What is customer loyalty and why is it important

There is nothing better for a business than to call the majority of its diners “regular customers”. This is what customer loyalty in restaurants is all about: ensuring that your customers are so satisfied that they return regularly to your restaurant for lunch, dinner, beers, etc.

Achieving this is not an easy task, as it is influenced by several factors that you cannot control, such as the supply of restaurants in the same neighborhood. However, there are techniques and strategies for customer loyalty to create bonds of loyalty between your local and your visitors.

For a loyal customer, you will always be the first choice…. who doesn’t want that to happen? This creates an emotional relationship that not only maintains the customer’s relationship with the brand, but also allows you to maintain sales.

Let’s learn a little more about customer loyalty in restaurants in order to understand its importance in the restaurant world and why you should work to achieve it.

What is customer loyalty

In general terms, building customer loyalty means gaining their loyalty by getting them to consider you as their first choice and visit/buy from you on a regular basis.

In the gastronomic field, this customer loyalty in restaurants means that a sporadic customer becomes a regular customer by showing a certain predilection for your services (your food, your ambience, etc.).

Achieving this bond is very important in a sector with as many ups and downs as the hospitality industry. Having a group of frequent diners can mean the difference between a good and a bad month. In addition, all those returning customers are very likely to recommend you to their acquaintances, so you will also be gaining wonderful organic advertising: word-of-mouth.

Loyalty vs. new customers

Building customer loyalty is much easier than acquiring new customers, so it is a task you should take seriously. In the first case, you are competing against yourself: the diner is already in your restaurant, you just have to present him with an excellent gastronomic experience that will leave him wanting to repeat

However, in the second case, how to get customers for a restaurant is much more complicated because not only do you have to show what you are worth, but you have to do it by competing with other rival businesses.

8 strategies for customer loyalty in restaurants

There are different ways to measure the success of a business. The simplest is profitability, but the most demanding ones focus on restaurant customer loyalty, a step that goes beyond sales.

Taking advantage of opportunities, even when they represent a disadvantage, is considered a positive aspect to gain the loyalty of your customers and get them to repeat and return to your restaurant

At this point, I am sure you are very clear about the importance of customer loyalty in restaurants and you are wondering “how to build customer loyalty”.

As we said before, getting new customers is perhaps the most difficult task when you open a restaurant, so once you get a new visit, you must try to make sure you don’t lose them. To do this, you can count on loyalty techniques that will help you achieve this.

Let’s take a look at the most important ones and some examples of loyalty strategies:

1. Service excellence

The most important thing for customer loyalty in restaurants is to offer the best possible service. If this is not the case, the rest of the points lose value.

To get customers to return to your establishment it is essential that the first time they had a satisfactory experience, both with the food served and the attention received or the impeccable cleanliness of the premises. This is the essential triad for repeat visits.

Don’t lose sight of the fact that only a diner who leaves your restaurant happy will consider repeating.

2. Create a special and unique atmosphere

Food is not the only factor that will make your customers come back to your restaurant. If you take care of the ambience of the place, you will make them feel comfortable when they come to your restaurant and they will want to come back.

To create atmosphere, it is essential to take care of the decoration, lighting, acoustic comfort and furniture. That is to say, to present a pleasant, clean and tasteful environment, with intimate lighting that allows people to relax, with an adequate volume of music for conversation and with comfortable tables and chairs (or armchairs or sofas).

3. Friendly and attentive staff

Another aspect that is highly valued by diners is the treatment received. In this case, factors such as the following influence whether their experience has been satisfactory or not:

1. The speed and skill in the service
2. Close and respectful treatment
3. The knowledge of the menu and its ingredients to be able to solve doubts during the order
4. Adequate ratio of waiters to tables

Crisis resolution

Train your team to be able to solve the most common crises in a restaurant: food returns, complaints about delays or errors, etc. If the management of a problem is good, it can become an instant loyalty and there is nothing better than feeling listened to and being given a solution quickly

A good idea is to develop a comprehensive crisis management plan as part of the initial training of your employees.

4. VIP treatment

Another important aspect of how to carry out a customer loyalty process in restaurants is the creation of a group of VIP customers.

If you have identified “your regulars” it is time to let them know that they are your regulars. Nothing better than a customer club that allows you to be in direct contact with them (via email) to send them details for VIP customers, special offers and promotions. Of course, exclusive ones.

These loyalty programs for restaurants can also help you to fill the restaurant during off-peak hours or days. Simply focus VIP promotions on off-peak hours, and they will cease to be so. Happy hours, 2-for-1, free desserts, free cocktail every 3 visits…. There are many ways to reward customer loyalty and, at the same time, reinforce it.

5. Proximity on social networks

Social networks for restaurants are great allies to make yourself known to new customers, but also serves to build loyalty among those who already know you.

To do this, show yourself close on social networks, talk about past events (in which they may participate and feel identified), propose contests or sweepstakes and share what they are publishing about you.

With all these initiatives you encourage interaction between your customers and your account, something very beneficial as loyalty actions.

6. Diversify your services

People are creatures of habit. If you make it easy to access your restaurant or your menu, you will easily gain regular customers. That is why it is important to multiply your presence: on the premises and online.

If you don’t already have one, perhaps the time has come to launch a delivery or food pick-up service at your premises. This multiplies the opportunities for your diners, who can keep coming back to you even on those days when they don’t feel like leaving the house. What’s more, they will be very grateful to be able to count on you (or should we say “very loyal”?).

To do this, create your online menu and promote it or partner with a home delivery company (Just Eat, Glovo, Uber Eats).

It is also a good idea to be able to check online the real time status of the tables in the restaurant and reserve a table for 15-30 minutes. If the customer knows that he has a place in your establishment, the chances of his visit increase.

7. “Free stuff” as a welcome

Nobody is bitter for a sweet, so a marketing technique and strategy for restaurants that gives very good results is to use free gifts to welcome your customers. Depending on the style of your establishment, this “gift” will be very different

Examples of restaurant promotions: if you run a steakhouse, you can bring them a bread roll with homemade aioli while they wait for their order; if your cuisine is Italian, you can present grisinis and butter; if you are a tapas bar, why not enliven their drink with a plate of chips or some free olives?

Or as a farewell

Get into the habit of handing out your guests’ leftovers (with their permission) so that they can take home what they have not been able to finish. To do this, you have takeaway containers that are perfect for all kinds of preparations: hamburger boxes, doggy bags, greaseproof paper wrappers, sushi boxes or sugar cane bowls with lids.

8. Added value

There are certain details or customer loyalty tools that can add value to your proposal and attract people to your restaurant, until they become regular customers.

Some of these initiatives are:

• Offering free wifi and charging stations
• Having a digital menu
• Publish your daily menus on social networks
• Database to congratulate birthdays
• Investing in good coffee

Remember that all these strategies must be developed adapting them to your target audience, the style of the restaurant and even the location where you are. It is not about adapting your vision, but your business to the customer’s needs. The positive thing about having many regular customers is that you learn a lot from them about how to improve your business.

You have the keys to start building customer loyalty in restaurants. Now hold a meeting with your team and establish a plan to follow to achieve that precious status with the majority of your customers.