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Archives for all posts by Phil Smith

simpleERB features

Adding an area for Valentines Day

We’ve only just had Christmas but with Valentines Day looming we wanted to point you in the direction of a neat little ‘hack’. This might make your planning for special occasions or one off events in your restaurant run a little more smoothly. Last year, one of our users, Allium by Mark Ellis, came ...
Phil Smith
Phil Smith

Tips & advice

Christmas: how simpleERB can help

Christmas. The dreaded ‘c’ word. Organising large bookings, managing deposits, dealing with no shows. It can be tough running a restaurant in December. Luckily, simpleERB has some neat features and clever hacks which can help make Christmas a little easier for you. Make sure you’ve got the right availability...
Phil Smith
Phil Smith

Uncategorized

Outdoor area setup

Outdoor weather is upon us and we’ve been daydreaming through this list of 30 must visit beer gardens in the UK over the past few days. Plans are being made and over the next few months we are hoping there’s enough sunshine to sample at least one or two al fresco afternoons in the Great British pubs...
Phil Smith
Phil Smith

simpleERB features

Engage with your customers

TripAdvisor recently released a study showing the benefits of being engaged with your customers online. It highlighted that in cases where you were seen to interact and be ‘visible’, engagement through TripAdvisor increased. Over the last few years, like them or loathe them, TripAdvisor have become ...
Phil Smith
Phil Smith

News

New feature product update - May 2017

We just wanted to give you a quick heads up on the updates we’ve made to simpleERB over the past few days. We’ve already brought in offers and we’re working towards a few more things to complement this feature. This week we’ve made a change to the mobile site. Although you can view the full site on ...
Phil Smith
Phil Smith

News

HELP! I need somebody...

Help is now at hand with our newly launched simpleERB help centre. Now, don’t get us wrong, we love talking to you and sending you emails. And who doesn’t love getting mail? That said, we bet that every time you need a bit of help on simpleERB, you wish that you didn’t have to find the time to compose...
Phil Smith
Phil Smith

simpleERB features

Are you remembering to tag your customers?

Do you tag customers on simpleERB? Tagging customers can help with many things such as informing your staff about a customer or booking specific information so that they know exactly which page they are on when they walk through your front door. Setting customer tags is also good for your marketing ...
Phil Smith
Phil Smith

simpleERB features

how to use... messages for customers

Messages for customers is one of our new features which we’ve added on the back of some feedback from users. Many of our users wanted to be able to convey specific information to customers depending on when they have booked. Those of you who are familiar with our messages for staff feature, will know...
Phil Smith
Phil Smith

News

new updates now on simpleerb - offers, messages for customers...

We are delighted to bring you this latest update which includes a feature we’ve been wanting to include in simpleERB for a long time. We have always had “Promotions” in simpleERB but we have greatly expanded this kind of functionality in our new offers section. As of today, your simpleERB account will...
Phil Smith
Phil Smith

Uncategorized

Always something there to remind me

Customer reminders are becoming more and more essential to our users. Alongside deposits, they are one of the key ways that you can ensure that your tables don’t end up empty through a no show. Have you set them up yet? setting up customer reminders It’s easy to set up automated reminders. In your simpleERB...
Phil Smith
Phil Smith

Uncategorized

Where do you go to my customer?

Customer retention is important. Yes it’s good to attract new customers through the door but you can never underestimate the importance of having a loyal core of customers who keep coming back. What to do though when the same faces don’t seem to be coming through the door every month? Well, you could...
Phil Smith
Phil Smith

simpleERB features

Taking deposits at specific times

We’ve recently added the ability to take deposits through simpleERB and many of our users have already taken the ball and run with it. One of the great things we find, is that our users all have different ways of using the system. We’ve seen that taking deposits is no different. In basic terms, we set...
Phil Smith
Phil Smith

Updates

Latest simpleERB updates - Dec 2016

We just wanted to let you know about a few updates which we’ve made over the last few weeks. They will probably be the last updates this year but we have loads planned for 2017 and always like to hear if you have any ideas. As well as squashing the odd bug here and there, we’ve added the ability to ...
Phil Smith
Phil Smith

Fun stuff

What to do with leftovers?

