CRM for restaurants and cafés: banquet leads don't get lost, guests come back.
A banquet enquiry comes in on WhatsApp, the administrator replies two hours later — the guest has already booked with a competitor. CRM collects all enquiries into one funnel, manages the deal from first contact to deposit, and reminds guests about reservations and birthdays.
A restaurant has two types of sales with different logic. Fast ones — booking a table for the evening: enquiry, confirmation, reminder, visit. Long ones — banquets and corporate events: enquiry, hall viewing, quote, menu agreement, deposit, final payment. Without a CRM, fast deals get lost in chat threads, and long ones live in the manager's head.
CRM for restaurants and cafés covers both scenarios: a reservation funnel with automatic WhatsApp confirmations, and a banquet funnel with stages, tasks and quotes. All enquiries from Instagram, WhatsApp and website forms — in one window with a source tag.
There's an additional benefit: guest retention. A guest's birthday, the date of their last visit, their favourite dishes — all of this lives in the CRM, and an automatic invitation sent a week before a special occasion costs far less than advertising to new guests.
What we configure in the restaurant CRM.
Enquiry → hall viewing → quote → approval → deposit → event → review. At each stage: tasks for the manager and WhatsApp message templates.
Enquiry → confirmation → reminder 24 hours and 2 hours before → visit → rating. Automatic messages without administrator involvement.
WhatsApp, Instagram Direct, website forms, calls — in one feed with source and ad campaign tags. No lead gets lost.
Quote templates by event type, cost calculation directly in the deal card, send PDF to WhatsApp with one click.
Automatic invitations for a guest's birthday, first-visit anniversary, public holidays (Nauryz, New Year, 8 March), and reactivation for guests absent for 3 months.
After each visit — a request to rate the venue; happy guests are directed to 2GIS and Google, unhappy ones go to management before they post publicly.
Where banquet leads come from: Instagram, WhatsApp, website, referrals; funnel conversion by stage; average ticket and revenue by manager.
Hall occupancy by date, banquet pipeline for the month ahead, lead-to-deposit conversion, revenue by event type — a daily dashboard.
Funnels and automations.
- Funnel «Banquets»: enquiry → quote → deposit → event
- Funnel «Table reservations»: enquiry → confirmation → reminder
- Funnel «Corporate events»: first contact → trial lunch → contract
- Reservation reminder automation
- Guest retention automation for holidays and occasions
- Post-visit review collection automation
- Lead distribution by hall and manager
- End-to-end analytics by ad source
How implementation works at a restaurant.
- Audit — 2–3 days: we map the current banquet lead journey, estimate losses and identify entry points. We deliver a funnel diagram and quote.
- Setup — 1–2 weeks: banquet and reservation funnels, fields, WhatsApp templates, channel connections.
- Integrations — 1–2 weeks: website forms, POS for guest history, ad sources, telephony.
- Training — administrators and the banquet manager, instructions and videos, first week we work side by side.
- Support — one month of adjustments based on real-world use, then on-demand support.
Why CRM doesn't stick at a restaurant.
- A generic funnel was set up without accounting for the specifics of banquets and reservations — the team went back to WhatsApp and notebooks.
- No automated reminders: if reminders have to be sent manually, they don't get sent at all.
- CRM and POS aren't connected: guest history lives in two systems, and the manager can't see that the guest has visited before or what they ordered.
- Management doesn't review the banquet pipeline — the team stops updating statuses. We build a hall occupancy dashboard for the month ahead that gets opened every morning.
What affects the implementation price.
Basic amoCRM or Bitrix24 implementation for a single venue: banquet and reservation funnels, WhatsApp, training — ₸350,000–600,000, 2–3 weeks. With POS integration, telephony, call tracking and source analytics — ₸600,000–1,000,000, 4–5 weeks. For a chain, pricing is based on the number of locations and user roles. CRM and WhatsApp API licences are paid to vendors separately.
Base prices and system options — on the CRM and automation page.
The short version.
How much does CRM for a restaurant cost?
Basic implementation with banquet and reservation funnels and WhatsApp — ₸350,000–600,000. With POS integration, telephony and analytics — ₸600,000–1,000,000. amoCRM or Bitrix24 licences are separate.
Which CRM should a restaurant choose?
For a single venue with banquets and reservations via WhatsApp and Instagram — amoCRM: fast to set up, strong chat integrations. For a chain with document workflows, approvals and multiple managers — Bitrix24. We recommend after an audit.
Can the CRM be connected to our POS system?
Yes, if the POS has an API — iiko, r_keeper and Poster all support integration. Guest order history from the POS appears in the CRM card, so the manager can see preferences and visit frequency.
How does CRM help with guest retention?
Automated messages for birthdays, visit anniversaries and public holidays go out without administrator involvement. Reactivation messages for guests absent for 3 months with a personalised offer outperform mass advertising.
How soon will we see results?
The reservation funnel and reminders work from the first week. The banquet pipeline and source analytics — after 2–4 weeks once data accumulates. Guest retention — after 1–2 months, once the database of birthdays and visit history has built up.
Same service for other industries
Losing banquet leads? Tell us how you currently manage reservations — we'll suggest a scheme and quote.
Tell us how many halls and managers you have, how banquet enquiries currently come in and whether you already use a CRM. We'll reply with an implementation plan within 1–2 business days.