Posted on July 10, 2021 in Live Chat

Live Chat Software For Restaurants in 2021

No dishes to do. Watching the big game. Business Meeting. Family Night. Date night. – sharing a meal at a restaurant is a universal way for people to bond and connect.  How does your restaurant stand out among the crowd? Why does someone come to your establishment vice another? Okay, it may be your BBQ sauce is simply the best or your grilled tofu black bean quesadillas are all the rage, but it is higher than that. People choose to come to your restaurant because they believe it will be a good experience. Live chat software allows you to differentiate yourself online and to provide an incredible experience before they even step foot in the restaurant.

Before we get into how it accomplishes this, let’s explore exactly what live chat software is first.

What is Live Chat Software? 

Live chat software is a way for your customers to communicate with your business when they are researching restaurants online. Live chat is only one component of the complete customer engagement piece, but it is an important one. BirdSeed is a personal, engaging live chat provider …however, we are also so much more. We believe that live chat is a crucially important component of customer experience puzzle, however, we understand that some businesses want to engage customers in other ways as well. Instead of JUST a live chat provider, We consider BirdSeed a complete web engagement platform.  Look at the many ways below that our software offers how to engage with your customers.  You can pick which are applicable to your business.

Your restaurant can have any or all of these on your website

Video Live Chat

Imagine if you went to a website and asked a sales or support-related question and then could actually SEE the person responding to you?!?  Now you can provide that to your web visitors!

Create a personal and engaging experience for your web visitors when you  are able to provide real-time recorded responses to their typed questions or use traditional text responses when you feel they are more appropriate.  You get to choose how and if you use video!

Creating the video responses is easy, quick and done right through our software using any basic webcam.  You simply push a button, record the response and review.. if you like it, you can send and if not, just re-record it!  All responses are controlled as there is no “live” video stream and we can even show you how to remove (hide) your current background during your video if you are worried it doesn’t look the way you prefer!

Common Questions-

Are you open? 

Are you busy?

What’s today’s special?

How long is the wait? 

Telephone Contact (Or Callback Request)

Ever been to a website and couldn’t locate a phone number quickly to see if they are available by phone so you just moved on?  What about going to a website and finding a number only to call and realize they are closed??  How frustrating!

With our simple “Call” Feature, you are able to provide the direct number to the appropriate person as well as your hours of operation.  Because some people get overwhelmed by the prospect of getting someone “live” on the phone, we even offer them the ability to provide their contact information so you can contact them immediately upon request (also capturing lead information in the process).

Plus, the best part is that when you aren’t in the restaurant or it is not open, you can choose to not display that feature at all so people don’t waste their time trying to call and you can provide other ways for them to engage with your organization.

It may not seem like a big deal, but with attention being so important to capture, creating the right path to assist your web visitors correctly at all hours is crucial!

Video FAQ Library or (Text Answers)

Ever notice that a lot of the same questions get asked during Live Chat Conversations?  We certainly thought so and realized we might have a way of providing the same experience even if you aren’t available live to chat.  Why worry about having to hire staff after-hours to answers questions when you can quickly and easily add any common questions you get asked… and provide a personal, engaging response to your web visitor’s questions.

Not only that, even if you ARE available for chat maybe you want to offer the Video FAQ library as an option during work hours as well so you can take pressure off your staff who is already answering others questions or use the FAQ to avoid needing to answer the question real-time at all.

We have designed the library so you can organize your questions into whatever categories you choose and maybe even answer questions your visitors hadn’t previously thought about asking prior because other related questions will appear in the list!

Schedule Any Event (Instantly All Types)

Nobody likes to wait anymore to get things accomplished… plus there is nothing worse than the inefficiency of having to find a date/time that works for both parties to schedule an appointment. Avoid all of that by allowing someone to know that by the time they leave your website, they have chosen a scheduled event time that works for both parties.

Plus, just offering instantly scheduled events lets your web visitors know that your website is up to date and functioning properly because you are offering current dates/times, which gives added confidence that you are on top of your website content and what you show.

A Few Example of Ways You Can Offer Scheduled Events

• Restaurant Reservations
• Early Bird Specials
• Themed Nights
• Food Truck Events

Send Email Messages (or Open Tickets)

Sometimes you aren’t available live, but need to provide a personal way to encourage a web visitor to submit a question by email.  Often times a website will just offer a basic form that comes across as a nonchalant after-thought and who wants to submit something that way?  You have no idea who it’s going to, when you will hear back or even that you will!  Basically people just don’t have a reason to use the form.

We offer a BETTER experience by allowing you to record a video introduction letting someone who, how and when they should expect a response which will help them know someone cares about what they send.  This personal introduction may make all the difference between whether or not someone will feel comfortable submitting the form.. and that is whole point of engagement tools!

You can customize the button to call it “Message” if used for sales purposes or change the button to “Ticket” if used for Support.. either way, an immediate email is sent to whomever is most appropriate and you can setup an auto-responder to let the person person know you received their submission!

Email Registrations(or Sign-ups)

Often times you need a “soft” sell to engage someone where you simply collect a name and email address to get begin the relationship.  Maybe they can’t call or chat with you because it after-hours and they aren’t ready to take the step to schedule a meeting.  By asking for minimal information and commitment, this may be the next step in engagement that a visitors feels comfortable taking to learn more about organization.

Create a video introduction and provide something of value that is a quick and easy way to get started.  You can call it “Registration” is used for a specific event they are going to attend or call the button “Sign-up” to send them an asset by email.  Sometimes this is a one-time email such as a whitepaper, but can also be used to create an initial recurring email relationship such as a Monthly e-newsletter.

Perfect examples of Registrations:

• Upcoming Food and Bev Events
• Monthly Recurring E-Newsletter
• Latest, Relevant Company News Sign-up
• Send Whitepaper, Case Study or any Digital Asset
• Discount Promotions or Specials

To learn more about how BirdSeed can help your company build relationships with customers, contact us today or schedule a demo on our homepage. We look forward to interacting with you.