Pizzerias can enhance the customer experience, even with fewer touchpoints

The dining experience has changed, as restaurants rely more on technology and less on the personal touch to serve customers. Pizzerias have to make sure customers still enjoy the experience, whether they are getting full service, counter service, takeout or delivery. With fewer customer touchpoints, operators must develop ways to enhance the customer experience, so they can remain competitive.

Customer experience includes customer service, which relies on well-trained employees, but it doesn’t end with whether a server was polite and speedy. Customer experience also includes the menu, restaurant ambiance and intangibles such as the vibe of the place. Pizzeria operators say several factors, from hiring to the use of technology, can improve the customer experience.

Empower employees

One important factor in shaping the customer experience is recruiting and retaining employees. “We focus on hiring college-age people,” says Laura Ambrose, who with her husband, Jeff, owns Woodstock’s Pizza in San Diego. “They tend to be thinkers. We’re looking for people who can assess an opportunity.”

The opportunity is to serve pizzeria customers in a way that makes them feel like they had a unique experience. “You can go into a restaurant and say, okay, they had decent customer service,” Ambrose says. “We empower our team to make moments.”

When a group arrives with small children, someone offers a booster seat or high chair. If a customer walks in carrying a birthday cake, a team member offers to put it in the walk-in cooler, or provide candles. Some crew members thrive in that environment. One worker dressed up as a character from a movie that was the theme of a kid’s party.

“We’ve had lots of customer testimonials saying how wonderful it is when the team sees an opportunity and really makes something of it,” Ambrose says. “They have fun with it too.”

Observe everything

Woodstock’s Pizza, which has eight locations, is counter service, but has adapted as customer needs have evolved. “We’ve morphed away from ‘You order at the counter and we yell your name out so you can come get your food’,” Ambrose says. “Now we bring it to you. We have servers, runners, and we have our manager on duty, or MOD.”

The MOD monitors everything from the front of the house. If they see a large group of people approach the counter, the MOD might get them to sit at a table, then come back and take their order. That way, there is not a crowd at the counter bringing the entire ordering process to a halt as everyone decides what they want.

Employees are trained to engage with customers, and not with insincere “how-is-everything?” table touches. If someone looks unhappy and they haven’t touched their pizza, it is likely that the order was wrong or something else happened, and the worker needs to figure out how to make it right. “We want people to be happy, and when people leave, they tell other people,” Ambrose says. “Word of mouth is more important than reviews.”

Make every touchpoint special

Whether the customer dines in for a nice meal or orders pizza for a quick pickup, the crew should make the experience a good one. “We want to make sure the customer is glad they are here,” says Shane Abbott, owner of the full-service Lupo and counter service Stevie’s Famous, both in the Seattle area.

Abbot describes Lupo as a date night restaurant, with a cocktail and wine list, a menu that features seasonal organic vegetables, and candles on the tables. The restaurant specializes in wood-fired sourdough pizza, and the wood fire oven, large dough mixer and pantry ingredients are visible from the dining room. The two-location Stevie’s Famous offers slices and pies for takeout and delivery, with streamlined, easy online ordering.

At both establishments, small actions enhance the customer experience. For dine-in, the server describes the dish when they bring it to the table. For pick-up, the crew member opens the box to let the customer see the pie. Both actions are meant to confirm that the pizzeria got the order right. “The real focus is that the customer experience is really consistent,” Abbott says.

Pizza is the perfect solution for a special night out and for a simple desire to avoid cooking and doing dishes. It’s important to enhance the customer experience in both scenarios, Abbott says, because Lupo and Stevie’s cannot win on price but on building relationships. “We’re trying to do something special on the food and delivering a little more food quality, a little more story, a little more character,” he says.

Streamline the online

Even online ordering contributes to the customer experience. For many consumers, a few minutes on the pizzeria’s website might be the only interaction with the brand, so that experience needs to be a pleasant one. While technology is often considered the opposite of engaging with customers, it can help pizzerias position themselves as a place to get a tasty pizza and be treated well.

When Mellow Mushroom did a system-wide rebrand in November 2023, the chain rolled out a new online ordering experience. “Guests have the opportunity to create accounts where they can save payments and favorite items to expedite the process of satisfied cravings,” says Anne Mejia, senior vice president of brand development.

Also, Mejia says, team members are trained on menu items and general standards. The company uses online training and changed the material by moving from long videos to short videos, and added Spanish language content.

Technology can also help pizzerias communicate with customers to find out what can be done to improve the customer experience. Mellow Mushroom uses a guest feedback platform for customers to comment on topics such as a recent dine-in experience, online ordering, gift cards and more.

“We value positive feedback to solidify what we’re doing right, and we consider negative or constructive feedback to drill down on areas of improvement and continue to find ways to enhance experiences,” Mejia says. “Through listening, we are able to reinforce what’s resonating with our guest and staff, but if something isn’t, we’re able to look into it on the local or system level to promptly respond/solve/adapt.”

NORA CALEY  is a freelance writer who covers small business, finance and lifestyle topics.