How to Lose a Regular Customer – and What You Should Do Instead

Chain restaurants have a blanket approach to staff training that can occasionally lose repeat customers. Here’s what you can do differently.

As someone who has waited tables for years and worked at the casual, fine dining chain restaurant I’ve learned where others in the category have gone wrong and where they really shine.

The truth is, there’s a portion of the population perfectly fit for a restaurant of this caliber: A median household income of around $50,000 is probably perfect. One half can earn in the six figures and the other not far behind. No matter what you’ll have an influx from the local area with money to spend on something in your establishment.

Nearby to my home is Sawgrass Mill, the largest outlet mall in Florida. There are 13 full-service restaurants ranging from the more upscale Seasons 52 to the lower of the totem pole Johnny Rockets. Sawgrass Mills takes up a full mile and 2,370,610 square feet. That means, there’s an opportunity for a chain restaurant in a very small city and draw in customers from the bordering cities.

All the customers create that little competition and one bad experience at a restaurant in that space could mean losing one for good. I’ve had multiple experiences at Yard House in Sawgrass that have made me question why I need to go there. Below are three reasons why I recently said I can’t justify spending the cash there anymore.

Fake it until you make it?

He took our drink orders, which were fairly simple: It’s beer and you may have many drafts, but only so many styles. We ordered Yard House original beers. My wife got an IPA and I got a pilsner.

He dropped her the pilsner and her the IPA. To anyone who’s ever served beer, this is as simple as anyone telling you the difference between a Cabernet Sauvignon to a Pinot Grigio. Yeah, it’s beer but it’s an entirely different color, taste, and mouthfeel, in very obvious ways. And the guy dropped it in two huge mugs after we asked for much-smaller pint glasses.

It wouldn’t be as devastating if the chain didn’t tout having between 100 and 250 handles of beer. In that case, each member of your staff should know the difference between beer styles and how strong the alcohol-by-volume count is.

Customer service?

I can’t fully judge any establishment more than the guest experience. If I’m at your restaurant and my food takes a minute, I honestly don’t care. It’s how the restaurant’s management as a whole handles a situation.

The lack of beer knowledge can be forgiven if the server still does its job – regardless of whether it’s the nearby Johnny Rockets or the actual brand I’m eating at. The funny thing is the mistake he made, we didn’t notice at first. But once it was brought to our attention, there was no way I could take it back.

We ordered a newer cheese dip appetizer. A little time went by but we were drinking the huge beers he brought us so no crime was committed. The football game was on and we had plenty to catch up on after a workweek.

That’s when our server comes up telling us, “my manager’s going to come to talk to you. Your appetizer went to another table but he’s going to comp your tab.”

We said it was cool and didn’t really care if he comped our tab. By that point, neither of us noticed anything different. Then it took a while but “hey, it’s comped why sweat it.”

The server then didn’t take our entree orders and kinda left us hanging for a while.

We’ve been more laid back than ever at restaurants recently because of the pandemic. First off, I’m a sucker at restaurants because I worked so long as a server in that area and know the frustrations of meeting perfect expectations. But this was bad and for me a rare occasion where I only tipped 15 percent and have chosen not to go back.

Making a promise you don’t keep?

When you promise a table compensation comes through on it. Yes, the manager parroted the same information our server did: “Sorry, folks, your appetizer went to the wrong table. I’m going to take care of it. And, hey, it’s on me.”

Quickly, a mistake is forgotten. That’s until every other drink and food item ordered doesn’t come out on time and you’re still charged on the bill. Now I’m never the type to confront restaurant staff or a manager. I’m not going to raise a fuss or leave a bad Yelp review. I simply won’t return. I worked in restaurants too long to know who should or shouldn’t be working in a job like that.

It’s not easy work. And the people who do it for the long haul are genuinely good at the job. It was a rare situation where I tipped lower than 20 percent but there was no easing up on the excuse scale.

Everything had gone wrong. Even if there was a brief promise to correct an issue it wasn’t executed. These are the times when people decide a chain restaurant has hit the point where you won’t return.

So many questions about the guest experience. But below we can highlight what could have and should have and should have happened to keep repeat customers.

The Restaurant Guest Experience Checklist:

• Value your staff: Make conversation with your guests and teammates. It takes a lot to be a good leader in a high-paced evening managing a busy restaurant. The more present and attentive you are in your dining room, the more set for success you will be. That includes checking in on your team and identifying who’s giving their best and who may need a hand. A study of more than 150,000 restaurant professionals from 7Shifts shows, “the average tenure of a restaurant is one month and 26 days. This server is likely among that statistics. Could it have just been an off day? Was it a bad hire? If so, were the red flags in the interview process? These are all questions to answer while moving forward.

• Focus on the experience: Focusing on the experience can have lasting effects. Research published in the Journal of Tourism & Hospitality called “Emotional Value in Memorable Guest Experiences” says, “experiences represent a higher level of customer value than services because they are memorable and rich in sensations. The server didn’t focus on making an experience. And now that’s all I’ll remember.

• Make memories: He should’ve focused on making a positive lasting memory. We all have off days and we were a forgiving table until the problems just persisted. And positive memories will always leave a lasting impression but negative memories do, too. “Memories and emotional value, as opposed to consistency and functional value, have been highlighted as key distinctions of guest experiences in the hospitality and tourism industry as well,” says the Journal of Tourism & Hospitality research. Being an observant and hands-on manager can help keep your staff from the very front-of-house with the hostess to the servers waiting on your guests. The server and manager failed and the memory is anything but positive.

• Make conversation a priority: Everything went south because our server wasn’t attentive nor was the floor manager. “Social interaction is another trigger of memorable experiences. Engaging with others in collective experiences, especially with local people and their actual living environments, makes travel experiences more memorable,” research says. You learn more about guests and staff. There’s a focus on making a fun, social atmosphere. This server didn’t make conversation. He was quiet, reserved, and just seemed to be going through the motions. I can’t recall his name, because I don’t think he ever told us.

• Achieve “Emotional Value”: Our server didn’t take the time to talk to us and therefore really didn’t create that connection. The immediate conversation was on the service, which was bad. “Emotional Value in Memorable Guest Experiences,” says “Inspiring emotional connections with customers provides enormous opportunity to create value in organizations competing in the memories business.” The memory will last. Now months later I won’t return or recommend others check it out. It’s a lesson in why focusing on the guest experience is so important.