So lockdown is relaxing and we can all go out to the pubs and restaurants again, free to do exactly what we want to do.
Well not exactly….yes restrictions have been relaxed but only a bit, with new freedom comes additional burden on those within the hospitality sectors to ensure the safety of their staff and customers.
One of these restrictions is the introduction of the Government’s test and trace system which involves the requirement that any gathering should record the name and contact details of attendees in order to identify and warn those who have potentially come into contact with someone carrying Covid-19.
The system relies on the premises owner obtaining information on everyone within their establishment at any one point in time. Name, telephone number and date/time should be recorded and then held (under full GDPR rules) for a total of 21 days in order to allow tracers to contact them if another attendee is identified as being infected.
This highlights many problems for the establishment, least of all, how best to carry this out without increasing the risk of infection and/or massively increasing your costs & procedures.
Potential issues
Staffing
How do you collect this data from your customers? Many will take the traditional method of standing a member of staff at the door collecting the information before customers can enter. Immediately, there is a cost implication here, even at minimum wage that’s a £60+ cost per 10 hour day. A member of staff that could be far more effectively utilised doing their actual job. Once the data has been collected however then there’s the additional staffing cost of managing it, dealing with requests from T&T staff and ensuring it is destroyed timeously.
Quality of data
Having someone collect data manually is fraught with problems, anyone can make mistakes however in this case, the incorrectly recorded data can have a very serious and wide ranging consequence. On top of human error, some customers could simply decide they can’t be bothered with the hassle of confirming their number etc and just give false information.
Privacy
Some customers may not be happy with handing over their personal details to the person who normally serves them their coffee etc. For some types of establishment that could result in loss of custom.
It is also against GDPR rules to operate a sign in book, have a list they add their details to or ask them to read out their details in front of other customers.
Our solution
We’ve developed a solution that takes the stress, additional workload and responsibility away from the establishment and provides an easy, hassle free and cheap solution to ensure that you remain fully compliant.
The answer?……text messages.
With our system you would display a poster in your window or on your entrance door that provides a number for the customer to text before entering. They text their name to that number which securely stores it, their telephone number and the exact time they came in. They in turn receive a confirmation text which can also contain information on your business, special offers or important health rules etc. This confirmation can then be used as evidence they have registered should you need it. For example your order staff could ask to see the confirmation before taking an order. When the customer leaves they simply reply to that text with a blank one and the system will be updated with the time they left.
All data is then stored securely by us with full GDPR compliance for exactly 21 days, not 20 or 22 but the full 21 in line with the Government guidelines. Should there be a need to trace customers then you would simply direct the T&T staff member to our helpline and we will query the data to provide the exact information they require.
Its simple, efficient and extremely cost effective.
Benefits
Cost savings
Our solution is extremely cost effective, not least in employee and management time. No collection of data, no management of paperwork or transferring to electronic storage & a far simpler process of dealing with T&T requests.
The service is provided and paid for on a daily basis and there is no long contract (we start with an initial week and after that it can be cancelled with 2 days notice.
Advertising potential
Every customer receives a confirmation text that can be tailored to your requirements, that could mean providing useful information, details of special offers or even a virtual voucher for their next visit. What it contains is upto you so you can make the most of it. We can also offer an additional facility which would allow the customer to text a confirmation reply to agree that their number can be held by you for promotional purposes giving you a database of known customers you can target for special offers, promotional materials etc at a later date.
Don’t forget these texts are there on the customers phone until they remove them, every time they scroll through their received texts they’ll see your company name and information.
Reduced workload
With our service there is very little interaction from yourselves or your staff, we take all of the red tape, workload and stress away from these guidelines and allow you to get on with what is important to you and your customers.