It doesn’t matter what food trends are popular or what kind of startup you’re running because a great customer experience is always in style. Even so, many startups seem to drop the ball when it comes to customer satisfaction, but that choice isn’t ideal in such a competitive industry.
Any food delivery startup (or restaurant that has a delivery option) should give special attention to their customer’s preferences. It’s the only surefire way to improve your food delivery service.
How to Provide an Unforgettable Food Delivery Experience
On the restaurant side, it makes sense to purchase the best food service equipment available to bring out the flavors in your food. On the delivery end, you’ll want to improve the following.
1. Personal Delivery by the Team or Founder
It’s tempting to hire a third-party delivery company to handle delivery logistics. After all, your team has more than enough on their plate. But if you stay organized, you’ll be able to handle everything from taking inventory to taking orders without overwhelming your restaurant staff.
There’s nothing wrong with hiring a third-party company, especially if you don’t have the staff, but it can get expensive. Try to hire your own dedicated delivery force as soon as possible.
While it may sound unconventional, receiving a delivery from a founder or promoter can make the experience really memorable. If the founder can’t do it every day, try to set time aside once a week. Think how special your customers will feel after they receive their food from the owner!
2. Make Good-Quality Food Fresh to Order
Maintaining the quality of your food is the most important aspect of food delivery. Food quality starts at the restaurant or cooking location and is supported by the delivery person. You should use fresh ingredients and make everything fresh to order if you want to impress your customers.
When you have an in-house and delivery section, preparation is key. Cut and pre-portion ingredients for your most popular dishes ahead of time so you aren’t losing precious seconds.
Once the delivery person takes the meal, instruct them to handle the parcel with care. For example, they need to keep the food upright and inside the bag at all times. Add samples with the order (ensuring these samples don’t aggravate known allergies) as a complimentary service.
3. Deliver Your Food Within a Short Window
Your customers want tasty food, and the only way to do that is with on-time delivery. Most food doesn’t keep long; it gets soggy, cold, or dry. It won’t matter how high-quality your food is if it comes to the customer’s door in a poor state. Your customers are hungry, but not that hungry!
There’s also the matter of food safety. Some food items will spoil if they’re left out too long. If you’re working with raw fish, it’s incredibly important that you deliver these meals right away.
To ensure your food is delivered hot and fresh, use software that optimizes routes, like Circuit. You can pair its tracking feature with a delivery app that gives customers an estimated delivery time and your real-time location. This ensures they’re prepared to accept their food order.
4. Offer Cash-Back, Rewards, and Discounts
For example, there’s a SoFi credit card where you can get 3% rewards for a year up to $250.
If you want to be a part of a cash-back program but don’t want to make one yourself, ask a credit card company to sponsor you. Affiliate programs can help generate additional profit.
Consider creating a loyalty program that helps customers earn their way up to a free order. These incentives keep customers loyal for life. Giving customers a surprise discount when they receive their food is another great idea as long as you do the same for in-restaurant patrons.
5. Treat Every Customer as a Unique Customer
Sure, it’s easier to make generalizations, but that won’t separate your brand from competitors. Instead, you can streamline the customer experience using artificial intelligence or other types of automation software to recommend menu items based on a person’s previous orders.
Not only will these programs encourage long-term customers to try the rest of your menu, but they’ll also make them feel like you care about their preferences, food allergies, and satisfaction.
Plus, personalization is known to increase ROI and improve customer relationships with brands. According to Slideshare, 80% of consumers are more likely to buy from a company that provides a tailored experience, while 90% see the appeal of personalization when shopping.
6. Call to Clarify Cooking or Item Instructions
Our delivery customers aren’t standing right in front of us, which makes it difficult to understand a person’s preferences. If someone requests no tomatoes in a salad, it could either mean they don’t like tomatoes, or they’re allergic to them. One has more implications than the other.
Instead of guessing, it’s better to call and ask if they have an allergy or a dislike for tomatoes. Explain that you’re doing this because you take their allergy seriously and want to make sure.
However, if you’re fairly busy and you take most of your orders through an app, add a section where customers can state if the request is due to medical reasons. You could also do the same with menu add-ons. For example, have a button with “no spice” or “extra spice” in some foods.
7. Give a Thank You Note or Take a Picture
A nicely written and personalized thank you note from the founder will really knock the delivery experience out of the park. The note can be simple and just include “Thank you, name,” or you could write a detailed message that expresses your gratitude. Top the note with a breath mint.
Your loyal customers always appreciate being seen, respected, and cared for. A thank you note does all three. But only give a note the first time they order, or your thanks won’t count for much.
If your customers are comfortable with the idea, take a picture of them accepting their food. Ask them if you can use it for marketing purposes. If you can’t, ask if they’d like to receive the photo the next time they order with a discount attached. More often than not, they’ll love this gesture.
In Conclusion
Creating an unforgivable delivery experience for your customers doesn’t just stop at on-time delivery. You need to make a conscious effort to delight your customers at every step. Only then will you stand out from your competition and continue to impress your loyal patrons.
