Delivery service is often a love-hate relationship for operators. Sure it’s a means to reach more customers and further brand exposure, but its logistical speed bumps can affect service, food quality and guest satisfaction.

Yet effective delivery systems can charm skeptics, evidenced by the number of operators who offer the service. Delivery expands presence in a community; it gives operations an edge over similar concepts

that don’t offer the service; and it’s closely aligned with catering. And how else do you sell food to people who have no intention of setting foot in your restaurant?

“I’d have the same number of people working here if I didn’t do delivery,” says Ed Culleeney, managing partner at Chicago-based Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises’ Ben Pao. “To me, it’s a bonus.”

Two Wheels

Outsourcing delivery allows restaurants to offer off-site orders without investing in vehicles, training and staff.

Delivered meals are a natural fit for Chicago’s Ben Pao, accounting for 25% of business, but Managing Partner Ed Culleeney doesn’t want the hassle of traffic, parking and vehicle maintenance. Instead, he contracts with a service.

“We have a wonderful working relationship with the owner,” Culleeney says. “If I have a carryout problem and forget an item, they come back and pick it up. In turn, if we have problems with drivers, the company gets back to us.”

Delivery historically has been dominated by pizza chains, and represents 85% of Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Domino’s Pizza’s sales. But pizza isn’t the only player. According to the Seattle-based Restaurant Marketing and Delivery Association (RMDA), independent delivery services are growing, with upward of 300 U.S. companies.

Both chains and independents contract with such services, which typically charge a percentage of food sales as commission. Advocates note that such services provide a means for single-unit operators to have a fleet of delivery trucks working for them.

Restaurants that outsource delivery have to make it work for their operations.

“We control part of the experience,” explains Culleeney. “When the delivery guys come into the restaurant, they check with us, they check the order. We even put some of them through our server training.” Ben Pao also uses a secret-shopper service to rate the delivery company.

Chains can run into problems when they outsource, particularly if they use multiple companies to serve a wide area. San Diego-based Pat & Oscar’s, which also does delivery in-house for large catering orders, once contracted with eight services.

“After a while, we started losing money,” says Marketing Director Brian Horne. The chain cut back to one company, which limited deliveries the concept could handle but improved guest relationships and turned a profit.

In the end, open communication and good relationships are critical to third-party delivery services. “If there’s a problem, you must talk about it,” says Culleeney.

Fueling Tanks

It’s no secret that restaurants are feeling the pinch at the gas pump—especially when delivery is added to the mix. Many have tacked on fees when they once offered complimentary delivery.

“We did free delivery for 15 years,” says Shannon Curenton, co-owner of independent cafe Mucho The Gourmet Sandwich Shoppe in Santa Fe, N.M. “But in the last couple of years all of my suppliers began charging me for each delivery and I’ve got to recover that somewhere.”

Some operators have evaluated their vehicles for fuel efficiency. Hoping to moderate long-term fuel price hikes, Pat & Oscar’s rethought its delivery vans, trading in older trucks and vans for a fleet of vehicles that are a cross between SUVs and minivans. While not all are smaller than the old fleet, the vehicles on the whole have better gas mileage and present a more uniform look.

“They’re easier to drive, more versatile, sportier and up to date,” says Marketing Director Brian Horne.

Issaquah, Wash.-based Organic To Go, whose delivery orders can vary from as many as 1,500 people at a soccer game to as few as two people in an office, also carefully assesses mileage.

“We still have big trucks with refrigeration, but for smaller orders we use insulated cooler bags with ice and drive smaller vehicles,” CEO Jason Brown explains.

Hungry Eyes

No one questions the importance of flawless presentation when dining in. But presentation also matters in delivery.

Randy Bennett, president of the RMDA and founder of Seattle-based delivery service RestaurantsToGo, has noticed that higher-quality packaging leads to increased sales because the food looks better when it arrives. “The key is to present food very well in a good sealed container without leakage,” he says. “Any kind of leakage is bad.”

Managing Partner Ed Culleeney recently upgraded Ben Pao’s carryout packaging to higher-end microwavable containers. “What’s great about the containers is that guests can use them for storing leftovers. And because they have our name, phone number and Web site on them,” he says, “they’re another form of advertising.”

Drivers need to be familiar with how the restaurant presents its menu items, particularly if they are in charge of setting up the food at an event.

For Mucho The Gourmet Sandwich Shoppe, food quality shines with proper display. “Our drivers are trained to get everything there with a nice presentation,” says co-owner Shannon Curenton. Drivers also set up lunches on site, easing the process for customers.

Good Times

Punctuality, particularly with corporate clients, is essential to good delivery.

The RMDA’s Randy Bennett saw a restaurant’s monthly delivery revenue go from $10,000 to $2,000 due to tardy orders.

“If you’re late, corporate customers will stop ordering from you,” he says.

But being prompt when unforeseen variables spring up regularly is no easy task. “It’s really two things,” Issaquah, Wash.-based Organic To Go CEO Jason Brown explains. “Traffic and security.”

To ease the frustration in the case of a late order, Organic To Go uses its customer care center to communicate with clients.

“If a driver is running late, they call customer care and customer care then calls the client,” Brown says. In this way, clients are notified if drivers are in the building or nearby but are being delayed because of front-desk security or road construction, for example.

Another challenge results when too many deliveries need to go out in a particular area. At Pat & Oscar’s, most large deliveries are arranged through a central catering sales team who check with area restaurants to ensure availability. If a particular restaurant is too busy, the order will be placed at the next-closest location.

Realistic timetables are also essential, as even Domino’s Pizza had to relinquish its once-promised 30-minute delivery time. Shannon Curenton of Mucho The Gourmet Sandwich Shoppe knows she can’t deliver 50 orders promptly at noon with her three drivers. To avoid disappointments, she tells her group of core customers to order early for optimal delivery times.