Just about every large brand is auditing their locations to ensure basic health, safety and brand standards are being met. And it’s a smart move, considering many of today's consumers say that safety is still most important when choosing where to eat. Ongoing survey data from McKinsey & Company proves that general consumer sentiment will remain cautiously optimistic and more health conscious through 2021.
But you can rest easy - we've got 6 sure-fire ways to make your restaurant audits a success.
1 
ELIMINATE SURPRISES
Its unrealistic that you'll get a clear and accurate picture of your location's operations from one person's observations. Ensure operations are running smoothly with random, objective reports from a certified third party auditing company. We've talked before about the halo/horn effect, human bias will always come into play when observing others and impact the accuracy of their reports.
2 DIG INTO SPECIFICS
A 3rd party can objectively observe, record and comment on every step of a process or routine that might otherwise be challenging for a manager to accurately capture during an observation. And your teams will naturally behave differently when they know someone is watching. How can you answer 'what's happening when no one is looking'?
3 BUILD A COACHING CULTURE
While today, your teams may act or behave differently when no one is watching, its not impossible to develop a team that excels and takes pride in following policies and procedures. With that objective report of your team's actual step by step actions - you and your managers can have easy, constructive conversations about why things went the way they did and how to improve.
4 GET BACK IN FRONT OF YOUR BUSINESS
Thanks to technology, the days of checklists and walkthroughs taking up chunks of your store and area manager's valuable time is over. Get them back where they need to be - leading by example and managing your sales and guest experience. And let services like virtual video or mystery shop audits identify where they need to focus to improve performance.
5 SPEND TIME TRAINING
If knowing is half the battle, consider how often you and your managers are explaining the why behind an important policy, procedure or standard when training or coaching an employee. Are you telling teams what to do or teaching them why a policy or procedure is important and what may happen if not followed? It may seem common sense, and yes, it is their job to follow those procedures but sharing the why educates and can even inspire your employees to perform better.
6 CREATE A SENSE OF OWNERSHIP
We all want to be productive and see that we're contributing to something important. Track your top performers based on performance trends across your locations. Then, assign them as experts to encourage peer to peer training and sharing of best practices. This offers high performing employees a bit of praise and recognition while offering a more casual and open forum for others to ask questions and get extra training.
Setting your business up for success with audit services like DTiQ's remote video SmartAudits™ or our in-person mystery shops won't only help ensure your locations have successful restaurant audits. It will provide insights needed for your managers to continually create a consistent, elevated customer experience that will be sure to encourage loyalty and higher average tickets for the long run.
Are you implementing any of the above tips today?
Tell us what works for you to ensure you're getting top marks on restaurant audits.
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