Restaurant Reservationist Job Description, Skills, and Salary
Get to know about the duties, responsibilities, qualifications, and skills requirements of a restaurant reservationist. Feel free to use our restaurant reservationist job description template to produce your own. We also provide you with information about the salary you can earn as a restaurant reservationist.
Who is a Restaurant Reservationist?
An employee in a restaurant who takes reservations on behalf of clients is known as a restaurant reservationist. Reservations at restaurants are plans made in advance by patrons to guarantee a table for their group at a particular time. You can make a reservation at a restaurant over the phone, online, through a third-party app or website, in person, at the restaurant, or even via text messaging. When it comes to diners finding a seat at their preferred restaurant, convenience is essential. Reservations, however, offer a lot more to the restaurant owner than just what they do for the customers.
They often hold a customer-facing position at the front desk of a business or office. Customers can contact them via phone or in person, and they can ask inquiries and arrange reservations or travel. Typically, reservation agents work for the following categories of companies:
- Hotels
- Resorts\sAirlines
- Restaurants
- ship lines
- medical facilities
- transport businesses
There are several private businesses with in-house reservationists that organize travel for staff. This might be especially useful for businesses whose staff frequently travel for business.
Working in a range of businesses, reservationists offer vital services to clients and tourists. Making and managing bookings enables food and rental businesses to run and help numerous clients. If you enjoy interacting with people and are exceptionally organized, you could be interested in working as a reservationist.
To adapt to consumers’ ever-changing wants, the restaurant sector has dynamically transformed how it operates in recent years. Restaurants gradually moving away from being mostly walk-in and toward being increasingly reservation-based is one such development.
Although a significant portion of a restaurant’s patrons still arrives via walk-ins, recent surveys have revealed that more than 50% of clients prefer to reserve a table in advance. People appreciate having guaranteed tables since eating out is becoming more popular because it prevents them from having to wait in line or, worse still, from being dissatisfied and having to leave the restaurant altogether. Additionally, customers have been emphasizing excellent service as one of the key components of a memorable dining experience, and standing in line is most definitely not a part of that.
Calls have been the only option for making reservations at restaurants for years. But now that the digital era has taken off, restaurants can use internet platforms to increase bookings. Even if phone calls are a fantastic direct source of reservations, enhancing them with online channels can greatly expand the visibility and reach of your restaurant.
With reservations, diners can reserve a table at a restaurant in advance for a specific time. But reservations may accomplish much more for restaurants.
To ensure that you don’t lose any clients, you should first appeal to the expanding market of diners who like to have reservations for tables.
Additionally, restaurant reservations make it simple for visitors to understand when they should show up, which improves the efficiency of your dinner service. If everything goes according to plan, your clients will be seated as close to their scheduled time as possible, making for pleased clients who will almost probably return.
They are also beneficial while preparing the floor plan for use (especially when dealing with larger groups). If you own a restaurant and know how many patrons will be there in advance, you can plan your tables accordingly. For larger parties, such as a group of eight or more, you might set up eight- and fifteen-seat tables.
Additionally, knowing how many guests you need to serve will enable your kitchen staff, servers, and hostesses to properly prepare for their requirements. The chefs and waiters will have adequate notice to prepare for the approaching audience at a certain hour if the reservation schedule shows that the floors will be crowded. This not only relieves pressure on your personnel but also improves their readiness and ability to give exceptional customer service even during busy periods.
When making a reservation, customers are also likely to offer their contact information. By doing this, businesses can build a reliable guest database that they can utilize for future marketing and promotions. Overall, bookings are essential to enhance your restaurant performance.
Many businesses’ faces can be found in reservationists. They are the individuals that answer the phone when you dial a hotel, restaurant, etc. to make a reservation or inquire about your experience there. Their responsibility is to ensure that each reservation is processed correctly and promptly while also offering exceptional customer service.
Restaurant reservationists may be required to handle several calls concurrently, thus they must be well-versed in multitasking and effective communicators.
Restaurant Reservationist Job Description
Below are the restaurant reservationist job description examples you can use to develop your resume or write a restaurant reservationist job description for your employee. Employers can also use it to sieve out job seekers when choosing candidates for interviews.
- Take bookings from customers in person, over the phone, or online, record them and assign tables by their requests and the suggestions of the automated system.
- Greet visitors politely and professionally, at the door and lead them to a table.
- Make sure menus are current, clean, and marked with “free.”
- Ask customers if they are happy with the food, the service, and the reservation.
- Notify management as needed about the requirement for dining room equipment and supplies.
- Check and prepare the reservation area for the following before each day’s service and at night. day
- Help waiters and other front-of-house employees with preparations for menus, posters, tags, and other items. requirements
- Complete any additional tasks that Management assigns.
Qualifications
- At least one to two years of experience working as a hostess, host, or attendant in a restaurant is required.
- Effective communication skills and a pleasant disposition are also requirements.
- Possess basic computer abilities in MS Office and Excel is preferred.
- Preference for knowledge of the Seven Rooms online reservation system or an equivalent
Essential Skills
- Communication: As a restaurant reservationist, you must be able to communicate effectively with clients, employers, and coworkers. Customers are informed of various offers and reservation packages by these employees, and they must get clear and accurate information for customers to make the proper reservations. They must also let the rest of the team know about these reservations so that the company can get ready for the visitors.
