Everything from plastic straws to disposable containers are getting 86ed left and right. Why should paper clutter be any different because it’s piled up on your hostess stand instead of your tables?

But truth be told, it’s not just the toll paper takes on the ecosystem that should inspire you to transition toward digital waitlist and reservation management systems. There are a host of other reasons to switch to a waitlist and reservation app, like Waitlist Me, that go beyond your recycling bin. 

Need an example of why paper is passé? Here are 6:

You’re annoying your guests (and your staff)

A datebook can’t be in two places at once, but an app can. You can put Waitlist Me on as many tablets, smartphones, and computers as you want. While your hostess seats guests, a front-of-house manager can keep tabs on staff efficiency, a GM can track long-term customer trends, and a regional manager can check in on a few different locations.

Your wait times are inaccurate

How long will it take for that two-top to scarf down their chocolate mousse? When will you be able to squeeze a few tables together for a large party? With paper, you’re left guessing. Digital waitlist solutions, however, make it easier to make accurate wait estimates. That means your hosts can focus on customer service, not crunching numbers. 

You look unprofessional

Scrabbling through crumpled reservation book pages and scribbling party sizes onto a grease board makes your restaurant look like a slap-dash operation. Switching to an app lets you move all that mess onto one simple screen. No more MIA reservations, no more hard-to-read handwriting, and no more endless flipping while customers tap their toes.

You can’t multitask

Nobody likes the holler-back method of seating guests. For hosts, it’s laryngitis in the making. For next-in-line diners, it’s round after round of the “wait, did they just call our name?” game. And for even the most patient of waiting customers, it shatters the ambiance. An app like Waitlist Me lets you quickly, quietly, and easily text guests when it’s their turn.

You can’t gather data

Sure, you can tally up the heads served and tables turned by the end of the night, but with a pen and paper, a pile of chicken scratch is all you’ve got. Digital tools are built with analytics running automatically in the background as you and your staff go about your day. When you’re ready to see how your team has performed (and analyze trends, like your average table turnover time), the data is waiting for you.

You’re not serving your customers to the best of your ability

A hostess with a grease board in hand and a line to manage is working the numbers, not focusing on customer experience. But while lines are a fact of life that guests can deal with, a bad experience can wreck your restaurant’s reputation. Waitlist Me offers a bunch of features that helps hosts serve. One of our favorites: the public waitlist. Guests can check it on their smartphone or a monitor in your waiting area to see exactly where they are in line (and stop asking your hostess for an ETA!).

In today’s fast-paced world, customers expect instant information and seamless experiences. From browsing menus online to making informed decisions at the table, diners crave convenience and clarity. That’s why we are excited to announce Perklist’s new AI Assistant, a tool designed to delight your customers and improve efficiencies for your staff.

We’ve all been there: scrolling through a restaurant’s website, searching for specific menu details, or trying to decipher ingredient lists. This process can be frustrating and time-consuming, potentially deterring customers from placing orders or even visiting your establishment. Similarly, there are times when customers are on site where they may have to wait or delay your staff to get questions answered.

Perklist’s AI Assistant can help with these challenges by improving the accessibility and interactivity of menu and business information. Users can obtain immediate answers to menu-related inquiries in two main ways. First, a conversational chat interface can be integrated directly into a restaurant’s website, enabling customers to ask questions about ingredients, dietary considerations, or dish specifics and receive prompt, accurate responses. Second, for in-restaurant use, QR codes can be placed at tables, providing customers with direct access to the AI assistant via their smartphones. This allows for real-time menu exploration and question-answering during their dining experience.

Perklist AI Assistant offers practical advantages for both customers and restaurants. For customers, it provides immediate access to menu details, reducing the need for lengthy searches or waiting for staff assistance. It facilitates easier menu exploration and informed decision-making, which can contribute to a more efficient and satisfying dining experience.

For restaurants, the AI assistant ensures consistent and up-to-date information is delivered to all customers when they want it. It also reduces the workload on service staff by handling routine menu inquiries, allowing them to focus on more complex customer interactions and providing better overall service. Additionally, the system can promote increased customer interaction with the menu and improve the overall efficiency of handling menu questions.

Getting started is simple and just takes a few minutes. You can sign up for a Perklist account and upload a PDF or image of your menu. Then just embed a few lines of code or print out some QR codes. There are settings for adding more business information and customizing the look and feel if you like, and you can keep track of customer questions in the logs area.

For more information, read more about the Perklist AI Assistant.

Using a paper floor plan has been common in the restaurant industry for a long time, and many software applications have incorporated spatial floor plan concepts into their designs.  Floor plans are deceptively complex to use, however, and can cost you time and money in ways you may not expect.  Waitlist Me CEO, Brian Hutchins, was recently featured in an article published on RMagazine, and goes into detail about 5 main reasons that floor plans are more complicated than they seem.

