By Molly Crockett, Contributor

COVID-19 has bought around many changes in our world that a year ago, many of us wouldn’t have believed. However, life still goes on, and many restaurants are altering their business approaches and trying to make the best of a bad situation.

The entire restaurant industry is feeling the pinch since lockdown procedures have come into play. With a lack of in-person guests to keep the doors open, many restaurants are trying home delivery to keep their heads above water.

It’s a great idea, but only when done right.

Below, we’re talk about five key tips and tricks every restaurant needs to know when it comes to marketing their delivery service and making sure it’s safe, ensuring the best outcome for everybody involved.

Offer What People Want

Pick your own most popular items off your menu and research dishes and foods that are popular with everyone from any restaurant in your area. Many might like pizzas or other forms of fast food, or desserts may be the most trending menu item around you.

Whatever you’re offering, make sure its what people are after, even if this means adding a few items to your menu that you didn’t previously offer. These are times where people need comforting and stability and are much more likely to order a firm favorite dish than trying something new.

Sort Out Your Delivery Service

Chances are you probably shouldn’t be opening to the public right now, which means you’re going to be relying on delivery services, so make sure you get this in check and figure out how it’s going to work. Are you going to be delivering food yourself, or are you going to use a service like DoorDash or UberEats?

Check to make sure everything is up and running, and your delivery basics are down before advertising your services on your website or through social media. You may even be able to attract new customers by offering a ‘first time order is free’ deal.

Communicate Everything

During these difficult times, communication is everything, so as a business, you need to ensure you’re over-communicating with your customers. Everything needs to be a as crystal-clear as possible. Share your hours, what’s going on in your business, where you are open or where you aren’t, whether you’re operating a delivery service, and even information on COVID-19 itself.

The more you communicate, the more involved your customers and online community will be, and the more they’ll respect it. If someone is sitting at home thinking about ordering but thinks everything is closed, they’ll move on from the idea. If you’ve communicated well and locals know you’re open, they’re much more likely to pick up the phone and place an order.

Make Sure You’re Following the Law

This should probably go without saying, but if you’re unable to follow the law and recommended COVID-19 guidelines, you shouldn’t be operating as a business. Yes, you have bills to pay and money to make to feed your family, but spreading the infection, or at least increasing the risk of this happening, is going to do no one any good in the short or long term.

It’s not worth risking you, your employees, or any of your connected family’s lives.

When it comes to delivery, this means figuring out a no-contact approach. Whether you leave the food by the door or in a customer-designated location, this is what you need to implement (strictly). Same goes for food pick-up.

Throw in a Personalized Touch

While on lockdown, many people are keeping to themselves, or will stick with brands they know because they have the budget to communicate with their customers. However, as a small local business, you may not have this sort of reach, so do something to make yourself stand out from the crowd.

A really simple yet effective way to do this is by adding a personalized thank you card in with every order. Whether it says thank you for choosing your restaurant or supporting local businesses, or something else, is completely up to you, but it’s a nice touch that will ensure your business is remembered.

Conclusion

As you can see, there are plenty of ways you can proactively make the most of the COVID-19 pandemic and keep your restaurant operating and moving forward during this difficult time. Make sure you’re aware of the ever-changing guidelines and making sure everyone involved in your business is safe and sound, and you should be able to come out the other side stronger than ever!

About the Author
Molly Crockett is a successful marketing writer for Boomessays and Australianhelp, where she shares her unique lifestyle tips and personal development advice with her audience. She also writes for Paperfellows.