According to two decades of research from the National Restaurant Association (NRA), Mother’s Day remains the top holiday for dining out, with an estimated 80 million adults having visited a restaurant last Mother’s Day. Not surprisingly, it’s followed by Valentine’s Day, Father’s Day, New Year’s Eve, and Easter.
It’s been said that the real measure of a man is based on how well he performs under pressure. The same idea applies to businesses.
With competition for consumers’ attention (and dollars) on these high traffic days only heating up, businesses are looking for ways to stand out. Mystery shopping is a great way to learn how to do just that. After all, your staff may perform exceptionally well when they have sufficient time to perform top-notch service. But what happens when they are overwhelmed and lots of customers are demanding different things?
When we perform quality assurance measurement, we learn how customers view a restaurant’s services, food and overall upkeep, and doing so on a holiday allows us to see how well a place stands up to pressure. Additionally, we look to see if your staff adjust well to quick changes – do they remember the drink specials or prix fixe menu?
Another area of service we particularly focus on during holidays is personalization. These are sentimental times for guests and great opportunities for you to connect with them. Do staff members remember to wish diners a “Happy Mother’s Day”? Does your business go above and beyond by offering perks like a flower bouquet to every mom?
Our Head of Accounts, Arthur Chang, shares with us his primary reason when advising clients to mystery shop on such a busy day: Can you afford NOT to impress your mother-in-law? Make a big mistake during mom’s only day of the year and you’ll never hear the end of it. Sound advice.
The best restaurants get mystery shopped on a consistent basis, year in and year out, with holidays proving no exception. This allows us to help them properly compare, incentivize and raise the bar on operations.
