Large Group and Private Function Enquiries Handed to a Manager
This recipe handles the enquiries worth the most per conversation: a birthday dinner for 25, a company lunch for 40, a wedding lunch, or a request to book out the restaurant. AeroChat collects the details, sends your group set menus and minimum spend, checks the date is not blocked, and hands the conversation to a manager with everything written down. Part of the restaurant and caterer workflows.
What happens today
“Hi, we are looking at your place for our company dinner, about 35 people, mid December, budget around US$60 per head.” The message sits in a staff member’s phone through dinner service. The manager calls back the next afternoon. The customer has shortlisted two other restaurants that sent menus the night before.
Large groups need a manager’s judgment on the room, the menu and the price. They do not need to wait a day for the basic information.
The flow that works
- AeroChat recognises a large group or private function by the headcount or the words used, such as “company dinner”, “private room” or “book the whole place”.
- It collects the date, time, headcount, budget per head and occasion.
- It checks your reservation system or events calendar and says whether the date is open, without promising it.
- It sends your group set menus, minimum spend and deposit terms from your knowledge base.
- It logs the enquiry, assigns the conversation to your manager and tells the customer when they will hear back.
The recipe
Copy this into AeroChat
When a customer asks about a booking for 10 or more people (example limit), a private room, a buyout or a function, follow these steps.
- Find out the date, the time, the number of guests, the budget per head and the occasion. Ask only for what they have not given.
- Check that date in our reservation system, and in our events calendar for private functions. If it is blocked or closed for a private event, say so and ask whether they have another date in mind. If it is open, say it looks available and our manager will confirm. Do not create a booking, and do not promise the date or a room.
- Send our group set menus from the knowledge base that fit their budget, with the price per head, the minimum spend for the private room, and our deposit terms. Example: private room minimum spend US$1,500, deposit US$20 per head to confirm (example terms).
- Ask whether any guests have dietary needs. If anyone mentions an allergy, say the kitchen will confirm directly and include it in the handover.
- Add a row to our group enquiries Sheet with the date, time, headcount, budget, occasion, dietary notes, menus sent, and the customer’s name and phone number.
- Tag the conversation “group”, assign it to our manager, and notify them with a short summary.
- Tell the customer our manager will reply within 1 working day, or by the next afternoon if they asked in the evening (example timing).
Never quote a price, a minimum spend or a room that is not in our knowledge base. Never negotiate. If the customer asks for a discount or a custom menu, include it in the handover. Reply in the customer’s language.
Change the group limit, the terms and the reply timing to your own before you paste it.
What to connect
- Your group menus and terms. Upload your set menus, private room details and capacity, minimum spend, deposit terms and corkage policy to the AeroChat knowledge base.
- Your reservation system. The recipe reads availability and closed dates from it. Eat App and ResDiary connect through their APIs: ask your provider to turn on API access and give you the API key, then paste it in when AeroChat asks.
- Your events calendar, if you keep one. Many restaurants keep private functions and buyouts in a Google Calendar. Connect your Google account when AeroChat asks, and approve the access.
- A group enquiries Sheet. A Google Sheet with one row per enquiry, so your manager sees every lead in one place. It uses the same Google connection.
- Your team in AeroChat. Add your manager as a team member so the conversation is assigned to them in the shared inbox.
When the manager agrees the booking, the event deposit workflow takes the deposit in the same chat.
Using a different system? If it has a public API, it connects to AeroChat the same way: describe what you want, paste in its key, and it runs.
Can’t find your tool? Message us in the chat on this page and we’ll tell you how it connects.
What you still decide
- The headcount at which a manager takes over.
- Which menus, minimum spends and deposits you publish.
- How fast your manager replies.
- Whether you negotiate, and who can.
The result to expect
Large group enquiries get menus and prices the same evening, and your manager gets a written brief instead of a voice note. Fewer big bookings are lost while the enquiry waits for someone free.
Measure it with your own numbers: group enquiries received, time to the manager’s first reply, and the share that book, for a few months before and after. The festive season is the best test.
Next: event deposit payment. See also live chat handover.
Catch your next group booking
Upload your group menus, paste the recipe, and ask your own number about a company dinner for 35 in December.
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