Can AI Run Your Restaurant Better Than You Can?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been getting a lot of attention in recent months. From robots delivering food in restaurants and website chatbots to Hollywood writers striking for fear their jobs will end due to ChatGPT. But how does AI impact independently owned restaurants? And are there ways to use it to your advantage?

The Good News

People go out to dine for a range of reasons. Eating at a restaurant is a social experience, allowing people to catch up with friends or family and bond over delicious food. Dining out is also convenient, saving time and effort that would otherwise be spent cooking meals from scratch.

Think of it this way, dining out gives people access to professionally-cooked dishes they might not be able to make on their own or find in stores. One of my restaurants specialized in seafood. The great thing was that nobody knew how to properly prepare fish, but they loved eating it. Good for business.

Restaurants offer an array of cuisines from around the world – some of which may even introduce diners to new flavors and foods they haven’t tried before. Finally, the ambiance of a restaurant – like its decorations and music – provides customers with an unforgettable experience that contributes significantly to their overall satisfaction with the meal. Ultimately, people love going out for dinner because it offers great food while creating memories they will treasure for years to come. Remember that when thinking about your marketing.

You’re not a cook, dishwasher, host, server, or bartender… You’re a marketer of an unforgettable dining experience.

As a restaurateur, you are selling an experience. Through the food, atmosphere, and customer service provided at your restaurant, you can give customers something unique and worth coming back for time and time again. Much of that depends on people, personality, connection, and caring. Most of which cannot be replicated by AI.

Using AI to Your Advantage

But that doesn’t mean AI isn’t for you. There are ways to use it to maximize your time, improve efficiencies and predict buying patterns. There are ways that you can incorporate AI into your restaurant to perfect the dining experience. From customer service to marketing, AI can help automate mundane tasks and improve back-of-house efficiency.

Think of AI as a tool that you can control to make you and your staff’s jobs easier.

AI in your POS System

AI is likely part of your POS and/or loyalty program, using customer transactions to predict customer behavior, analyze data, and create menus tailored to each individual’s needs and preferences.

With the help of AI, restaurants could take their customer service to a whole new level. Not only would it know exactly what each customer prefers, but it could also suggest items that they hadn’t thought of. This means higher average tickets, more profits, and more satisfied customers.

POS systems with AI capabilities use predictive analytics to better understand customer behavior. By learning from historical data, systems can anticipate customer preferences, sales peaks and valleys, and unprofitable menu items. This helps you tailor your restaurant to best satisfy your customers while eliminating waste and increasing sales.

All the data you collect is valuable because you can use it to improve future decisions and increase profitability.

AI for writing

• ChatGPT, JasperAI, Google Bard, and many others are artificial intelligence-based software platforms that can help you create a more personalized experience. It can generate creative menu descriptions, write marketing emails, and craft special offers for targeted promotions for individual customer groups. Give it a prompt, and it will provide short or long-form content that you can edit to suit your needs.

AI on your website

• ChatBots can be added to your website to help answer the commonly asked question people have – where you are located, what’s on your menu, hours of operation, and dietary restriction options.

AI to help create content

• Thumbly.AI – creates video thumbnails to catch followers’ eyes as they scroll through your content.
• Stylized.ai – create high-quality photos of your menu items or merchandise you sell.

AI to help create training videos

• Pictory.ai and synthesys.io use AI to help you create simple and effective training videos for onboarding staff. Training is often time-consuming and needs to be consistent. Training videos solve both of those issues. Use the power for good.

Use The Power For Good

But there are ways that you can embrace this technology to benefit in many ways – from automating mundane tasks to improving customer service. Restaurateurs who take advantage of these technological advances stand to benefit in many ways, including increased efficiency, higher profits, and better customer satisfaction.

If AI scares you and you’re unsure how to use it for your business, I have something better. A REAL LIVE HUMAN BEING that does the work for you!

Especially when it comes to getting new customers. Click the button below and jump on a short Strategy Meeting with a DFY Marketing Expert. Yes, an actual live human who will analyze how you attract new customers to your restaurant right now and then use our superhuman powers to give you a plan to triple that.

Take that, AI!