Customer Loyalty Will Again Become a Focus of Restaurants

Over the last few years, restaurants have scrambled to keep up with customers who moved from one business to another, depending on where they had Groupon, Living Social or other coupons. The initial selling point for Groupon was that diners would come once at the promo rate and return at full rate once the restaurant had the chance to impress them.

But the results proved to be quite the opposite. Customers would instead hop from one restaurant to another, chasing the deal. Like many trends, the attraction of Groupon is fading. For many restaurants, this is comes as a relief, but they are left wondering how to attract customers and keep them coming back.

Here are just a few ways to boost customer loyalty in a post-coupon age.

Treat your regulars like gold. Know what they order, where they prefer to sit. Learn their names. Let them linger a little if it doesn’t interfere with business. Make your restaurant feel like home. All customers are spending their hard-earned money in your establishment, so creating that connection will push them to visit more often.

Walk the room. As the owner or manager of the restaurant, people should know who you are and that you are invested in their experience. Greet them by name if you can. Everyone loves to know the owner because it provides a sense of status.

Participate in the community. Contribute to local food banks, cater, sponsor or participate in charitable events. Get people accustomed to thinking of you as part of the local community.

Use social media. Build relationships by letting people get to know who you are. Offer promotions, address concerns and engage with people in a friendly manner. Social media can be a great place to share specials.

Have event nights. Give people a reason to come. Choose a slow night and have a jazz night, wine tastings, and dart tournaments – whatever will fly best in your local market. You may think one event will work great but listen to your customers and build off what they enjoy.

Offer loyalty cards. If diners can get maybe a free dessert after 10 meals, that may encourage return visits.  Making it an online loyalty program helps customers since they don’t have to remember their loyalty card and can automatically accumulate rewards.

Often the best way to build loyalty is to hire great people. The restaurant recruiters at Horizon Hospitality can help. As a restaurant executive search firm, we make it our business to find and attract the best in restaurant leadership. So if you are looking for restaurant general managers, executive chefs or any other restaurant executive, we can assist you in your search. Contact Horizon Hospitality today.

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