Viva Brazil

Viva Brazil is a well-established Brazilian restaurant in Cardiff with a loyal customer base and a reputation for high-quality service. Like many hospitality businesses, it has faced sustained cost pressure over the past two years. Rising national living wage obligations and increased business rates forced the business to take a hard look at where it could operate more efficiently without compromising the guest experience.

Reception was the first casualty. Hours were reduced and responsibility for inbound calls was distributed across the management team. On paper, it was a workable solution. In practice, it created a problem that quickly became visible at every level of the business.

Customers unable to get through were emailing head office directly to request bookings.

The problem had nothing to do with the quality of the team. Hospitality staff in the middle of a busy service are focused entirely on the customers in front of them, as they should be. Asking them to simultaneously manage inbound calls placed them in an impossible position. When a call came in during a packed service, the caller experience suffered regardless of how capable the person answering was. The environment worked against them.

“During peak service periods, balancing guest interaction with answering incoming calls became extremely challenging. Prioritising excellent customer service on the restaurant floor often meant calls could not be answered promptly.”
Daniel, Operations Manager, Viva Brazil