You’ve decided its time to look at doing some marketing; the problem of how to get more customers has started to keep you from a good night’s sleep right? So, before some gorgeous salesperson walks into your kitchen, offering to solve your marketing problems & before you find yourself sighing with relief & signing up to some advertising, think about this.
Dining out in restaurants is so engrained in our culture that every year more and more people are eating out than ever before. People are not going to stop dining out because the restaurant is the last bastion in the world where we can get personal attention; we are there for whole experience because it allows us to forget about our daily troubles. They may leave your restaurant & take their business somewhere else, but there is no shortage of customers.
As restaurant owners & managers we know what we do best; we know our food & running costs but do we know the value of our regular customers or how much it costs to get new ones? Customers have become more discerning; they are less likely to go to a restaurant that doesn’t treat them well, but they are more likely to become raving fans if you meet their needs.
The most valuable question in solving our marketing problems is to find out who our regular customers are & figure out how we can build on the relationship. It costs 7 times more to market to a new customer, when the really the big goldmine is in the hands of our existing customers.
A new emerging economy is taking place & many of the old methods are now redundant. Customers are changing & are now setting the standards; this is no time to put your head in the sand guys. So take action, step out of the kitchen once in a while & implement some new strategies. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at what a little communication & relationship building can do for your business & bank account.
- Spend some time with your front of house people to ensure they are offering great customer service & get to know your customers & staff.
- Reward your regulars with little treats every time they come in, remember they are here for the experience.
- Start a simple database & collect data about your regulars; find out their birthdays, make a note of how often they dine in your restaurant & how much they spend;
- Start a loyalty program, mail out a gift certificate to reward your big spenders.
- Start using social media & encourage your regulars visit your Facebook page often to share their dining experiences
So tell me, when was the last time you had a great restaurant experience & wasn’t it fun telling all your friends about your great find?
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34 Comments and Pings on HOW MANY CARROTS DO YOU HAVE TO DICE TO MAKE $100K A YEAR?
I definitely love telling people if I have a great experience. Diners are more discerning now and more educated about what they want and where their food comes from which is great!
These are great tips! I especially love your tip of giving regulars a little treat — you’re right, it’s all about the experience when dining out!
Our customers have expectations and we should always find a way to let them know we care and appreciate their patronage! Cheers Faith for stopping by my blog!
I do love telling people if I’ve had a great restauarnt experience, because I get so excited about it. It needed be a pricy place – one of my favourite restaurants is a budget Greek place that serves mountains of good food with cheery service.
.-= Cakelaw´s last blog ..Cherry Clafoutis =-.
I tell you what Anna, I have to share this place I had lunch and then breakfast the other day. The Urban Pantry in Manuka. It’s definitely the best service I’ve experienced in Canberra – the staff were genuinely friendly and fun! The food was spectacular!!! And we only tried it because we went to Verve and after 25 mins of being ignored with our menus (it seemed as though each waitress was trying to let one of the other waitress’ take our order) we up and walked out.
My philosophy from now on is, I want those people to whom I’m giving my hard earned money to act as though they deserve that money. I’m not going to pay people to give me crap service anymore!
Urban Pantry Manuka! Highly recommended!
Here Here Alex! Couldn’t agree more! Fabulous, Urban Pantry Manuka is Tha Bomb! I too share your theory on the staff being rehearsed and believable in their performances when waiting our tables. Cheers for your feedback buddy! Great hearing from you!
“So tell me, when was the last time you had a great restaurant experience & wasn’t it fun telling all your friends about your great find?”
U bet!
I’m usually one those peeps who couldn’t wait to share my good food experience with friends!
My last great restaurant experience? – i can’t remember anymore sadly -
Anna,
You are so right!
great food is a must, yet none of that matters if you don’t feel welcome. We have this bar & grill we visit whenever I pick Ric up from the airport. The food is wonderful from the portions, the presentation and the price. The main reason we return though is the staff. They maid us feel like old friends from the first visit. THAT’s why we continue to go there!
Val
.-= Val Wilcox´s last blog ..What’s Your Focus =-.
A bad reveiw travells faster than a good reveiw. If I have a bad experience eating out I will tell everyone!
.-= InTolerantChef´s last blog ..Birthday Party =-.
Just last night we experienced the usual caring service from one if our local restaurants. Being regulars we always get a little complimentary side dish and consistent service. Your philosophy applies in all fields as I always reward my regulars and they don’t even expect it. Working in retail introduces you to a very broad community, good and bad, sometimes shockingly bad. The loyal followers deserve a little treat now and then, without a doubt
.-= john@heneedsfood´s last blog ..Doughboy- Newtown =-.
Yep, we customers have expectations, as a regular it is almost expected we be treated special. As you say, working in any field, the same rules apply!
Awesome to have you stop by my blog! I appreciate your feedback!
You’re right, good service and being treated with consideration, particularly if you’re a regular, are extremely important for ensuring return visits. It’s funny, though, because my idea of good service differs a bit from my grandparents’, for example. They’d prefer more distant servers, where I quite like friendly and chatty waitstaff!
.-= Hannah´s last blog ..WoMan Vs Wild Toe =-.
While I am not involved in the restairant business, I love to eat in them. You may be interested in Not Quite Nigella. She writes excellent restaurant reviews and great stuff about food.
