Is your hospitality venue reopening on the 4th July?
Here are a few ideas to help make reopening a success.
1. Safety First… but make it fashion.
As everyone is well aware, Social Distancing is at the top of the agenda. It may be necessary to include Perspex screens in between tables etc. Perspex screens do not have to be an eye sore. You can apply your venue logo to them, or even get an artist to decorate the screen to fit in with your venue. The same goes for staff face masks- these can be branded to make them a feature of your staff uniform.
2. Menus
Your venue may usually put reusable menus out on tables; however, this will no longer be wise. It would also be a shame to put even more pressure on our ever-burdened environment by using disposables. Instead, ask guests to visit your website to look at menu options. You could even include a QR code on the table that takes them straight to the right place. They may also be able to order food through your app, or simply by emailing you their order and table number after they have perused and decided. It may be an idea to keep a few throw-away paper menus behind the counter should any customers not be able to access your website on their device.
3. Music
music has been outlined as a no-no for any indoor venues; however, A lot of people will be craving a live-music experience, so it is something to consider providing. if you have outdoor space, consider booking a small music act like a solo or duo; Alternatively if you are indoors, you could set up a Live-stream gig, and have a local musician directly stream a personalised peformance to your venue. They may even be able to accommodate customer requests. This would truly be a 2020 innovation. something that your customers will likely share on their social media spaces as a unique experience.
4. Profitability and Capacity.
Even with the reduction from 2m to 1m social distancing, it will still be difficult for many venues to operate at a profitable capacity. To help mitigate this, here are a few ideas:
· Open earlier, and offer something special for off-peak times.
· Introduce a minimum spend on tables, or even a table booking fee.
· Have time slots rather than open-ended bookings.
· Encourage people to come with their full household.
Information and flexibility will be key, as you may have to re-jig your venue as customers leave, and new ones arrive. Encouraging families to come to your venue may also prove to be more profitable.
Offering incentives for people to come to your establishment at non-peak times will also be a great way to spread out your bookings. For example, if you are a bar, you could have a 3pm happy hour; if you are a restaurant you could offer lighter meals or late lunches at a discounted rate. there are lots of ways that this can be adapted.
5. Monitoring Social Distancing
This will be especially relevant for bars. If you have an upstairs area, or any area out of sight of the bar, it will probably be more financially viable to install a video monitoring system, than to have a member of staff monitoring in-person. It might be handy to get a video kit with an inbuilt speaker system, so that you can remind customers to socially distance without having to leave your station. however, it is worth bearing in mind that some people may feel uncomfortable being monitored on video, so think carefully as to whether this is an option for your venue. maintaining social distancing is ultimately the individual responsibility of the customer, but venues will have to keep an eye.
6. Signage
Your signage (and potentially floor markings )about social distancing need to be informative, but it can also be fun, decorative and in-keeping with your brand.
7. The Waiting Game
So you don’t have a cluster of people waiting for their tables, really express to guests how important it is that they turn up at the specific time they have booked for, and not any earlier. However, just in case this happens, try and have a designated area away from people-traffic, where customers can sit and order a drink.
i am sure there are SO many other things that you can do to make your customers feel safe and happy, but these were just a few of my ideas that I wanted to share.
Any questions, please drop me an email rebeccajoannefrodsham@gmail.com
Planning a socially-distanced event? Get in touch.