6 Ways to Improve Communications with Delivery Drivers

With the meteoric rise of food delivery apps, food delivery drivers now play an essential role in a restaurant's success. Often, they're the first human contact a customer has with your eatery, and they can influence customers' opinions for better or for worse. As such, one ideal way to keep your customers happy is to make sure your delivery drivers are professional and efficient. But to achieve this balance, your restaurant will need clear communication with your drivers.

Building a relationship with your drivers is crucial, whether you employ in-house drivers or have an established partnership with a third-party delivery app. Communication is instrumental in getting orders out quickly and accurately to boost customer retention. In food delivery, time is of the essence, and miscommunication can quickly lead to negative reviews and a shrinking customer base.

Fortunately, there are actionable ways to improve communications with delivery drivers and improve customer satisfaction across the board.

1. Communicate Order Statuses with Your Drivers

The most efficient delivery services are those where the restaurant and the food delivery drivers are on the same page. Don't wait until the drivers are waiting impatiently by the kitchen to exchange information — instead, make sure they already know the order's status before they even arrive. Communicating this crucial info in advance allows drivers to plan accordingly. Forewarned and forearmed, they can grab multiple orders at once to maximize their time or stop to fuel up before heading out on the next round of stops.

To help your in-house or third-party delivery drivers work at peak efficiency, you can use a restaurant online ordering system like Deliverect, which includes a pickup screen feature to streamline communication. With one glance at the pickup screen, drivers can view the status of their order and know when it’s their turn to pick up the order. The pickup screen removes the confusion of whether orders are ready and cuts down on order mistakes from miscommunication even during busy lunch or dinner rushes.

2. Introduce a Text Service

One superb yet straightforward way to improve communications with delivery drivers is to introduce a texting service. Consider this: 99% of text messages get opened, unlike phone calls, which often go unanswered, or emails, which on average have an 18% open rate. Investing in a text messaging system means that you don't have to worry about your drivers missing an important message from your restaurant about a customer's order.

Introducing a simple text service will show your drivers that you care about the customer receiving their order on time and value the drivers' safety. An easy safety system might involve drivers sending an "arrived" or "delivered" text when they reach each checkpoint, allowing you to keep tabs on their safe progress through service.

3. Pick Up the Phone

Texting has many useful applications, but some situations still lend themselves to a good old-fashioned phone call. With technology now dominating the landscape, people often forget that making a phone call is still an effective way to communicate. In fact, some of your less tech-savvy customers still prefer to call in and directly place an order. You can't beat a human touch, no matter how advanced technology becomes.

 Picking up the phone is also something you can apply to interactions with your food delivery drivers. If your message is complicated, a phone call is actually quicker than texting. Plus, it offers more chances for clarification and quickly fosters a relationship between the driver and the restaurant.

4. Keep Drivers Updated on Your Restaurant's Policies and Standards

As the pandemic has shown, events can cause dramatic policy shifts in a short time. And because your drivers are front-line workers directly interacting with your customers, they must stay well informed of your new policies.

If you have new hours, be sure to let drivers know so that they aren't camping outside of your restaurant when you're closed for the day. As you tweak your cleaning protocols, share the updates with your drivers to make sure they meet any new requirements.

 Another way you can improve communications with delivery drivers is to set them up for success. That means appropriately training them on food safety, showing them how to communicate with your customers effectively, and ensuring they have everything they need to meet your standards, whether that includes insulated carriers, face masks, gloves, or hand sanitizer.

5. Ask for Drivers' Feedback

Even though food delivery drivers work for you, they should always be treated as equals. Asking for their opinions and feedback is an excellent way to improve communications with delivery drivers, plus gain valuable insight. They are often the first people to experience your delivery process, even before your customers. So, naturally, they will have a unique point of view on how you can improve your strategy.

Drivers might even surprise you with creative ways you can better the customer experience. However, it doesn't just stop at hearing what they have to say. This can only be authentic communication if you listen and are genuinely open to implementing any of their brilliant ideas.

6. Provide Excellent Work Conditions

In the restaurant business, the customers' experience is the top priority. However, great service shouldn't just be limited to customers; it should also extend to the people on your team who make your restaurant run like a well-oiled machine — i.e., your staff and delivery drivers.

Keeping your drivers happy encourages them to work hard and provide excellent service, which also ties directly into your customers' happiness. Foster a more positive staff by paying drivers a reasonable and competitive wage, providing them with health insurance, and introducing some perks.

There are plenty of things you can implement. For example, you can provide your drivers with restaurant swag to wear, give them discounts on your food, or offer snacks for them to grab and go. Going the extra mile to provide perks to your drivers is an out-of-the-ordinary way to improve communication with delivery drivers. It gives them the incentive to continue working for you and makes them more likely to reach out if they have concerns or suggestions.

Deliverect

Making sure you improve communications with delivery drivers is vital to the success of your business. It ensures a successful customer experience, boosts your reputation, and helps your restaurant earn more revenue.

If you're looking for restaurant management software that streamlines communication with your drivers, then look no further than Deliverect. Our platform can help you manage and automate orders, monitor your inventory, seamlessly integrate with your current POS system, and more.

Are you interested in learning more about our tool? Contact us today to discover new solutions for your unique business.