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our American readers! We hope you are suitably rested after yesterdays festivities and are avoiding Black Friday as much as you can. If you’re anything like us then you’ll be feasting on cold leftovers today. In fact, we’re of the opinion that the leftovers might be the ...
Phil Smith
Phil Smith

simpleERB features

simpleERB: now even better at being your Christmas helper

Working in the restaurant trade, there’s a good chance that already, you’re getting a bit fed up with Christmas. Sure, the restaurant might be busy for the whole of next month, but it also puts a strain on your staff that isn’t there for the other 11 months of the year. Don’t even mention those friends...
Phil Smith
Phil Smith

News

Local search for restaurants: importance of reviews

Reviews are important. It seems an obvious statement doesn’t it? Just how important can reviews be to your business and it’s online presence though? Well, local search for restaurants is one area that reviews can play a key role. After reading this tête-à-tête between marketing experts David Mihm and...
Phil Smith
Phil Smith

simpleERB features

Refresher: Restaurant messages for staff

We’re putting together some top tips for using simpleERB during the busy Christmas period. Firstly however, we just wanted to quickly remind you of a handy feature than can be used all year round: restaurant messages for staff. You’ll find this useful feature in the advanced settings of your simpleERB...
Phil Smith
Phil Smith

News

Wine advice for the weekend

There aren’t many more daunting things for diners than a restaurant wine list, so we are told. Diners don’t want to seem cheap and order the least pricey bottle but they also don’t usually want to splash out on the top end, usually picking a bottle somewhere around the second or third cheapest. However...
Phil Smith
Phil Smith

simpleERB features

How to add bookings to a waitlist

Maybe a few tables are lingering a bit too long or maybe you are lucky enough to have a plush area for guests to relax in before their meal. Either way, did you know that you can add bookings to a waitlist in simpleERB? When your diner arrives, locate their booking on your screen and open the booking...
Phil Smith
Phil Smith

Fun stuff

Friday fun with paper food

We just wanted to share some light relief with you this Friday courtesy of the clever folks at yelldesign. Drawing on their mutual love of food and papercraft, they have produced a series of videos that look good enough to eat. Papermeal is a collection of videos showing the ‘cooking’ of some of their...
Phil Smith
Phil Smith

simpleERB features

How to...customise table settings

simpleERB’s advanced settings allow you to tailor your restaurant to your exact specifications including letting you customise table settings. The advanced table settings allow you to join tables, amend your default turn times for certain days or dates, rank your tables and close off tables. Table Joins...
Phil Smith
Phil Smith

Fun stuff

What the athletes eating and other Olympic food stories

Everyone been following the Olympics? No? Waiting ’til the track events really get going? Well, whilst we haven’t caught much of it either, we haven’t missed some of the stories doing the rounds about the lack of catering in venues (go Street Food trucks!) or the healthy or unhealthy meals which are...
Phil Smith
Phil Smith

simpleERB features

How to set up your widget settings

Your simpleERB widget settings can now be tailored even further to suit your restaurant. As well as closing times from online booking, you can now set a minimum time between online bookings being made and the customer arriving as well as allowing customers to specify if there are any children in the...
Phil Smith
Phil Smith

News

Reach out and touch the menu

We are constantly throwing new ideas around in the simpleERB test lab. Some, we think are great, others, less so. The good ones usually become part of simpleERB. We also have ideas scribbled on bits of paper that have been there so long, the ink has begun to fade. Every now and again, something will...
Phil Smith
Phil Smith

News

Set minimum time between booking & arrival in widget

Setting a minimum time between booking & arrival is one of our neat new features. It allows you to set your online booking widget to only accept bookings a certain period of time in advance. We’ve said it before but with smartphones commonplace it has never been easier to book a table at a restaurant...
Phil Smith
Phil Smith

News

Latest simpleERB updates - July 2016

We alluded to some big changes that we had been making a few weeks back and we’re pleased to say that many of these features have now been launched to simpleERB users in our latest simpleERB updates. We get a lot of feedback and it’s important for us to understand how our users use simpleERB. Everyone...
Phil Smith
Phil Smith

Foodie

Where did that ingredient really come from?

