Group bookings: set the threshold
When a caller wants to book a large group, Bonnie should stop trying to book through the reservation system and route the request to your team instead. Getting the threshold right prevents the two most common complaints: "Bonnie says no availability when there is plenty" and "Bonnie books groups that should have gone through us first."
If you would rather we set this up, just ask, and Sophie, the chat in the corner, can help.
Set the threshold one below your system's online limit
Your reservation system only accepts online bookings up to a certain party size. Say your system accepts up to 12 people online. If Bonnie's group threshold is also set to 12, she tries to book a party of 12 through the system, the system returns no results, and Bonnie tells the caller "no availability", even though your team could accommodate them.
The fix: set Bonnie's group threshold to one less than your system's maximum. If your system accepts up to 12, set Bonnie's limit to 11. For 12 and above, Bonnie routes to your group flow instead. Contact us to adjust this, or update it from the Tasks tab in your assistant settings. See Get help.
Say "group booking", not "event"
By default, Bonnie may say "this is considered an event" when a party exceeds the threshold. Many venues find this wording off-putting, a birthday dinner for 10 is not really an "event". Ask us to change the wording to "group booking", for example: "For a group of this size, I'll route your request to our team so they can take care of it personally."
Different routes for different group types
You can have different thresholds and routes depending on what the caller asks for. Common setups:
| Situation | What Bonnie does |
|---|---|
| Group of 9+ wanting a regular dinner | Routes to group booking email |
| Group of 15+ for a private event | Routes to events team email |
| Same-day large group request | Transfers directly to the floor (nobody checks email in time) |
| Hotel group vs restaurant group | Different thresholds and destinations |
For same-day group requests in particular: if your events team only checks email during office hours, routing an urgent Saturday evening group to email means no one responds in time. Set up a transfer to the floor instead. Add to your prompt: "For group requests for the same day or this weekend, transfer the call directly to the restaurant. For future dates, route to the events team via email."
Send details to the right contact
If your restaurant team and events team have different email addresses, make sure Bonnie sends group details to the right one. A common mistake is using a general info@ address instead of events@ for larger groups. Check your post-call prompt and your FAQ.
What Bonnie collects for a group request
When Bonnie routes a group to your team, she collects the caller's name, phone number, number of guests, preferred date and time, and any special occasion. She then sends these to the email or WhatsApp contact you set up. Set up an email notification for group requests so your team sees them promptly. See Email notifications.