Busy pizza restaurants have a lot to juggle, and today’s market conditions aren’t making it any easier.
The nationwide service industry labor shortage is hitting pizza restaurants hard. In 2022 Q1, the National Restaurant Association reports that bars and restaurants were down almost 800,000 jobs compared to before the pandemic. Many pizza restaurant owners are working with smaller teams to meet steady (and in some cases, rising) demand, stretching the workers they do have to the limit.
Team members routinely switch between tasks like order fulfillment, line work, front-of-the-house operations, and the list goes on. It’s challenging to stay on top of it all while capturing as much revenue as possible from as many sources as possible.
While delivery apps are preferred by many takeout and delivery customers today, pizza restaurants still rely on a significant portion of phone orders, too. In fact, a recent Technomic survey revealed that the number of restaurant customers ordering by phone has doubled since before the pandemic.
On the ground, that means more team members pausing their workflows to pick up the phone, and, inevitably, some calls simply go unanswered.
The good news is that routing calls to an offsite call center can make a world of difference. It’s a lot like bringing on a new team member who could immediately help you:
Overcome some of the staffing issues in a tight labor market (the US Chamber of Commerce reports that leisure and hospitality industries have had the highest quit rates out of all industries since Nov. 2020, consistently above 4.5%)
Improve delivery times
Capture lost revenue
Onosys Chief Technology Office Ryan Younker notes that the company has seen an uptick in clients reaching out about the company’s call center. “Twenty-five percent or more of incoming inquiries are focused on Onosys Call Center,” he says.
With Onosys managing calls, Younker says, staff distractions are limited, and the service can capture the 20% of the unanswered calls routinely missed by busy pizza restaurant workers. Onosys restaurants use the service completely offsite, at their front desks or as a tool on a tablet.
National and Regional Chains Turning to Centralized Call Center Models
Industry giant Papa John’s is trying to do away with direct calls into restaurants altogether by the end of the year. Incoming order calls are routed to the company’s centralized call center system, Papa Call, freeing up employees to focus on delivery and pizza making. The company has said the initiative should improve delivery times, and ultimately, improve customer retention.
In a recent Restaraunt Business interview, Papa John CEO Rob Lynch said that calls “can be something that takes away from what a driver is supposed to be doing and it can increase delivery time by a few minutes. Or, it may increase the time it takes to get a pizza in the oven. This removes all that.”
Cassano’s Pizza, based in Dayton, Ohio, has followed a similar route, though it branched into the call center model several years ago. Then-president Vic Cassano told Pizza Marketplace in 2006 that removing in-store calls had resulted in a quieter environment, which made a “day and night difference that’s much more conducive to a friendly work environment. Answering the phone was a job everybody hated.”
Onosys Call Center can help you keep the employees you have and reduce the number of new hires you need.
When you partner with Onysys for call center support, you’ll thank yourself later for making such a smart decision today. Reach out today to learn more about how our adaptable call center solution will help you overcome worker shortages, improve delivery times and capture new revenue.