We look at a lot of menus here at simpleERB HQ. Sometimes it’s because we’re hungry, sometimes it’s because we’re interested in what our users serve in their restaurants, mostly it’s because we like good food. Looking at menus, you quite often get a feel for what trends are doing the rounds but one ...
Phil Smith
Phil Smith

Fun stuff

Never too early for Gin: New ginfographic released

The clever creatives over at our sister company 5pm.co.uk have recently released this ginfographic, celebrating the many gins of Scotland. Gin has increased massively in popularity over the past couple of years so it’s no surprise to see the gin map of Scotland looking particularly full with distillers...
Phil Smith
Phil Smith

simpleERB features

How to set up another restaurant area

We don’t get a huge amount of sunshine here at simpleERB HQ in Scotland but over the last few weeks the office thermometer has soared and we’ve noticed restaurants nearby setting tables up outside wherever they can. We thought we’d give you a quick how to guide on how to set up another restaurant area...
Phil Smith
Phil Smith

Fun stuff

A deconstruction too far

We’ve quite enjoyed reading the storm in a teacup that the now infamous deconstructed flat white in Melbourne has created. Of course, foodies and non-foodies alike have always had strong opinions about the presentation of food, or drink in this case. Whether it’s the ‘We want real plates’ campaign against...
Phil Smith
Phil Smith

News

Sneak Peek! New deposit feature coming soon!

We just wanted to quickly give you a sneak peak at our latest feature, deposits and credit card capture. This is one of the most commonly requested features from our users and it will be one of the biggest updates we’ve made to simpleERB. You’ll be able to set up deposits for certain days, dates and...
Phil Smith
Phil Smith

simpleERB features

How to...make the most of good feedback on simpleERB

Good customer feedback, no matter which industry you are in, is like gold dust. Nowadays, where everything is done online, more and more consumers use the internet to make decisions, based on someone else’s opinion. Whether it be which TV to splash out on, which brand of beans to get at the supermarket...
Phil Smith
Phil Smith

News

Don't hand the keys of your twitter account to the work experience

There was a time, not so long ago, that social media was an afterthought. It was something which businesses didn’t want to spend time on but felt like they needed to have a presence on. They were right with the second part, but you also need to spend time conveying your company’s message and communicating...
Phil Smith
Phil Smith

News

simpleERB restaurants on TV

Each Friday on the BBC here in the UK, chef Rick Stein has been taking us on a journey around some of his favourite cities and what they offer for lovers of food. Week 1 in Bordeaux looked lovely but it was last weeks episode in Reykjavik that really piqued our interest. Not only does the city of Reykjavik...
Phil Smith
Phil Smith

Tips & advice

How to...split sitting times

As we head into the holiday weekend (here in the UK!), we thought we’d share a quick tip with you about how you can split up your normal opening times if you want to operate ‘sittings’ in your restaurant. Lots of our users contact us and ask if they can amend their opening times on a certain date so...
Phil Smith
Phil Smith

Reviews

67% of customers want reviews before they dine

Reviews can be extremely valuable to a restaurant owner. Not just the good ones either. A bad review could arguably be more useful. It helps you identify any weak points and lets you fix them. We read this article about monitoring online reviews and how to harness their influence recently and were surprised...
Phil Smith
Phil Smith

News

Our new simpleERB video!

simpleERB has gone through quite a few changes in the last couple of years, with more new features in the pipeline, and we noticed the video on our homepage was beginning to look a bit retro. We’d almost forgotten that simpleERB even looked like that. So, like budding Steven Spielberg’s, we donned our...
Phil Smith
Phil Smith

Tips & advice

How to use...the 'walkin' feature

The walkin function might be, of the many features on simpleERB, the one that could save you the most time. We know that when a customer comes in off the street, you just want to allocate them a table quickly and the last thing you need is to be asked for name, phone number, email address or dietary...
Phil Smith
Phil Smith

News

Don't forget the ERB!