- Organization: To manage multiple bookings as well as the consumer information necessary for those reservations, reservationists must be organized. Depending on the company they work for, they may need to organize names, times, dates, and credit card information. They also frequently manage several clients and schedules, necessitating the use of organizational abilities to keep track of various clients’ preferences, past reservations, and contact details.
- Computer expertise: To aid with organizing, many businesses save their reservations in computer systems. It is necessary to have a foundational understanding of how computers operate as well as the ability to utilize email and scheduling tools to use these services. Utilizing technology to make scheduling and reservations easier may be possible for reservationists who are proficient with these computer systems.
- Consumer assistance: When making bookings, responding to inquiries, and interacting with clients, reservationists need strong customer service abilities. Speaking with customers, showing empathy for their circumstances, and making an effort to ensure they have the experience they want are all parts of providing customer service. Customer service abilities can be used by reservationists to work out a resolution to a client’s issue and guarantee the client will keep using their services.
- Multitasking: The ability to multitask is necessary for reservationists who frequently handle many reservations at once. For instance, they might manage reservations on a computer or in a booking system while working at a front desk or call center and conversing with clients. It can be beneficial for them to keep a pleasant attitude while working fast to effectively establish bookings and address any concerns.
How to Collect Comments Regarding the Reservation Procedure
- Surveys of customers and employees: The greatest method to learn about consumers’ dining preferences is to ask them for comments. Utilize surveys to help you customize your reservation procedure and better serve your customers. Employees shouldn’t be ignored either because they serve as your company’s eyes and ears. Customer satisfaction (CSAT) surveys typically consist of questions used to gauge customer satisfaction with various business operations and identify development opportunities. For instance, towards the bottom of your receipts, place a link to a survey with a few brief questions to gauge their satisfaction. Do you have a reservation for lunch or supper this afternoon? “Would you refer a friend to us? “, etc. The experience and satisfaction of diners who and who do not make reservations can be compared using this data to conclude.
- Social media scraping and online evaluations: One of the finest methods to keep tabs on what people are saying about your company without soliciting input is through social media and online review sites. Online reviews of your company can be found in plenty. It takes far too long to manually track and analyze the patterns. However, there are several customer experience management tools available that can assist by employing text analytics to uncover new patterns and important data, immediately notifying you when clients are discussing a particular problem, like reservations.
- comment sheets: A comment card box is a fantastic initial step if you want to gather consumer feedback but aren’t ready to invest in software. Request that customers provide their phone number or email address with comments. If a customer complains that they waited 30 minutes for their reservation, you can call them back and even offer them a gift card for their subsequent visit.
Giving a gift card in response to every complaint might not be practical, but that’s good. How far a simple phone call can go will amaze you. Most of the time, clients simply want to be heard.
How to Become a Restaurant Reservationist
- Obtain your high school diploma: Some employers demand that reservationists possess a general education or high school graduation (GED). Having a diploma might demonstrate that you have good time management, fundamental math abilities, and problem-solving abilities. If you can demonstrate these talents in another way, such as through references from prior employment experiences, you may not require a diploma to gain a position as a reservationist. Consider getting your diploma nonetheless if you want to grow in your reservationist job because it can open up more options for you.
- Obtain customer service training: Many reservationists take on customer service jobs to hone their customer service abilities and get experience. You can think about taking an entry-level position in customer service in one of the following sectors:
- customer services
- Travel\Hospitality
- food delivery
- Retail
You must communicate with clients in these fields, respond to their inquiries, and assist them in finding solutions to tasks that reservationists also carry out. You can learn how to interact with consumers and develop your organizational procedures through this experience. You might pick up some useful computer skills while working in these kinds of positions because many businesses utilize them to arrange consumer information.
- Make a compelling résumé: You can start building your CV to highlight your qualifications for reservationist employment once you have acquired customer service experience. List your experiences in reverse chronological order, starting with your most recent job. Consider using statistics or other quantifiable evidence to demonstrate your abilities. Try to highlight the experiences that have taught you how to collaborate with others and create well-organized plans. Additionally, you can draw attention to your skills by placing a list of them at the top of your resume, where a hiring manager can quickly locate them.
- Apply for a job: Look for opportunities as a restaurant reservationist in your area, then start applying. You might inquire whether they are aware of any openings if you have a network of customer service experts from prior experiences. Additionally, you can look for open employment online. Send hiring managers your CV, cover letter, and references when you apply for positions. By using the criteria and skills from the job ad that relates to you, you may develop personalized application materials for each job you apply for.
Where to work as Restaurant Reservationist
- Restaurants
- Hotels
Restaurant Reservationist Salary Scale
In the USA, the average compensation for a restaurant reservationist is $29,250 per year or $15 per hour. Most experienced professionals earn up to $37,050 per year, while entry-level roles start at $27,300.
In the UK, restaurant reservations typically make £24,000 a year, or £12.31 an hour. Most experienced workers earn up to £35,000 per year, while entry-level roles begin at £21,450.