A recent article from Nation's Restaurant News provided some conflicting data about the health of the economy and the fate of upcoming Holiday restaurant sales. 

Here at NetWaiter, we looked into our crystal ball and the answer we got was – “If the upcoming Holiday Season is going to be good for your restaurant, it's because you worked hard and started planning early enough.”

Here are a few tips to help you work smarter:

•    Start Promoting Early - The Holiday Season can be busy for many people and offering them convenience during such a hectic time is really beneficial.  Consider posting signage to remind people your restaurant offers online ordering through their mobile device.  "Pick up dinner on the way home from the mall."  Also, work with your wait staff to spread the word.  These tips help keep business coming in well after the Holidays.

•    Print Advertising - Do you have a regular ad in a local paper or magazine?  Make sure your custom online ordering site is part of the message.
•    A Little Motivation - What about a Free Appetizer or Dessert for online orders during the Holidays?  Try offering something special that you don't offer any other time of the year.
•    Special Promotions - Launch an Email campaign letting customers know they can rely on your convenient takeout system during the Holidays.  Creating an online category for Special Holiday Promotions can also work great. 

Has your restaurant ever been blindsided by an online complaint?  It doesn’t matter if it’s about your online business, or an in-restaurant experience – it’s not a good feeling.  Whether it’s legitimate, or something totally unwarranted – you need to know how to respond. 

Often it’s based on a misunderstanding or a failure to respond early, when a complaint is fresh.  A recent webinar from the National Restaurant Association had some tips on how to respond to these online complaints.

• Don’t be the last person to find out about a problem at your restaurant, or with a takeout order. Get familiar with the tools.  Use Google Alerts, monitor Yelp.  Have systems in place. 

• This isn’t personal, so don’t get defensive.  Your goal is to neutralize these incidents. 

• Take responsibility online.  Denying that it happened is usually the wrong tactic.  If it’s a completely false or bogus complaint, contact the site (i.e. Yelp) and have them remove it. 

• Get the response public and prominent.  Don’t be the 75th person to comment.  Tell the complainant that you want make it right.  Make sure everyone sees it. 

• Treat your online communication as carefully and as thoughtfully as you would in-person.  You don’t want these things going viral.

• If you are posting online, keep everything positive.  If a customer persists with negativity, take the conversation offline by suggesting they call you. 

• Train employees with your approach to handling complaints so that your staff speaks in one voice. 

• If complaints are routine or happening in patterns, it can indicate a weakness in your operation.  Use that information to your benefit and correct the issues. 

Be persistent to make things right.  People tend to remember the last thing you did for them.  It could be a big problem or small dilemma, but if you bend over backwards to make things right, that’s what they will remember most.