Deb
.-= Debra Kolkka´s last blog ..To drive or not to drive =-.
Ahh, service marketing 101 – turning satisfied customers into evangelists. Sadly not enough service providers understand the principles. One of my favourite humble ramen eateries recently decided to dishonour their loyalty card. And they were so rude about it. I turned from an loyal evangelist to terrorist in one move.
.-= Forager @ The Gourmet Forager´s last blog ..Learning to ride a bike on Death Road- Bolivia =-.
I always share great restaurant experiences with people, I think it’s as important to give good reviews as it is to give bad reviews. And I give both if I think they are deserved. (I AM an easy crowd to please though) Thanks for the great blog Anna!
.-= Loll´s last blog ..Lemon curd cupcakes for a special little girl =-.
Anna…glad to read about the importance that customers and eateries play when speaking of a great or terrible experiences when out of our personal kitchens. I’ve spent many years in restaurants with clients and always made sure to give the manager my feedback ;o)
Thanks for having passed by my culinary journey…pleasure to make your cyber acquaintance.
Flavourful wishes,
Claudia
Couldn’t agree more Claudia! Fabulous to meet you too!
Couldn’t agree more!
We always get the “warm fuzzies” from a little personalized service and word of mouth is free advertising!
Hi Anna, totally agree with you there. Good food is important but good service is equally important. I love raving about places and giving my honest opinion on my blog.
p.s. thank you for your lovely comment x
.-= mashi´s last blog ..Jackie M Malaysian Cuisine- Concord =-.
Hi Mashi, great to connect with you. Me too, I love sharing great new places to eat out.
Hi Anna, I certainly wish more restaurants would follow your tips! Great customer service is the key to loyalty. When is your national tour to teach this to every restaurant out there? ha ha. Great information here!
Sincerely,
David Haines
.-= David Haines´s last blog ..A Good Story That Might Make You a Lot of Money! =-.
Thanks David.
Sometimes we just gotta hold up the flag and show the way
I’m so jealous! i live in St. George Utah…’The Golden Corral’ is the big deal here because of all the retirees and the families with 8 kids. Ah well, I can dream and live vicariously through your site! Very professional job you’ve done here.
Thanks for the ride, Kim
.-= Kim Jensen´s last blog ..Evolutionary Cake! =-.
Hi Anna, Congrats on your well informed and lively web site.
Your comments and replies are well informed and recieved duly.
I am a 3 Rosette Head chef in the UK, and i am very focused on the front of house, treat staff with respect in the front of house and they will reap rewards for the whole establishment, if they are worth there grade!
BEWARE; There is a new concept of chef employment in the UK and will eventually filter over the globe,
Chefs are behaving themselves because they are getting paid by the hour!!!!
I was working 90 hours a week with a fixed annual wage and loved my work but i realized i was earning less than a supermarket worker in hours.
The trend now in England is for a chef to be self employed, we enrole with an agency and get paid buy the hour, i now work all the hours with no social life but i decide when i want a holiday or spend time with my family and my wages are 25% higher. about time we were recognized.
Take care and go it alone,if your good,your an artist; just need a kick up the arse.
jASON
Hey Jason, great to connect. Really value your input & couldn’t be happier to hear Chefs are getting paid their worth. Bring it on I say…., lets spread this idea through the globe. Agency chefs are being used a lot more here in Oz too.
I am new to your blog and just spent about 1 hour and 30 minutes reading. I think I will frequently visit your blog from now on. I will definitely learn a lot from them.
Thanks so much
Glad your finding the site useful. Have a great week OK 
Hi Anna,
Nice post. I’ve written a post on a similar theme, which picks on mainly on your last point – i.e. online marketing and social media for restaurants. Facebook and twitter are a lot more effective than email in my experience, especially when it comes to pushing new menu items or offers.
It also really annoys me that when googling for my local places, I often just get review sites, that more often that not are confusing and biased.
At the risk of being called a spammer here it is: http://www.thespecialsboard.com.au/blog/social-media/10-tips-for-marketing-your-restaurant-online
Hi James, great to connect with you, really great points in your article, thanks for the contribution
Hey Anna,
Great to connect with you too! I think many venues, get a bit scared by the “online” monster, whereas actually with a bit of effort they can quite easily optimize their online presence.
With the way search and social media is going “geo locational” they can also translate a lot of your real world customer tips online – i.e. rewarding “checkins”.
I’ve also spoken to a fair few places that get a great response giving out last minute offers via twitter and facebook.
Food for thought (pun intended!)
Yes, Twitter & Facebook are working a treat for restaurants with a bit of a following, in fact I think social media is a great tool for special offers, I know I’ve driven right across town to one of my fave restaurants because they tweeted a 2 for the price of 1 sit down dinner & the dining room was packed too
I think this might be the first post of yours that I ever read.
Debra Kolkka recently posted..The bus from Bagni di Lucca to Florence
Oh wow, really, that’s awesome. You came in at quiet a punchy post then.
Many restaurateurs make the mistake of concentrating solely on the food. Sure, food is important but it’s the entire dining experience that customers are looking for.
It is a very fine equation that needs to be balanced to the tee depending on the concept of the restaurant, the location and the market that it serves.
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