Restaurant reservation reminder calls: when to call and what to say
Sado AI team · · 4 min read
In short
A reservation reminder call cuts empty tables and warns you early about a new party size. For an ordinary evening booking, call on the day, 3–4 hours ahead; for banquets and large groups, the day before. The call is short: restaurant, day and time, party size, then “Are your plans still the same?”. If the guest will be late, note the new time; if they cancel, give the table to the first guest on your waiting list. An AI operator can make these calls too, in Uzbek and Russian.
Why guests with a booking don’t turn up
Guests rarely skip a booking on purpose. They booked three days ago, plans changed, and they forgot to call. Sometimes two people from one family book in two places. Meanwhile, on a Friday night, you hold the table empty and turn away a guest who walked in.
A reminder call makes “we can’t make it” an easy answer. The table is freed early, and you have time to give it to someone else.
When to send a reservation reminder
| Booking type | When to call |
|---|---|
| Evening booking, 2–6 people | On the day, 3–4 hours ahead. For example, 15:00–16:00 for a 19:00 booking. |
| Lunch booking | The same morning, around 10:00. |
| Large group or banquet | The day before, to confirm numbers and menu. For a big celebration, a week ahead as well. |
| Booked a week or more ago | The day before, and a short call again on the day. |
Avoid Friday prayer time and the hour before iftar during Ramadan. The restaurant sets the exact hours.
What to say on the call
- Say who’s calling: “Assalomu alaykum, this is Shohruh from Samarqand Darvoza restaurant.”
- Name the booking: “You have a table for six tonight at eight.”
- Ask one open question: “Are your plans still the same?” It sounds softer than “Are you coming?”.
- If anything has changed, note it at once: party size, new time or cancellation.
- Repeat your rule and say goodbye: “We hold the table for twenty minutes. See you tonight!”
When the guest’s plans have changed
Sado: Assalomu alaykum, this is Shohruh from Samarqand Darvoza restaurant. You have a table for six tonight at eight. Are your plans still the same?
Caller: Good thing you called. There’ll be four of us, and we’ll be half an hour late.
Sado: Got it: four people, at half past eight. Shall I move you to a smaller table?
Caller: Sure, no problem.
Sado: Done, all changed. See you at half past eight, have a nice evening!
One call did two jobs: the table for six is free for other guests, and the host isn’t waiting at an empty table at eight.
What to do with a freed table
- Keep a waiting list: name, phone and preferred time of guests you had to turn down. When a table frees up, a staff member calls the first one.
- If the guest doesn’t answer, try again an hour or two later. Even with no answer, don’t cancel the booking yourself: wait as your rule says.
- Write down one number each week: how many booked tables the guests never came to. For example, 14 empty tables out of 120 bookings. These figures are only an example: compare your own before and after reminders.
- Mark guests who often don’t come: next time, call them the day before as well.
Handing reminders to an AI operator
Before the evening shift, the host has no time to call dozens of guests. With Sado’s AI outbound calls you upload today’s bookings from Excel or Google Sheets to the portal’s Auto-calls section, set what the call is about and the hours, and press Start.
Sado’s operator talks with each guest live: it changes the party size and time, notes cancellations, and calls back at the time the guest asked for. Every answer is in the portal with the call recording, and results download to Excel. More: AI operator for restaurants and delivery. Try it live or call 78 778 01 23.
Questions
Isn’t a Telegram message or text enough?
A message reminds, but without a reply you don’t know whether the guest is coming. A call gets the answer at once, and the party size or time changes on the spot.
How much does a reminder call cost?
Sado charges only for talked minutes: 800 so‘m a minute, no monthly fee. For example, 30 one-minute reminders a day: 30 × 800 = 24,000 so‘m.
What if a guest says “don’t call me”?
That number isn’t called again. If you tell guests about the reminder call when they book, it won’t come as a surprise.