The never ending cycle of being a restaurant owner means you are continually finding ways to attract patrons to your location—and it’s a tough business. People love to eat out, but the amount of choices when it comes to where to eat is usually abundant. That means that, as an owner, you have to come up with creative incentives or ways to emphasize what makes your restaurant unique.
It’s a challenge, but it’s very much possible. If you’re able to be consistent as well as think a little outside the box, then there are always opportunities to heighten the experience for your customers and keep them coming back for more. But everything starts with one variable the food.
Serve Them Great Food
There is only so far the popularity of your restaurant can take you if it’s not serving good food. You can have the kookiest decor, or have TV screens on every table, but if you are not serving good food, it seriously limits your restaurant from reaching its full potential. So do what you have to do to get the right cook in your kitchen and start turning out some tasty dishes. After that, everything becomes much easier.
Make Them Feel Special
Everyone wants to feel appreciated, even if it’s just a little bit, and your guests are no different. Doesn’t matter if they’re sitting at the bar alone or if they walked in with a group of friends, your guests want to feel as if they’ve had a personal experience while dining at your establishment. This takes the right amount of attention from wait staff, and prompt customer service; plus, a smile here and there wouldn’t hurt either.
Take Their Feedback Seriously
Your patrons are the ones eating your food, reacting to your environment, and engaging with your staff. If they make a suggestion on how any of those factors can be improved, it’s in your best interest to at least consider what they’ve said. Of course, you’ll get some ideas that are just not doable, but a request for a certain menu item or a testimonial to how they enjoyed that time you brought in a live band are things you can definitely take into consideration. The point is to listen to the feedback attentively and then find ways to incorporate the ideas that will make your establishment more attractive and keep customers coming back.
Provide Guests with Something for Free
Who doesn’t like free things? As a restaurant owner, you have several resources at your disposal that can possibly be offered some or all of the time with everyone’s favorite “F” word. Here are just a few to get you started.
Cellphone Charging
What would be great for patrons is if your restaurant had a multiple-mobile device charger at their tables. This way, guests can enjoy their meals and drinks while still being able to charge their smartphones. In an age where no one leaves home without some kind of mobile device, you can bet that it will make a difference if guests can charge their phones at no cost and at great convenience.
Free Wi-Fi
This is a given. If you’re not already offering free Wi-Fi, you should definitely consider starting. Make it easy on yourself and have the password printed on a board or posted up somewhere everyone can easily see it. There’s really no excuse for not giving your guests access to the Internet in this day and age.
Drinks
Yes, free drinks. We’re not suggesting that you should empty your bar, but if a table is ordering a bunch of food and having a good time, throw them something that’s on tap at no cost. They’ll remember your restaurant forever; plus, it shows that you aren’t just trying to rush them out and that you do care about their experience at your establishment.
Ice Cream
If you offer your guests a free scoop of ice cream at the end of their meal, you’ll see their faces light up even if they’re full. And it’s a small cost for your restaurant. Switch up the flavors every week or maybe even every day if possible. It’s a nice little detail that can separate you from the competition.
Car Parking
Free parking is huge: It gets the foot traffic into your establishment and puts your patron’s minds at ease knowing they aren’t counting down the minutes till their tickets run out. If you can find a way to pull this off, it’s usually worth it.
Gift Cards/Coupons
One effective way to get your guests coming back is to offer them free coupons or gift certificates. A lunch for two or a coupon for half-price drinks is enough to keep guests interested in returning. Offer it toward the end of their meal. Thank them for coming and either ask if you can email the coupon (this is the better option), or you can simply hand them a physical copy.
Give Them Discounts on the Bill
Don’t do this unless there has been some kind of dispute or small problem during their meal. Maybe some part of their dish came out cold, or they had to wait longer than normal for dessert. Discounting their bill is the simplest way to say you apologize and hope they’ll come again.
Run Referral Programs
If guests are directly responsible for bringing other customers into your restaurant, why not give them a little prize? It might be a cool idea to run the referral program over social media. That way your restaurant will get maximum exposure and you can see which guests are actually helping to get traffic into your place.
Keep in Touch
It’s important to not just let your experience with your patrons end once they leave the door. Keep in touch with them through email or even direct mail. And since this is 2016, it’s not a stretch to text customers to let them know about the next time you’ll be having drink or food specials.
Ohming Technology offers phone charging solutions for restaurants so they can have something cool to offer patrons. Our new Charging Caddy fits perfectly on restaurant tables and acts as a multiple–mobile device charger. To learn more about the Charging Caddy or any of our other products, contact us now at 561-386-5251.
Paul Romanenko
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