Chasing loyalty
The restaurant industry has spent years optimizing for acquisition. But many ignore what happens after that first visit. Whilst most restaurant operators centre their marketing attention on driving new customers’ footfall, they neglect turning them into loyal repeat visitors once they attract those new customers. Others simply struggle with one-time customers who never come back.
Major restaurant protects margins through a three-pronged strategy: lowering food costs, improving employee retention and driving visits. Unfortunately, ‘driving visits’ has a very narrow focus or is totally abandoned by most restaurateurs.
With so many restaurants and the infinite scroll of social media, where “someone’s” trying to grab a diner’s attention at all times, and, where restaurants constantly want to fill seats, operators need to start focusing more on how to retain existing diners.
It’s common knowledge that gaining new customers costs more than retaining existing ones. Acquiring a new customer can cost 5-10 times more than retaining an existing one, and loyal customers spend 50% - 60% more on average. Hence, repeat customers are the most cost-effective strategy for restaurants.
With consumer price sensitivity at a high point, more restaurant brands are looking for ways to drive traffic — how can restaurants keep diners coming back without resorting to damaging discounts? Let’s explore some tips for engaging one’s existing customer base and increasing loyalty.
- First of all, ‘nail the basics’; with so many other dining out options, remember, been ‘good’ isn’t good enough! Offer your customers a smooth booking experience, impeccable and attentive service and quality food served by personable and well-trained staff. The experience your customers have after dining at your restaurant, often determines whether they’ll return.
- Emotional Connection: Beyond food and convenience, there’s a human layer to loyalty. Customers are more likely to return when they feel recognized, appreciated, and connected to your brand or story. This typically doesn’t require anything extreme. Often, its small signals like a follow-up message, a familiar tone, and a general sense that your restaurant “knows” them. Loyalty isn’t just transactional, it’s emotional. People come back to places that feel personal.
- Staying top-of-the mind is essential for repeat business; a strong post-dining strategy can transform one-time customers into loyal customers. In order to tempt your customer back you need to communicate with them. Include a simple but prominent marketing sign-up form or an opt-in checkbox to gather customer email addresses and other relevant information. Giving a compelling reason to sign-up, such as offering a voucher or discount after sign-up can push for immediate action. Don’t forget to ask for the date and month of their birthday for promotional content.
- Thank-You emails: It’s not sending an email blast about a new special or a menu change, but a way of showing appreciation and dedicated interest. It’s about orienting oneself around repeatability. A personalized email feels genuine and shows customers you value their business. Emails, with their technology-enabled appearance of “this manager was just thinking about you,” might help them meet the moment.
- Investing in systems that don’t just serve the meal: yes, the food still needs to be excellent. Yes, hospitality matters. But if restaurants want to compete in a digital-first world, they need to own the relationship. And that means investing in systems that bring people back for the next one. The choices are many –depending on one’s budget. This can include platforms that integrate with every interface on which a restaurant might find itself — reservations platforms, review platforms, event systems, and point-of-sale systems — and creates a single place through which the manager or his/her nominee can manage guest relationships, doing targeted follow-up. Other platforms can alert if someone is on their second or third visit or if they post a positive review on Google. The prompts enable the restaurant to send an email.
The loyalty program used to be about the math behind the points program. Spend X dollars get Y free, now, it’s to do with understanding your customers well enough that at every single touch point, it feels personal to them.
Shafeek Wahab - Editor, Hospitality Sri Lanka, Consultant, Trainer, Motivational Speaker, Mystery Guest Auditor, Ex-Hotelier
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