Incorporating Mr Yum into your Service Model

Through working with over a thousand venues, we've learned that mobile ordering is most successful when integrated into your service model. We want your customers and your staff to have the best experience possible and this means incorporating Mr Yum into your sequence of service, in the way that best suits your operations.
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Service model options with Mr Yum

1. The 'all in' model

100% of your customer's orders are placed at the table via the Mr Yum mobile menu.

The 'all in' model has some big benefits around increasing revenue, operational efficiencies, and capturing 100% of data, though we understand this doesn't suit every style of venue.

Already chosen to go all-in with Mr Yum? We've put together this fantastic training and education guide to help you get the most out of the platform and ensure your customers have the best time.

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2. The 'hybrid' model

You encourage your customers to order from Mr Yum at the table as the default method of ordering, but also allow them to order from the bar, counter or with your staff - whichever they prefer.

Even though ordering through Mr Yum has been proven to increase your spend per head, you want to offer both customer journeys to your guests.

"You're always going to get some older people who are say the QR code doesn't work on my phone... So having staff out there who can still take an order [is important], I think you do need both [mobile ordering & traditional]. At the moment 80% of our orders outside are going through Mr Yum and the amount of sales going through that area is increasing every week."

- Jessie Helyar, Bondi Beach Public Bar -‍

You've adopted Mr Yum in a mixed service environment: What's going to change and how to be prepared.

Communication is key.

You've adopted Mr Yum for a reason and, from what we've learned, the majority of customers will choose Mr Yum vs ordering traditionally when given the choice. Sam Shaw, Area Manager from South Wharf Restaurants talks of 60-70% of customers ordering drinks during peak hours through Mr Yum that would otherwise try to get a waiter's attention. This has resulted in a 20 - 30% increase in beverage sales as well as a lift in back bar spirits & cocktail sales.

It's important to communicate both verbally and non verbally about how to order from Mr Yum.
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Verbal communication

Your staff aren't going anywhere and we encourage guest interaction. Some opportunities of how to communicate Mr Yum verbally might include:

• Floor staff and hosting staff (heck, even your security staff and COVID-19 Marshalls!) advising customers how they can order upon entering the venue. Customers love this. It's a nice warm welcome and the customer begins spending as soon as they enter the venue. Their first minutes in your venue are spent socialising with their fellow guests, instead of standing in a line.
• Bar staff and service staff providing advise upon fulfilling an order. We all love a good chat with our wise bartender. Any good bartender worth their weight is a great counsellor.After a bartender has taken an order and promptly prepared it for the guest, a nice piece of advice could go a long way. For example, "Hey, just so you know, you don't need to line up next time if you don't want to. You'll get your drinks much fast if you scan the QR code at your table".

Written Communication & Signage

Maybe there's no door person. Or maybe the customer is just in a hurry to join their party and miss the whole spiel. But there's no reason they can't be informed of the best way to order.

Clear, concise call to actions around your venue are going to be key to in this scenario.

Some examples of written communication and collateral include:

• Signage on entry and exit. Let them know before from the moment they step through your doors how they can order. And just in case they missed it, why not let them know how they can order next time on the way out?
• Mr Yum offers free Mr Yum, on-brand table collateral at your request. This is your primary go to and will live on every table, bar top or surface you can stick them. They're waterproof, have a clear call to action, and include the table number the guest is currently parked at.
• We're pretty lucky to live in Australia. It's super convenient having bathrooms with running water at every turn. Do you know what else is convenient? Ordering a beverage while you're in the bathroom. Back of the toilet stall doors, QR codes, trust us.
• At the Bar! The bar staff are getting slammed and it's been a bit of a wait to get the front of the queue and order drinks and a schnitty. But you know what? You can't carry the four beers and the shots. So you don't order the shots and the venue misses out on the sale and you're no longer the hero you wanted to be. The bar staff, legends as they are, are a little too slammed to upsell Mr Yum right now. We recommend putting some clear Mr Yum Signage on your bar and your blackboards to help avoid this pickle.

Check out the Mr Yum Collateral Guide anytime to answer FAQs.

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Operational changes

Adopting a tool with such a positive impact on your customer's behaviour and your business is going to come with its relevant operational tweaks. Mr Yum has thousands of venues and we've taken what we have learned from working with some of the best pubs and bars in Australia such as Stomping Ground, Matilda Bay, Little Creatures & Bondi Public Bar and put this guide together to give you a head start.

Runners

Customers are now ordering more while walking and lining up less. With every conveniently placed order and increase in spend per head is a drink or plate waiting to be run to the customer. Remember to staff runners accordingly to ensure that the customers have a great end to end experience using Mr Yum.
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Dedicated Dispense Bar

With customers now ordering from where they're sitting, your bar will now begin to receive dockets, the way they would in a restaurant in addition to the orders being placed verbally at the bar. Mr Yum sends your orders to your POS, which then send your orders the relevant bar printers. It's therefore important to ensure that your Mr Yum dockets are being tendered to in a timely fashion.

• If possible, dedicate a space in the bar for preparing and dispensing Mr Yum orders. You'll be getting more orders at once, so bartenders will be able to batch drinks in a more scaleable way, the way a kitchen works.
• First come first served but great customer service and communication is always key. If a Mr Yum docket prints first, and someone approaches the bar halfway through making this order. Acknowledging the customer at the bar, and letting them know you're just finishing a table's order ensures the customer knows they're not being ignored. This is also a great segway into advising the customer that they can order from Mr Yum next time.
• Ensure one or more of the bar crew is designated as the dispense bartender for that service. Ensuring there is always someone in charge of serving these orders.
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The Labour Model

Ok, we've just told you that you're going to get more sales and that you need runners and a dispense bartender. But does that mean your staff costs are going to increase? Well, if Mr Yum is working well, then possibly yes. But in this scenario, the additional costs are easily offset by the additional sales.

However, in most cases, the answer is no, as we are not talking about increasing labour as much as we are redistributing labour.
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How does it all work? An example

Here's the ops manager from Verandah Bar, Sharni, going over their sequence of service before Mr Yum and how it looks after.

The Old Model:

On a typical Friday lunch there are usually 2 bartenders, a glassy and a staff member who clears tables. The glassy also clears tables when needed. The two bartenders are usually met by two lines of customers happily ordering their Friday drinks. That's 100% of orders going to 2 bartenders.
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The New Model:

The venue can now serve more customers, faster, with the same size team and an increase in their spend per head. The numbers work as follows (stick with us, no scary maths here!).

Bartender 1 prioritises Mr Yum Dockets and can now make more beverages per minute as they are spending less time speaking to customers and more time on the manufacturing process. They're also able to look at multiple orders on their docket rail and make multiple of the same beverage at once (eg, 4 margaritas on order in total, making this in one batch is more efficient than making 4 individual batches).

Bartender 2 prioritises the physical line, but the line is significantly reduced as 60% of orders are now ordering through Mr Yum. The staff member who was clearing tables is now also running food (full hands in two directions), and the glassy is now running drinks in one direction and clearing glasses in the other.

Customers are ordering more as Mr Yum is upselling and standing in line and leaving the conversation is no longer a deterrent.