefit from centralized customer information database that can be used for easier and quicker marketing campaign creation. Constant communication with customers makes brand promotion more effective, increasing customer recall.

• Multibranch restaurant: Multiple-location restaurants or food and beverage establishments look for full-featured CRM software to communicate their promotions and offers to increase customer footfall and enhance customer engagement and retention.

• Franchised chain: Franchised chains find restaurant CRM software's social media and online marketing feature useful to establish and expand their online presence.

Market trends to understand

Data analytics for hyper-customization: Big data and analytics are becoming pervasive, and restaurateurs are increasingly using transactional data and order histories to hyper-customize their services. Hyper-customization is a rapidly growing trend that allows restaurateurs to understand their customers better, improve the overall customer experience, and retain more customers.

Growth of mobile ordering and payments. The surge in food ordering via smartphones and the rise in mobile payments have made mobile-ready CRMs a must-have for a growing customer base. Mobile payments grew by 75% in 2017, and the trend will only continue to grow.

_Note: _The applications selected in this article are examples to show a feature in context and are not intended as endorsements or recommendations. They have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable at the time of publication.__