We were quite interested to read this guide on setting up a new restaurant but couldn’t help notice that there was little focus on technology or indeed, researching an ERB. Of course, we’re a little biased in this area but we do think it’s important. As well as all the bricks and mortar stuff, you should...
Phil Smith
Phil Smith

Fun stuff

Customers love Mac n' Cheese

It would appear, going by recent research, that the child of this writer has been secretly in control of Britain’s menus. I know, it came as a surprise to me too. Alas, since 2010 (the year she was born), Mac and Cheese (her favourite) has seen it’s place on restaurant menus increase by 550%. Customers...
Phil Smith
Phil Smith

News

To the year ahead

Hopefully by now you’ve had a chance to take stock of the christmas rush, put your feet up finally crack open that box of chocolates you got at Christmas. You’ve maybe even set some resolutions for what you’d like from your restaurant in 2016. Now it’s time to turn your attention fully to the year ahead...
Phil Smith
Phil Smith

simpleERB features

How simpleERB can help manage your restaurant at Christmas

For restaurateurs Christmastime is not so much the season to be jolly, more the season to give yourself a huge pat on the back if you make it through without having a nervous breakdown. It’s the busiest time of the year. But thanks to simpleERB, it can be easier to manage your restaurant at Christmas...
Phil Smith
Phil Smith

News

80% of restaurants don’t cost their menu - Tips from a menu engineer

Menucoverdepot.com graph A few months ago, we highlighted a few things about restaurant menus and what they do to try and draw you to particular dishes on the menu. Far be it from us to call ourselves experts, we’ve come across an even more in-depth article on menucoverdepot.com with extensive tips ...
Phil Smith
Phil Smith

Fun stuff

Child friendly, but only if they are well trained

Often restaurants will go out of their way to say they are kid friendly. Whether it’s a play area or just a box of crayons on the table, being welcoming to families is a big thing to some places. Others, like this cafe in Australia are very exact about how they want their little visitors to behave....
Phil Smith
Phil Smith

News

Click, Flash! Do smartphones ruin the dining atmosphere?

There’s been a fair bit of talk lately about when it’s appropriate to use the camera on your smartphone. Whether it’s Kate Bush requesting in advance that you don’t take a snap at her forthcoming series of concerts, this band not wanting you to ‘harsh their mellow’ or restaurants complaining that taking...
Phil Smith
Phil Smith

Fun stuff

Do you know how the menu tricks you?

“That’s a fancy box at the top of the page, they must be the really good dishes.” “Oh, the description makes it sounds so lovely and exotic. I’ll order that.” Ever found yourself saying something like that when looking at a restaurant menu? If you have, there’s a fair chance that the person who designed...
Phil Smith
Phil Smith

Fun stuff

Praying for discount

Ever had a discount for praying? Most of the time your surprise when you look at the bill is down to the second bottle of wine you forgot you had ordered, or the discretionary service charge that has been added, but imagine your surprise if you got the bill and found a discount, for praying. This NPR...
Phil Smith
Phil Smith

News

Ben's Cornish Kitchen

It’s always good to see a familiar name when reading the paper so we were pleased to see Ben’s Cornish Kitchen getting a great review from Jay Rayner in The Observer this weekend. You can read it here. Ben’s is a good example of how to give your customers extra info when using the online booking widget...
Phil Smith
Phil Smith

Tips & advice

How to add your social media links to restaurant booking confirmations

Add social media profiles to restaurant booking confirmations We know you love tweeting what today’s special is, and that you can’t help but share a good bit of feedback on Facebook or that your chef just can’t stop instagramming his kitchen creations, but did you know that you can also direct your ...
Phil Smith
Phil Smith

News

New Features! Includes changing dates, International time zones and booking notifications!

simpleERB have released a new version which is now live for all our customers. So that you can benefit from some of the new features, please see the highlights below. You can start using these features straight away and can configure them from the Settings Menu. If you have any questions or would like...
Phil Smith
Phil Smith