Like many others, I
mostly use OpenTable to book a restaurant reservation. It provides the
convenience of booking most restaurants that accept online reservations from
the comfort of my home or office in just few clicks and also gives me double
the points on my credit card. A convenient reservation experience till this
point.
The overall process
goes for a toss when you get a call from an unrecognized number few hours
before the scheduled appointment and it hits your voice mail. It turns out that
restaurant was calling to confirm your reservation. The host leaves a voice
message leaving a different number than from where he called. For guests it is
potentially an additional task of jotting down the call back number and then
calling to confirm the booking. However at times this small break in the
process could mean unutilized table and therefore opportunity lost for the
restaurant.
A simpler change in
the overall process can not only increase the probability of restaurant getting
my business but also provide a great customer experience. Since I booked my
reservation online, OpenTable can generate a simple email (or text) asking me to click the link and
confirm. This minor process change will
help restaurants save hours of phone calls to guests, can give higher response
rate as compared to phone calls and voice mails. For me, it gives a better
experience and streamlines the overall reservation process. Even OpenTable can
use this additional confirmation opportunity to take the guests to their
website.
Is this not a Win
Win for all the 3 parties? Your comments please!
