How to Boost Reservations (and Revenue) During the Holidays

Long before joining Olo, I was a maître d' and manager for 4.5 years at Searsucker, an upscale full-service restaurant owned by celebrity chef Brian Malarkey. Running the door was like a high-stakes game of Tetris.

To seat 600-700 covers a night, I had to know our floor plan and table configurations like the back of my hand. I also had to know exactly how many reservations had been made each day-online, over the phone, and in-person-which VIPs were coming in, any special requests, and last-minute cancellations.

I quickly discovered a restaurant's reservation strategy and supporting technology could make or break the guest experience. And a misstep could directly impact the revenue generated on a given night.

This is especially true during the holiday season when many guests dine out in large groups and stress levels are at an all-time high. While the pressure was immense at times, I always enjoyed the challenge of maximizing throughput while providing unforgettable hospitality.

It's a skill I often employ in my current role as Sr. Director of Business Operations for Olo's Engageproduct suite. I relish the opportunity to help restaurant brands across service models streamline operations, boost efficiency, and make every guest feel like a regular.

As the holiday season quickly approaches, I'm reminded of my time at Searsucker and our strategic approach to increasing bookings and revenue at the end of the year. Below I've outlined some best practices I learned on the job so you can set your restaurant up for success during the holidays-and year-round.

7 ways to drive reservations and revenue this holiday season

1. Maximize space in your dining room

Make sure your dining room has a lot of flexibility so you can easily push and pull tables apart to accommodate small and large parties without disrupting the flow of servers. Train your team on your floor plan, table configurations, and how to maximize space so they know your restaurant's true reservation availability and can provide accurate wait quotes to walk-ins. For example, you're wasting space and money if you're regularly seating parties of two at tables that seat four people.

2. Add reservations-if only temporarily

If you're a waitlist-only brand, now's the time to consider adding reservations-even if just for a limited time (i.e., Thanksgiving through Valentine's Day). During the holidays in particular, many guests prefer to have a reservation they can count on. For example, if a guest is doing a Secret Santa gift exchange, there's peace of mind in knowing their party of 12 has a guaranteed table (or two) at the time they indicated on the invitation. Large parties will avoid waitlist-only restaurants that can't provide that sense of security.

3. Understand your reservation and seat utilization

Be strategic about your reservation availability. What percentage of reservation slots are being booked? For instance, if you're at 150% reservation utilization, you're overbooking-likely because of call-in reservations or staff squeezing parties in. If you are accommodating these additional covers, you should open up your books more. Alternatively, if you're at 75%, you need to drive more bookings or edit your availability.

Seat utilization is equally important. If you're at 75% seat utilization, you're likely seating parties of three at tables for four, which is 75% of your maximum. Similarly, at 50% seat utilization, you're seating couples at tables for four. If your brand is a premier date-night spot, and you know you're mostly serving parties of two, you may want to split up some four-tops to get more people in.

4. Allow advanced bookings, but block off closures

Guests love to make holiday reservations far in advance, so consider opening up your books before the busy season. But be warned, it's not uncommon for guests to make multiple reservations at different restaurants, just in case. To avoid scheduling snafus, block off holiday closures in your system as early as possible. That way you don't end up making apology phone calls.

5. Boost accountability with cancellation fees or paid reservations

Paid reservations can be useful for special events with a prix-fixe menu like New Year's Eve or Valentine's Day. Like a deposit, they ensure guests arrive and give your team a head start on event prep.

It's more common, however, for restaurants to tack on a nominal reservation cancellation fee to increase guest accountability and prevent lost revenue from no-shows. Many people have become accustomed to cancellation fees when booking hotels, hair appointments, etc.-there's no reason restaurants can't do the same.

6. Incorporate reservations into your marketing strategy

The holiday season is the most competitive time for restaurant reservations, so make sure your "Book Now" call-to-action is front-and-center in your marketing-in-restaurant, on your website, social media, email and SMS campaigns, ads, third-party listings, and more. To help ensure your restaurant is top-of-mind when guests weigh their holiday reservation options, highlight differentiators that make your guest experience unique, like prime views, exclusive menu options, etc.

7. Surprise and delight

More often than not, guests make restaurant reservations for special occasions. With the right technology at the host stand, anyone on your team can make the dining experience memorable by identifying regulars, anticipating needs-from allergy-specific menu recommendations to high chairs-and personalizing guest interactions.

Keep in mind that a positive reservation experience looks different for every brand. Some go the extra mile with a complimentary dessert, manager table touch, or something unique à la Will Guidara's "Unreasonable Hospitality."At Searsucker, guests were often greeted with Prosecco on the table.

How tech can help you increase reservations, efficiency, and guest satisfaction

While in some ways it feels like a lifetime ago that I worked at Searsucker, the lessons learned during that formative experience have stuck with me. It's also made me extremely empathetic to full-service brands that don't have a tech stack that can keep up.

Front-of-house isn't for the faint of heart-especially at a full-service restaurant during the holidays. But with the right systems in place, you can make life easier for your team, enhance the guest experience, and maximize revenue.

A fully integrated reservation, waitlist, and table management systemwill help you:

• Optimize reservation availability and seat utilization so you can serve more guests
• Hold guests accountable with automatic confirmation and reminder messages
• Eliminate guesswork for the host by removing cancellations and no-shows from the list
• Prepare for the shift ahead and let staff know what (and who) to expect
• Enrich the profiles in your guest data platform(GDP) and match guests to payment and order data
• Personalize the guest experience on- and off-premise by making the newly unified insights from your GDP-favorite menu items, reservation history, visit frequency, etc.-accessible from the host stand to your marketingdepartment, and beyond

Give the ultimate gift to your front-of-house team this holiday season. Request a demoto find out how Olo Hostcan help you manage reservations, waitlist, table assignments, and incoming orders so you can focus on delighting guests and fostering loyalty.

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