Parking spaces have become a necessity for any business, including restaurants. One of the first things customers look for before visiting a restaurant is the convenience of parking their vehicles, and how far or near a car park is from the business, they are planning to visit. Therefore, restaurant owners must ensure that their parking spaces remain available for their potential customers even if they don’t own a big car park. Unfortunately, most restaurant owners don’t know how to optimise their car parks and get the most out of them because they don’t usually pay attention to them.
Don’t worry! This piece of writing will introduce you to some effective ways to make the most of your limited restaurant car park. So, without further ado, let’s cut to the chase!
Remove Unnecessary Objects
One of the most common reasons why most restaurant owners are unable to use their car park efficiently is the presence of unwanted objects in their Restaurant parking spaces. Remember, if you don’t move the objects out of the way, motorists will not be able to use the parking space, leading to cause inconvenience. Removing unnecessary things from the car park will make parking spaces available for potential customers, and they will feel more comfortable when visiting your restaurant.
You should not allow dumpsters in your car park. Move them away from parking spots. Watch out for vehicles that never seem to leave the car park unless it’s to make a delivery in their company truck with the appropriate signage and getaway stickers affixed. If you can’t find the owner of a vehicle parked on your property for more than three hours, have their car towed if legal as punishment for misconducting parking space. You may even consider charging them a parking penalty.
Ask Your Staff to Park Their Vehicles Off-Site
The staff at your restaurant may take up a lot of parking spaces that you would prefer to reserve for guests. Even putting them farther away from the restaurant may still be too close to the spots visitors need access to. If you don’t have enough parking space on the street, purchase more spots with another business in the area that has underused parking; this will not only be cheaper than renting an entirely new parking space, but it is much more cost-effective as well.
Alternatively, you could even encourage your restaurant staff to ride bikes or scooters to work if you’re able to secure racks for keeping their belongings safe. This is an effective way to keep the parking areas available for your guests.
Provide Parking Information on Your Website
When you open a restaurant and want to let the public know what they can expect, one thing you must include on your website is the information about your Restaurant’s car park. It’s not only important to let your customers know what services are available but also the availability of these services during certain times of the day or night. There may be certain restrictions on how many cars can be parked in your restaurant’s car park at any given moment that could make customers wonder if they should still come to your restaurant despite this.
You should also prioritise a list of alternative parking solutions during peak hours, especially if you don’t want people to pass up on your establishment. Also, remember that most customers likely don’t read through all the information posted on your website regarding policies. Ensure it’s included in relevant advertisements and pamphlets either online or offline.
Have Reserved Public Parking Spots for Your Customers
Some restaurants offer parking validation, meaning that if customers purchase food in the restaurant, they receive free parking for a certain period. Now, you could have your customers park in a public lot and offer them a free or cheap/subsidised parking voucher.
Call ahead to get information about whether or not they would provide any discount, and let customers know (either via social media or through your menus) about this inexpensive way for more people to visit your establishment! You can even have some public parking spaces reserved for your customers so that if your restaurant’s car park is wholly occupied, your guests will still have spots to park their cars.
Partner with Other Businesses
Sometimes businesses with lots of employees like law firms and banks can create an issue for a restaurant because people with an intention to visit the restaurant use parking spaces of such businesses. So, they may charge restaurant customers parking penalties or even tow their cars. However, a good thing about restaurants is that they usually get the most business later in the afternoon and into the night.
If you own one of the locations nearby, it would be great if you could talk to those businesses about sharing their car park with your guests or giving them something in return, such as discounts on food or special offers for your restaurant to attract new customers! This can ameliorate your guests’ parking experience and even allow you to gain new customers.
Encourage Customers to Use Alternative Transportation Options
As a restaurant business owner, you can also encourage your customers to utilise other modes of transportation to reach your establishment if they can. Not only will this leave more parking spaces available for those who need them most, but it will also help enhance the air quality in the surrounding area. You could encourage alternate forms of transportation by displaying relevant information such as bus stop or bike rack locations alongside information about limited parking options available on your premises so that people can know what’s nearby beforehand.
Well, this method might not work for most customers, but even if it impacts a few people and they start considering alternative transportation options, traffic congestion will significantly be reduced in your car park. So, being a restaurant owner, you should try this out.
Use Technology to Manage Your Restaurant Car Park
No matter how big or small a car park you own, you can’t get the most out of it unless you optimise the Restaurant parking spaces. Thankfully, a wide range of innovative parking solutions is available now that can be integrated into car parks to manage them effectively. So, if you are running a restaurant business and want to ensure that your customers will never face inconvenience when parking their vehicles, consider utilising the latest technology to manage your restaurant’s car park.
Conclusion
As with any changes in any food-related business, it’s vital to ensure you’re covering all your bases. The better the customer service experience, the happier your customers will be, and the more likely they will return for another meal or recommend their friends! If your business establishments have increased customer traffic due to new marketing and promotion strategies, ensure you leave enough space for their vehicles.
Always check with your staff to see if they are able to accommodate parking requests from guests, and make sure you post information about open spots at your establishments in case there happens to be none. It might also help to run special offers or promotions explicitly related to parking costs for patrons to take advantage of so that you can draw traffic into your restaurant.
Nevertheless, you should contact Euro Parking Services if you require professional assistance managing your restaurant’s parking space. We are a leading team of experts who can provide you with the best parking management services in the United Kingdom. Don’t worry about the service cost; most of our services require almost no investment.Â