This time of the year is the busiest for everyone. People are busy making sweets, shopping and celebrating. Restaurants are packed with customers in celebratory mood. Service is in full swing and this is when you need to don the role of captain of the ship. The busiest season also means room for errors. Without a tight plan you won’t have a cracker of a season. From the menu to your staff, everything needs to be in place. If you want to be a part of the celebrations and make the most of festive season, get into planning mode right now.

Stock up

From corporate lunches to family dinners, this Diwali you will see your restaurant bookings spike. If you have experienced a similar season last year, don’t forget to revisit sales and inventory data. Stock up on your supplies well in advance to get the most and the best from your vendors. If you have a special menu for the season, you have more reason to do so. Customers don’t like to be denied a dish you have advertised about and couldn’t serve because you weren’t prepared for it. Nothing like a scorned customer, especially on Diwali. Stock up adequately on ingredients and produce, and have the everyone in your staff contribute to the prep work needed at the time.

Communicating with customers

For a successful run this season you not only need to ensure every aspect of the restaurant is like a well oiled machine, but also need the cooperation of your customers. Of course, you can’t downright ask them for it. But a few words to encourage them to order sooner will ensure most tables are not only full but can refilled with more diners. Don’t forget to be nice about it. If you have diners waiting to be seated, make sure they have at least one staff member to greet diners and provide them with updates and menus. Nobody wants to keep checking on their table every 5 minutes with the manager. Prompt updates from the staff will keep the diners calm.

In a situation where you’re expecting large crowds, plan ahead and make more room at the bar for people to wait. In case you don’t have a bar, create a space for them to be seated. Hopefully everything goes delightfully smooth, but if something goes wrong, stay calm and deal with the situation with patience. Take the high road and be the bigger person, regardless of whose fault it is. It’s best to keep the ball rolling instead of stopping to pass it on to customer.

Talk to your team

There have been instances when the staff (particularly the ones answering phones) don’t know if there’s anything different or special the restaurant is going to for a particular season or festival. When that happens, you lose a potential customer immediately. People start making enquiries and pay more attention to what restaurants are doing during festivals and holidays. They’re looking for special treats and there isn’t a dearth of them in any big city these days. You have to let your staff in on every promotion happening at the restaurant at least a week in advance. They are the face (or voice) of your restaurant. If they won’t know what’s happening, how will your customers?

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First of all, if you aren’t planning on doing anything special at your restaurant this Diwali, you should. Even if it’s not something for dine in customers, you can do something different for delivery service. There will be a sizable number of people ordering in while they play host. From kababs and biryani to pizza, from mithai to brownies – you have a wide range of food to play around with. And lastly, don’t forget to share your success with your staff by being generous with their Diwali bonus/gifts/tips.