How do you work out what a missed reservation costs?
A reservation is a whole table. You need four numbers: how many calls you miss a week, what share was a booking, how many guests sit at a table on average, and what a guest spends. Multiply them, and turn the week into a month: 52 weeks divided by 12, about 4.33 weeks.
- Count the missed calls for a week, above all during lunch and dinner service.
- Estimate the share that wanted to book. Someone calling in the afternoon for tonight almost always wants a table.
- Take the average party size and the spend per guest, drinks included, from your till or your reservations.
- Multiply: missed calls × share of bookings × guests × spend × 4.33 = missed turnover a month.
What does a worked example look like?
| Step | Value |
|---|---|
| Missed calls a week | Value: 6 |
| Share that wanted to book | Value: 50% |
| Missed reservations a week | Value: 3 |
| Missed reservations a month (× 4.33) | Value: 13 |
| Guests per reservation | Value: 3 |
| Spend per guest | Value: €40 |
| Missed turnover a month | Value: €1,560 |
| Missed turnover a year | Value: €18,720 |
These are example values, not figures about restaurants in general. They are already filled in in the calculator above; replace them with your own numbers.
What does this sum leave out?
- It is turnover, not profit. Purchasing and staff still come off; multiply by your gross margin for the profit.
- A guest who books online after failing to reach you is not lost. Leave them out if you know.
- Groups and parties are in the average, but one missed party can be more than a month of single tables.
How do you stop missing reservations?
- Let guests book online. That helps for whoever books online, not for whoever calls with a question or for tonight; reservation system or AI phone assistant explains the difference.
- Forward to a colleague or a second phone during service, if someone there has time.
- Have an answering service pick up; it takes a call-back request.
- Have an AI phone assistant answer. Joep takes the reservation during service and confirms it by email to your guest.
Joep costs €100 a month, with no per-call charges and no setup fee. One missed table of 3 guests at €40 a head is already more than that.
Frequently asked questions
Why do guests still call when I take bookings online?
Not everyone books online. Guests call for a table tonight, a large group, a question about allergies or a special occasion. How online booking and the phone work side by side is in the guide reservation system or AI phone assistant.
Is the outcome turnover or profit?
Turnover. Purchasing and staff still come off. For the missed profit, multiply the outcome by your gross margin.
What does Joep cost for a restaurant?
Joep costs €100 a month, with no per-call charges and no setup fee: we set Joep up together with you at no cost. One missed table of three guests at €40 a head is already more than a month of Joep. How he takes reservations is on Joep for reservations.
