Video monitoring for restaurants and bars gets a lot of press for its ability to prevent theft.

And with good reason. A University of Massachusetts study estimated that costs associated with restaurant theft ranged from $3 to $6 billion annually. Another study showed that 75% of employees admitted stealing from their employer. And without question, video monitoring is a powerful tool to reduce theft, shrinkage and other associated losses.

While theft reduction will improve the bottom line, theft reduction alone obviously won’t create a successful business. That requires growth in top-line revenue – and for most restaurants and bars – in fact for most businesses – that’s a lot harder to do. You can’t easily change your location; changing food and menu is often far from simple and has meaningful cost implications; and running promotions to get more people into your establishment usually means competing against numerous other restaurants and bars doing the exact same thing.

Use Video Monitoring to understand your customers’ experience.

Good video monitoring allows owners and managers to monitor and track their customers’ experience. And, with a few exceptions, the customer experience is probably the strongest driver of customer growth and loyalty.

Here are some customer experience metrics that you can easily track using video monitoring:

• Customer Service – How quickly are guests greeted? How long before their orders are taken?

• Food and Dining Experience – How long before guests receive their meals? Do completed meals sit too long before delivery?

• Food Safety – Are required food safety and cleanliness guidelines followed at all times? Is meat cooked for the required duration?

• Cleanliness – Are bathrooms cleaned regularly? Are tables quickly and effectively cleared and cleaned?

• Employee Performance – How quickly do employees respond to requests for assistance? Are employees visible and available to assist guests throughout their visit?

Good owners and managers are already watching for these issues. But management can’t be everywhere all the time. And given the multitude of issues that arise in any busy restaurant or bar, it’s very hard to draw accurate conclusions simply by walking the floor.

A video monitoring service extends a manager’s reach. With little time and effort by management, the service will reveal recurring patterns and will point management to the issues that have the biggest impact. Once identified, solutions are often simple, such as additional staff training, a modified check-out process, moving a food storage area to a different location. The result is happier and more loyal customers, better social media reviews, and improved performance for the entire establishment.

If you’re currently using a video monitoring service in your establishment, ask your vendor to help you focus on the customer experience issues most relevant to you. If you’re not, look for a company offering “video monitoring as a service.” You’ll find they offer some of the most powerful and cost-effective tools available to improve your establishment’s performance and ensure that your business runs the way you’ve always believed it could.

VideoData Insights provides video monitoring service solutions to restaurants, clubs and bars, and to several other select industries.

Our primarily people-based­ solution lets us monitor and report on details and context that automated camera solutions simply can’t track. If you’d like more information, please connect with me on LinkedIn or contact us here.