Tap Room Playbook Episode 2: Check Your Experience
One of the most common areas that tap room managers recognize is that their experience is lacking because all they have the bandwidth to do is keep the place clean and put out good beer. When they really think about it, what they’re missing is the hospitality aspect of their tap room operations.
We have conversations with tap room managers all the time and one of the most common areas that they recognize is that their experience is lacking because all they have the bandwidth to do is keep the place clean and put out good beer. When they really think about it, what they’re missing is the hospitality aspect of the brewery business.
If your brewery is lacking experience, it’s usually a symptom of one of two problems:
A very lean staffing pool, especially when it comes to new breweries.
A downstream impact of lean staffing -- the staff you have need to be responsible for a lot of different tasks, both in the tap room and in the back-of-house.
When evaluating your tap room experience, start by thinking through the customer journey that you want to create. What does that experience look like from the time the guest walks in until the time that they step their foot out your door? One way to get ideas is to think back to when you’ve had memorable experiences elsewhere. There are a lot of breweries that are doing innovative things, but it’s hard to see why those experiences work without going and seeing them for yourself.
Once you’ve thought through your ideal brewery customer journey, go gather feedback from those in your area who are doing it well. The brewery space is unique in many ways, not least of which is that most brewers don’t see other breweries as competitors. In fact, they usually view their brewery counterparts as part of a community. As a result, they are often open to sharing feedback and best practices. It’s one of the reasons GoTab joined so many brewery associations. As members of the brewery community, they’re going to be the ones to learn from. Most of the time, those breweries are happy to be able to share their knowledge. In the end, it’s only going to boost the local community and craft beer scene.
Above all, when you’re thinking about the experience in your brewery, remember that people are not coming to your brewery to just have a good beer. They are coming to your brewery, especially the ones who come more than once, because there’s something about the experience they enjoy. Conversely, if you’re not seeing the level of return guests and loyalty you would like for your brewery, it’s best to start by diagnosing the experience. While having great beer is table stakes, the best breweries are always looking to see how they can go a step above by creating an environment and vibe that people enjoy. That’s called hospitality, and it’s one of the least appreciated aspects of successful breweries and tap rooms.
In our next video we talk about some of the kick a** brewery brands we’ve come across and what we believe are the secrets to their success.
Tap Room Playbook Episode 2:
When you really think about it, with everything managers need to do in a tap room, the hospitality aspect is often overlooked.
Situated “in the heart of it all, yet tranquil enough to make you feel away from it all too,” The Limelight Hotel Snowmass offers 99 hotel rooms and 11 residences, as well as footsteps-to-gondola access in winter and summer — right in the middle of Snowmass Base Village.
The Situation
Especially over the last few years, the Limelight Hotels IT team had witnessed a significant shift to contactless technology in the hospitality industry. After evaluating friction points in the guest journey, aligning with modern technology platforms in their restaurant was determined to be an effective way to offer elevated contactless dining experiences to their guests while also evolving their technology platforms to continue to support long-term company goals. Limelight Hotel partnered with GoTab to provide an enhanced on-demand dining experience on par with the brand’s reputation for exceptional guest service.
The Solution
Reducing Staff Touch Points Without Sacrificing Guest Experience
Guests are now able to begin a tab from their room or the property’s restaurant by scanning a QR code, texting a link to friends or family members on the ski slope to add in their orders, then meeting up together at the patio or lodge to enjoy their meal and après ski festivities without interruption. By streamlining tasks like inputting orders and processing payments, this eliminates friction for hotel staff and allows them to focus on delivering renowned guest service for a memorable experience. Since partnering with GoTab, Limelight Snowmass has consistently seen higher check averages and sales.
“We found the Point of Sale platforms we were looking at offered the guest and staff limited opportunities to further reduce touch points or improve the traditional restaurant experience. The GoTab platform enabled the guest to take an active role over the flow of their experience while simultaneously reducing touch points and further streamlining restaurant operations.”Nick Giglio, Manager of Hotel IT Operations, The Little Nell Hotel Group
According to the Limelight Hotels team, some of the other platforms that were evaluated were either missing some of the pieces they were looking for, had weak customer support models, or had little willingness to develop integrations to existing hotel platforms already in place. To that end, GoTab integrated with cloud-based platform, Infor. Together, GoTab and Infor are providing dynamic solutions to support central, efficient service across hotel amenities and deliver exceptional guest experiences.
“Previously, guests would call down to the restaurant to begin an order from their room or while they were out enjoying the ski slopes. Using GoTab, guests can now place orders from anywhere on the resort, giving them the on-demand service they want without interrupting their day. GoTab empowers us to give control to the guest, reducing touch points and streamlining overall restaurant operations, making Limelight Hotel the resort of choice for Snowmass.”Nick Giglio, Manager of Hotel IT Operations, The Little Nell Hotel Group
Since introducing GoTab, The Limelight Hotel has seen a consistent level of upsells and items sold per check resulting in additional revenue capture. They have been able to maintain service levels in their restaurants during periods when there was reduced staffing available without significantly diminishing the guest experience.
The Benefits
Eliminate Phone Orders – Take Orders from the Slopes. Guests can start a tab from their room or on the mountain without interrupting the flow of their day.
Future-Proofed Technologies – Delivering elevated contactless ordering via integration with the Infor hotel management platform.
Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
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