Create a loyalty program
Photo by Yan Krukov on Pexels
As mentioned earlier, creating a restaurant loyalty card is one of the first steps to getting people to come back to your restaurant. What kind of rewards you offer and how you present them makes a difference in how many customers opt into your system.
It’s not always about big discounts or free drinks for being a loyal customer. Sometimes it’s just knowing what good foods are and asking if someone would like to try some of those items. Or it can be telling someone why their favorite food order has been discontinued and offering similar ones instead.
These types of tips and tricks will help anyone find new friends at the restaurant. More important than that, they’ll keep current users coming back!
Offer special discounts to customers
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels
As mentioned before, offering discount coupons or reward programs for dine-in restaurants is a great way to keep your business thriving. This article will talk about some easy ways to do this!
First, you can use Google to find out what types of rewards and coupon sites are popular with people around your area. You can then pick one that looks most appealing to yours truly — me, my wallet, and the hungry stomachs of others!
Second, create an online account with most major couponing/rewards websites. This allows you to easily add the service to your smartphone so you never have to worry about running out of vouchers at home!
Third, choose your favorite restaurant to gain their loyalty card. Many give away free drinks or food once a week, which could help contribute to your savings.
Personalize your service
As mentioned earlier, personalization is one of the most important things you can do for your restaurant to keep customers coming back. But what does that mean? It means going beyond just by asking people how their day was when they come in for a visit. It also includes offering them discounts or rewards for returning frequently.
You may already have done some of this, but there are many ways to improve upon it. Here are the easy ways to add more personalization to your business services.
1) Offer online coupons
This is very common these days as almost every company has an app or website where you can find discount codes and/or announcements of new products. There are several apps and sites which allow you to create your own coupon code or giveaway item so people can access it easily.
By adding the option to purchase online, you give your customers even more opportunity to save money by buying what they need offline instead. This is especially helpful if they live far away from your location!
2) Add chat to your site
Many companies now offer chat as an interface to their website. You can use this to answer questions about the product or service, order changes, etc.
Some make you register to use this feature, while others let anyone join without being asked for extra information.
Having a way for people to contact you directly gives them another way to reach out and connect with you.
Give rewards
As mentioned before, offering reward programs for restaurant visits is a great way to keep customers coming back. Some examples of rewards include free drinks or food, discounts at nearby restaurants, or entry into a prize drawing.
Many companies offer such rewards via an app that users can access through their smartphones. By adding this feature to your business, you’ll be making sure all of your clients have easy access to these benefits!
That includes when they are not in town, which usually happens around holidays. During these times, people may stop going out altogether, so giving them incentive to return will surely ensure there is enough activity to maintain your business’ reputation.
By offering frequent diners special deals, you’re helping them enjoy your food while also supporting your community. The like-minded individuals who will visit your restaurant are very likely to know other locals who enjoy your eatery, so by introducing them, you’ve got a nice source of marketing too.
Ask your customers what they want
As mentioned earlier, offering rewards to frequent diners is one of the best ways to keep them coming back. But how do you ask about their favorite foods or drinks?
You can use something called “word-of-mouth marketing” as a way to find out! By asking around, people will tell you all sorts of things like what are their favorite foods/drinks at the restaurant, if there were any good dishes that got overlooked, and whether or not they have ever received a gift card for being a loyal patron.
But before you start actively looking into creating a loyalty program, make sure your current one is working well. Are there enough cards available so that everyone has an opportunity to earn points? Is everything clearly labeled so that others don’t interchange one item from another?
Once those questions have been answered in the positive, then it’s time to begin brainstorming ideas! There are several different types of rewards you could offer, from meal vouchers to merchandise to even FUNDRAISING DONATIONS!!
Be consistent
As mentioned before, one of the biggest reasons people lose their loyalty to a restaurant is because they never know what services or rewards they are offering them. If you’re constantly changing things for your customers, they will eventually find another place to go!
The best way to keep up-to-date information on reward programs and service offers is by using the same source consistently. That source can be an app like TableMango, Facebook, or Google where individuals can check out how frequent each restaurant’s offerings are, or even calling directly to learn more about it.
By being transparent as possible, everyone wins – consumers get the chance to discover new restaurants, owners gain more exposure, and you earn some revenue in the process!
Recognize good service
As mentioned before, make sure yourecognize excellent customer servicein the workplace. Whether it’s through word of mouth or reading reviews, people talk about what great service they received from yours.
Take notes and watch those conversations unfold to see where people praise your staff how affectionate they are to diners and very keen to details.
You can also check out some pictures and videos of your employees doing things like going an hour longer than normal time to clean up after work, organizing gifts for an employee’s birthday, or offering to pay extra money for transportation so that someone can go somewhere with them. All these must show that you care for your workers and not just about their job; they care about you and what you do. This will help you determine whether or not current employees are willing to put in the effort to keep coming back. If they are, then chances are there’s plenty of employment at your restaurant for new hires.
Ask your customers what more they would like
Asking your current clients or customers how to improve their experience is one of the best way to stay in business as a professional. Plus, it’s a good marketing! By creating conversations that focus on helping them achieve their goals, you’re promoting yourself and your services.
If someone tells you something that seems too expensive, don’t pull up your sleeve and say “Don’t worry about it! I have enough money left over for dessert!” Instead, ask if there’s anything else you can do to make this affordable for them.
Maybe they’d be willing to try another restaurant instead, or find a coupon for the same thing at a nearby eatery. You may never know — they may just want to go somewhere closer so that won’t take too long to get to where they want to go!
Tell your customers about the program
As mentioned earlier, most major restaurant chains offer some kind of rewards or loyalty card program. Most of these are targeted towards frequent diners, so it makes sense to add them as a friend on various app and website platforms.
By adding this person as a friend, you get all of their activity recorded in one place, making it easier to organize and access later. You can even view previous photos and comments!
This is very valuable information for looking back on what types of foods they wanted and how much money they spent, because now everything is organized.
