By Hale Jim
There’s no doubt that times are pretty tough for a lot of people. National and international economies are vulnerable, and this has laced enormous pressure on many small to medium sized businesses. One area of endeavour where this has been most keenly felt is in hospitality. There are thousands of restaurants around the country, and many of them are finding it tough to make ends meet. So, how can your restaurant keep the customers coming back for more?
More Than Just a Good Menu
Obviously, one of the biggest selling points for any restaurant is the strength of the menu. A solid menu that is packed full of good food can really pull in the customers. However, making a restaurant successful is about more than just food these days. The customer experience as a whole needs to be second to none if a small restaurant just starting out is going to survive and turn good profits.
The trouble is that many restaurant owners are far too busy to attend to the small details. They may have focused almost solely on the menu, but forgotten about other aspects of running the restaurant that customers take notice of. One such area that is often forgotten is table linen and uniforms.
Clean Linen Really Makes a Difference
If you happen to run a small restaurant, and you just don’t have time to get to everything, you might seriously consider outsourcing to one of the many commercial laundry companies. They can pick up and deliver clean linen for your restaurant each week. So, why does this matter? Consider the following.
First Impressions
The truth is that the hospitality game is tough, and many customers just won’t return if they have a bad first experience. For this reason, first impressions really do matter. Will your customers come back to you if their table linen is stained and dirty? Are they likely to have a good impression of your establishment if they see that the waitstaff are wearing mismatched outfits or unclean clothing? When you outsource your linen, you can have clean table linen and uniforms every day. This makes a fantastic first impression on customers, as they see that you really care about the way that your business looks.
Team Morale
One thing that many restaurant owners underestimate is how their staff feel about working there. When staff members have crisp and clean uniforms to wear each day, they feel as if they are part of a professional environment that really cares about them and customers. This can contribute dramatically to the behaviour of staff members in the workplace.
Reputation
Finally, but not least of all, a clean restaurant that features clean linen and uniforms will more likely contribute to a positive brand image. In this day and age, that cannot be underestimated.
If you run a restaurant and you’re struggling to attend to day to day tasks, outsourcing your linen is a great way to ensure that customers are more likely to have a great first impression.