1) Key information is scattered in different directions

2) Comparing apples and oranges is difficult

3) Tables are static, but demand is not

4) Bad decisions lead to unhappy customers and frustrated employees

5) Measuring and improving results is difficult

Read  the article on RMagazine for all the details or watch the Waitlist Me video on table section management.

It is pretty universal that people don’t like waiting, and that businesses can serve customers better by improving wait experiences. But as we have seen a wide range of different businesses across multiple industries and countries use Waitlist Me, we have also learned that there is a good degree of variation among the types of customers or groups waiting and the level of information needed to best serve them.

To add to many of our other customization features, we have recently added more options for the main waitlist view. It’s easy to streamline the views of your waitlist by choosing the level of information you need and removing unnecessary details. You can customize the columns shown, the information displayed in each row, and what type of stats you’d like to see.

You’ll find these settings in your app by tapping the Gear icon > Customization > Waitlist View.

Columns – Choose the Waitlist Info option to edit the information you want to see in each column. You can display the status colors or hide them. Show the group size, or get rid of it if you serve individuals. Hide the Assignments column if you don’t assign customers to tables, staff or other resources.

Rows – Also in the Waitlist Info section there are options for the level of information to display in each customer’s row. Would you like their phone numbers displayed on the main page? Do you need to see how many kids and/or seniors are in each group? How would you like to see wait time quotes – as minutes, ETA, or both? Choose what works best for you.

Statistics – From the Waitlist View section of the Settings, the Wait Estimates and Totals options allow you to customize the display of the analytics bar at the bottom of the screen. Use the Wait Estimates > Display Groups to set 3 ranges of group sizes for calculating average wait estimates.

The Total Settings will allow you to display the number of people waiting, the number of groups waiting, or both. Also, choose how many hours you want to see Total Served stats for (a full day, or less than 24 hours so you can see stats by shift).

If you listen to the internet’s many critics, millennials are self-obsessed complainers with a penchant for arrogance, an aversion to risk, and some serious Peter Pan Syndrome.

They also eat out five times a week, are looking to make big purchases, and prioritize investments in their mental health and physical fitness. Their spending power is estimated at $3.39 trillion. By 2020, they’ll be the ones paying for one-third of the world’s goods and services.

Millennials are increasingly becoming the customers you need to know inside and out. Who are they? How do they spend their money? What do they want?

Let’s take a closer look.

Who is the millennial customer?

Most people who consider themselves to be “young adults” fit into the millennial category. They were born between the early 1980s and the turn of the century (the generation’s end date waffles between the mid-nineties and the early 2000s, depending on who you ask). Today, millennials range in age from about 16 to 36. They are just now coming into their own as college graduates, young professionals, married homeowners, and parents.

Millennials make up the majority of the workforce in the United States. By 2025, 75 percent of the workforce world-wide will be made up of this one generation. The world is their oyster, and their wallets are open.

How do millennials spend their money?

Millennials pay more for brands and experiences—if the business in question offers them some sort of added benefit. That could mean more convenience, an alignment of their personal values, a better user experience, or greater perceived value.

They’re also incredibly loyal. Once they find a brand they love, whether it’s a store, a restaurant, a hotel, a gym, a salon, literally anything, they’ll stick with it. And, thanks to their penchant for social media, they’ll spread the word. With millennials on your side, referral business can become your new best friend.

What do millennials want?

This generation grew up as the internet was finding its legs. The oldest millennials were computer-savvy before Google was a thing, while the youngest can’t remember a world without YouTube. They’re gamers, emailers, texters, and content-consumers—and they expect the rest of the world to keep up with them.

What does that mean for you?

Eliminate the wait

For millennials, on-demand everything is the norm. A long waiting list is a major drawback. A long line? For those not enticed by hype or the cool-factor, long lines mean finding the next best thing: your nearest competitor.

Waitlist Me shortens lines and makes them invisible to new customers. The app lets you accurately estimate wait times and track your business’ resources, which can help you become more efficient over time. It also frees customers from your waiting area. This gives the illusion of shorter wait times, which makes more people want to stick around.

Be available on your customers’ terms

With the internet comes 24/7/365 availability. Does your small business need to be open all the time, every day of the year? Absolutely not! But to win over a millennial crowd, you need to create a digital presence that is open to customers around the clock.

We make it easy to do just that. Waitlist Me offers an add-yourself widget, which you can easily include on your business’ website. The widget lets customers add themselves to your waitlist, reservations, or appointment schedule from wherever they are. You can also display black-out days, specials, and more.

Go mobile

Just because a millennial doesn’t leave home without a smartphone doesn’t mean they want to dial your number and speak to you one-on-one. This generation infinitely prefers texting over phone calls.

That’s why Waitlist Me built text message notifications directly into the platform. Forget about hollering out names in a crowded vestibule or passing out buzzing pagers. With a single gesture, you can send a message directly to the party next in line. Your guest will get the message on their phone instantly, wherever they are, just the way they like it.