Image courtesy of disneymike
Are any Irish restaurants using twitter to fill tables when evenings are quiet?
I wonder if it is worth trying. Would it canabalise sales? Possibly. Would it piss off fellow customers? Again, possibly.
But I think it's worth more thought. It's not that different to lastminute.com. If I need to book a table in advance, I'm willing to pay full whack. But if I'm at home, on twitter, and see a last minute deal for a restaurant nearby, I might decide to throw on my jacket and head over.
I eat well for less. Restaurant covers some of its fixed costs. Everybody is happy.
I don't really use twitter. Although I did sign up to follow Southwest Airlines last year to see how a really customer-centric company uses it for customer service.
But think I'd follow some Dublin restaurants on twitter if they were willing to play ball.
Thoughts?
11 comments:
twitter.com/herbstreet are on it though not to fill tables as uch
Sounds good in theory but the restaurant would sure as hell make sure their processes and systems could handle it.
How pissed would you be if a) you went to a restaurant all the time because they had good service (albeit never full) or b) you went because they had a Twitter special but then the joint got packed out and everyone got terrible service.
For a case study of how systems and processes fall over when under pressure just watch any Gordon Ramsay kitchen nightmares episode!
I still don't know how I feel about Twitter either, but I do get tickled by some of the places I end up on. I stumbled on Claire McCaskill who is the state senator for Missouri, and her updates on Twitter as the Recovery Bill was going through the senate were like being immersed in the West Wing. Big issues and little nuggets side by side. Couldn't do it anywhere else outside of Twitter, could you? Here's one:
A bunch of hungry Sens are wandering in and out of cloakroom. Waiting to speak,waiting to vote, but also waiting for pizza. 3:35 PM Feb 6th from TinyTwitter
I like the idea.I wathced a Kitchen Nightmares last night where Ramsey was trying to fill restaurants on a Monday and Tuesday...hard at the best of times, next to impossilbe at the minute. He was saying to them to take off their menu and just do one dish, so he worked on a Pie Night for them, 9 quid for a pie and veg etc..The place was full and took in a grand. Ok some of the attraction is him being there but it makes sense and he is doing it in his own restaurants to get bums on seats. I think twitter could easily be used for this.
On another note have you seen the restaurant in Killarney (the vanilla pod) that is asking people to pay what they think their meal is worth. Would work on twitter too. (check out Ray D'arcy on Today FM)
Like Nick, I am still not so sure about Twitter.While it is entertaining, Scamp put up a post today about work, (http://scampblog.blogspot.com/2009/02/tuesday-tip-no68-what-hours-should-you.html) which is after all what we need to be doing! Have not yet seen a good business app implementation on Twitter, but maybe the restaurant suggestion might work?
thanks folks.
I must check out herbstreet. It is literally next door to me.
I wonder if restaurants (or pubs) would consider twitter-hour?
I think twitter could be good for customer care if the right company uses it - they'd need to already be customer focused. And think Zappos do some good stuff on it. Dell said they sold off a load of stuff through it too.
anybody know how many individuals in Ireland are using it?
Hi Paul, I like the idea. I think it could work well if you use twitter on your mobile. I haven't tried this yet so don't know if it works in Ireland. I've heard conflicting stories.
But you can imagine how useful it would be if you were following a certain restaurant and got a tweet on your mobile when you're in town saying, "2 courses in X restaurant for €20".
Here's a good use of twitter by a non profit....dogstrust Friday afternoon 'ahhh' moment - puppy born with no eyes needs a home http://tinyurl.com/dl5am5
Here is a restaurant using Twitter for DAILY SPECIAL announcements:
www.tasteoflouisianacafe.com
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