It’s no secret success in the restaurant industry comes with plenty of challenges, especially when making it past the first few years. From the moment you open your restaurant doors, you’ll want to make every effort to retain your customers and develop a loyal base of regulars who naturally spread the word about your amazing restaurant.
Attracting new customers is one thing, but convincing them to come back time after time is a whole other challenge. If you have any concerns about retaining your restaurant customers or are just interested in having a little bit of inspiration, keep reading! We’ve got some great ideas on how to ensure your restaurant is consistently chosen over your competitors.
Retaining Restaurant Customers
Follow these tips for retaining your list of loyal restaurant patrons.
1. Improve your Waiting Areas
There’s nothing worse than having a long wait time in a less than inviting waiting area. Improve your waiting areas, ensuring there is plenty of seating and ensuring the arrangement of the benches, chairs, stools or tables is pleasant for the customers. Consider improving the lighting, plants, mirrors and anything else that would be more inviting and attractive as a place to wait.
You also want to keep the flow of communication between the hostess and those on the waiting list organized. This is key to developing a strong relationship with your customers and retaining them long-term.
Unless your food is incredibly distinct and a one-of-a-kind dish to crave among all the others, the waiting areas can be an obstacle that many people opt out of when deciding to wait or find another restaurant.
2. Invest in a Customer Relationship Management System (CRM)
CRM’s might be more common in regular business and office settings, but you should have a way of connecting with your customers and keeping them aware of any specials or updates. Yes, social media is one of the best ways to accomplish this, but also investing in a more polished and organized system of CRM software can really make a difference. It allows you to better track, monitor and understand your customer’s needs and preferences. You’ll have insight into the demographics you serve the most and develop targeted marketing ads to better engage and solidify your customer relationships.
3. Develop a Branded Customer Loyalty Program
These are common and for good reason: they work! But you don’t have to be like everyone else. Be unique and creative with how you decide to benefit your customers when they sign up and engage in your loyalty program. You want them to continuously return and that’s exactly what loyalty programs offer. Besides just racking up points, you can offer special birthday menu items, discounts on catering and so much more!
The list goes on, but hopefully these quick tips are enough to get the ball rolling on some new actionable steps toward customer retention and loyalty. Start making some changes now and see where you are this time next year!
Peddler’s Son is Arizona’s Top-Quality Food Supplier
Peddler’s Son is a beloved local food distributor, delivering farm-fresh food for Arizona restaurants, hospitals, schools, and more. Family-owned and operated since 1988, Peddler’s Son brings you honest pricing, unparalleled customer service, and reliably farm fresh produce and provisions every day.
We believe in quality and that’s what you’ll get when you rely on us to deliver high-value foods for your dishes. We put our food quality and reliable delivery service as top priorities along with the customers we serve all across the state.
Want to get reliable, quality fresh foods for your restaurant, school, or business? We can help! Contact us today for a full list of available bulk food items and how we can work together to get everything you need delivered on time!