3 Ways Restaurants Can and Should Keep Up with Guests

The effort you put into engaging guests shouldn’t end when they walk out the door.

If you’re worried about attracting new customers, you likely need to shift your priorities. Retaining the guests who have already visited your restaurant is far more important.

According to the Harvard Business Journal, seeking out a new customer can be anywhere from five to 25 times more expensive than retaining an existing one. That massive increase in costs stems mostly from different marketing expenses as well as the time it takes for a new guest to generate significant profit for a business.

Even if your customer retention efforts only have a five percent success rate you can still raise your profit by 25 to 95 percent. One reason for that is new customers are 50 percent more likely to try new products and spend 31 percent more than new customers.

Relying on new guests is just not the most strategic way to maintain and grow profits. When publications and social media bloggers rave about the newest spot in town, people are sure to flock over. But what happens when the next shiny new thing takes their attention? There won’t always be a steady stream of new customers to depend on.

That’s why communicating with your existing guests between their visits is so important. Here are three ways to make that happen…

1.   Email newsletters

Square Up, a financial service for business owners, says 86 percent of consumers like to stay in communication with the businesses they frequent. Sixty percent said email is their preferred method of communication. By keeping in touch with your guests through newsletters you build a loyal customer base. This connection encourages them to keep coming back, ensuring long-term success for your restaurant.

The type of newsletter you’d like to do is completely up to you. Perhaps you do a monthly special dish and use the newsletter to promote it. You could discuss the history of the dish and what makes it unique. But that’s just one idea, there are so many to choose from. You can decide how frequently you’d like to send out your newsletter (weekly, monthly, etc.), just try to be consistent.

2. Loyalty programs and personalized offers

By offering rewards, discounts, or points accumulation, restaurants incentivize customers to return and make frequent purchases. A tiered loyalty program, where customers unlock better benefits as they spend a certain amount, can be particularly effective. This encourages guests to spend more for better rewards while creating a sense of exclusivity.

Loyalty programs also give you the ability to track trends in guest purchases, allowing you to provide customized offers. If your sales system shows a customer has purchased a particular dish consistently, you know you can use that to draw them in.

3. Personalized feedback

Most everybody has unique opinions and wants those opinions to be heard. By creating a newsletter or loyalty program, you’re able to gain a reliable method of contact for your guests. Use that to ask for online feedback either immediately after a guest leaves or just include it somewhere within your newsletter.

You could also create a QR code that leads directly to a feedback form and post it in your restaurant so guests have a nonconfrontational avenue to be honest about their experience.

Having the opportunity to voice one’s thoughts can feel powerful and create a more personal connection. Bonus points if you’re able to provide a sincere response to a guest after they provide their feedback, regardless of whether or not their views are positive.