In this day and age, guest insights are the most important cogs in the restaurant machine. 

Without it, there is no accurate way to know what, where and how things need to be done — there’s no way to prioritize. 

Do note that these insights are distinctly different from sales metrics (which are lagging indicators of issues at best) and generic metrics (such as NPS, OSAT, NSAT and others). 

Most restaurants aren’t collecting guest insights as granular as the following (you should be able to slice and dice all these data by location, date range, day part, ordering channel and more): 

Operational categories 

• High-level operational areas (e.g. Accuracy, Speed of Service, Food Quality, Hospitality, etc.) 

Operational factors 

• Underlying factors within each category (e.g. within Food Quality there are Taste, Temperature, Texture etc.) 

Menu item-level sentiment 

• Item-specific sentiment data (e.g.incident involvement rate, accuracy, speed, day part analysis etc.). 

With real-world examples, we’ll look at how some successful restaurant brands use guest feedback insights to the max and realize the results in their bottom line. 

Sub-standard guest experiences 

THE TRUE COST: 10-20% LOSS IN REVENUE

The lack of consistent, statistically-significant guest and menu sentiment will cause problems to stick around for weeks, months, or even years, turning away your guests without you even knowing. 

Here’s an example of a nuanced issue that real-time feedback data (such as those provided by Tattle) was able to catch: 

MOD Pizza was able to realize from guest feedback that salad portioning was inconsistent due to a lack of checking process. As a result, they implemented a new tub and “size scooper” to ensure consistency, and negative guest comments went away. 

How many of these smaller issues are sitting right beneath the noses of restaurant operators, but they don’t have the tools or ability to identify them? 

And even more than that, how much is the bottom line hurt by the cumulative hidden issues across a restaurant brand? 

The cost can be tremendous when added up. 

Operational inefficiencies 

THE TRUE COST: 5-10% LOSS IN REVENUE

One restaurant brand noticed through Tattle that the mere inclusion of a beverage would lead to a lower probability of a guest having a 5-star experience. 

Upon digging deeper into the guest feedback, the team realized that for delivery and takeout orders, the staff had to walk around the counter, go to the fridge near the door and grab the drink for the order. 

This extra step caused order accuracy to drop significantly. 

Simply by adding a smaller beverage fridge under the counter and making it easy for the staff, order accuracy dramatically improved shortly after. 

Just imagine how many churned customers and negative Yelp reviews you can avoid with a small adjustment like this! 

Misguided business decisions 

THE TRUE COST: 10-30% LOSS IN REVENUE

Restaurants often make decisions based on assumptions rather than data, which can lead to misaligned operational adjustments, menu changes, or marketing spend that fail. 

“Before Tattle, we thought our online ordering process was great – but Tattle showed us it’s actually our worst-performing category!” said Michael Schatten, SVP of Operations at the fast-growing, 28-unit Carrot Express. “[We’re] now making changes to our online platform…but we never would have known it without Tattle.” 

Acting upon gut hunches – and not tracking the outcomes – has been a staple of the restaurant industry for decades. Not anymore, not with guest feedback insights. 

Poor implementation of technology 

THE TRUE COST: 3-10% LOSS IN REVENUE

As restaurants become increasingly tech-savvy, the installation of new systems (ordering, loyalty etc.) can be either an upgrade or disruption to the existing experience that guests are used to. 

How do you know if the new technology is working for you? 

Southern Classic Chicken installed a new drive-thru monitoring system to better manage the pacing within their drive-thru. However, both accuracy and speed scores in Tattle declined. 

Turns out, employees were moving too fast to keep the new monitoring system happy, leading to lower accuracy and guests feeling rushed through the line. Upon adjusting the brand standards, a better balance between speed and accuracy was achieved. 

About Tattle 

The Tattle guest feedback platform solves all of the above problems, saving restaurant brands of all sizes from massive headaches and financial losses that come from a lack of reliable guest insights. 

Automatically collect 55+ data points per survey: 

• 94.5% average completion rate 

• Automatic survey sends via 35+ tech integrations 

• 1 in 3 unhappy guests recovered 

• 97% revenue prediction accuracy 

Get a copy of the Tattle demo here.