In today’s blog we cover 4 of the most common revenue killers in hospitality, it’s surprising how easily these can be overcome but yet so often taken for granted and overlooked until a problem arises.
Let’s dive straight into it (in no particular order)
1. Internet
The key to many common pain points is reliable, resilient and redundant internet, if you are running back office, front-of-house systems and payment processing across a single internet line at the very least you should invest in a back-up line. When considering your broadband options opt for a business grade service, check the service level agreements, hours and level of support included. If you are looking at a backup line speak to your provider about options, depending on how reliant you are on connectivity you may want to consider dual routes and providers.
2. Networking
The most common issue to any venue over time is networking, it grows organically and will become chaotic quickly if not properly managed and maintained, ensure that key services and devices are labelled up for staff who may need to located them while on the phone to IT support. Ensure that you do not have an overly complex and try to keep cabling and number of switches to a minimum. Spend the extra money to ensure a proper network specialise installs your cabling and cabinet. Ensure it is tested and uses the appropriate cabling type if you are running through kitchens or externally.
3. Payment Processing
Probably one of the most crucial elements of your venue and business is payment processing, no-one wants to have a £1o00 bill left unpaid because your card machines weren’t working or the internet was down. Ensure you have a back up plan in place, many devices can have a 3G (GSM) backup option.
Also ensure your chosen payment solution suits your business, if your a bar having a robust device that supports modern tap-&-pay devices is key to ensuring a steady flow of service, as more boutique setups may want a more integrated solution.
4. Booking Systems
If your venue relies heavily on bookings, it’s worth taking a moment to consider if you can handle offline bookings, if your internet goes down can you continue to take bookings over the phone? Will online or in-app bookings have the expected behaviour in an outage, there is nothing worse than having no bookings than having people turn up and you have inadvertently double booked because you had issues.
Well that covers 4 common revenue killers, what are your thoughts do you agree? Or maybe you feel there is something else – let us know in the comments below.