We’ve been open for 8 months and I would like to start up delivery. I’m considering a soft launch to a few surrounding neighborhoods for the first 2 weeks. This is my first a and I’ve never worked in a delivery restaurant. So I’m trying to soak up as much as I can. Here’s where I’m at:
I use Point of Success which has driver dispatch feature and integrates with mapping software.
I purchased a box-label printer.
I purchased a non-owned auto endorsement to my policy (a reasonable $861/year premium I thought).
We have 2 telephone lines.
I have no office in my restaurant and no real room to put one. There is very little space left in my kitchen. The current “togo” person hangs out at the hostess stand and near the bar. She enters her orders on one of the 3 waitstaff workstations.
So, my specific questions are regarding 3 and 4:
Are two lines enough? If I add another line, I’ll have to invest in a new phone system which will be a substantial cost. Would I be better off investing in online ordering to help alleviate orders on the phone?
How are dispatches handled typically? Do you have one person that is in charge of dispatching drivers? Is that the person who answers the phone? Does that person need to by physically located near where the drivers load out? Any other advice on how to physically place the person who answers the phone and dispatches the drivers?
I think I’m going to invest in an upright warming cabinet for the kitchen to store DELCO orders while waiting to be picked up. Any other ideas.
What else do I need to consider when launching delivery? I’m really kind of blind going into this so any advice would be useful…
A soft start sounds like a great idea so you can see the impact on your operation. You do not want your dine in to be negatively impacted.
I run a DELCO shop and with two phone lines and using paper tickets with good people on the phones we were able to take orders fast enough to back up a double stck of Lincoln 1450’s with 5.5 min cook time but we did not have to worry about taking care of customers in a dine in environment so your situation is different. On a Friday night I would have 2 people assigned to the counter/phones and if additional help was needed either a floater from the kitchen or a driver stepped in. I don’t know how it would work best with your operation but that is what we do.
In our operation the cut table bags the orders and places them in the rack in order by delivery time. The drivers take the oldest order and, if something will pair up with it, they take a double. I or the shift manager will keep an eye on what they are taking to make sure they are following the rules. With a POS you can see what the drivers take and when. If I have to babysit them continuosly they are not mature enough to work for me, but I do have to keep tabs on them to see if someone is cheating. One warning and then they start losing hours. A double makes sense only if it results in customers getting their food faster, a triple rarely makes sense. If you have an order in the rack ready to go and a driver in the store waiting, 9 times out of 10 you are losing ground. If the rack starts to fill up, I, or a senior driver will pair up runs so the drivers can just come in grab them and go.
Pay close attention to drivers that look at every order in the kitchen, they know who tips big and who stiffs. I have had drivers that would sit and wait a block from the store for other drivers to cycle through so they miss the stiffs.
Have a defined policy of who is responsible for what. In our shop, the cut table is responsible for sauces or dressings and the driver is responsible for checking they are there. The driver is responsible for getting drinks, parm packets and crushed red.
Let your bags air out every night. The steam from the pizza not only makes the crust get soggy with time, it also makes your bags moist. then they will get mildew. Not very attractive to see.
As far as the warming cabinet, heatedbags are nice, I don’t know how a new warming cabinet compares in price, but with the heated bags the pizza stays hotter longer in the car.
2 options,
get a magic jack and have roll over to that number when line 2 is busy, or call waiting for sure on line 2, I prefer and use without problems magic jack.
you absolutely need a warming station,
Sorry, I was mistaken - we pay 1700/year (861 bi-annually). It’s through State Farm. My original State Farm Policy actually covered non-owned auto but they revised it this year. When they sent me the quote, all premiums were listed annually except the non-owned auto so I was confused. Anyway, I think $1700 is still a very good deal…