Contributing author: Katherine Sherry

Who doesn’t want to be rewarded for loyalty? Restaurants with the most reward for repeat business influence where customers decide to dine. On average more than 40% of a restaurant’s revenue comes from repeat business. If you grow out the percentage of repeat business you see, your overall sales will continue to spike. To increase your repeat business and your revenue, simply show your customer appreciation.

Let’s look at some quick tips for increasing your restaurant’s customer satisfaction.

“Is your business experiencing a slow night?” Answer: Try trivia

• One method to encourage business on a slow night of the week is to host a game or trivia night. Get a large crowd to come to your restaurant on weeknights and drive loyalty in a new way. If you’re able to host a successful game night, you’ll see the same faces each week coming back to play more. The most loyal customers will tell friends to visit your restaurant. By hosting a fun game night, you will most likely bring in new customers via word of mouth.

Thank customers with points and rewards

• This is a simple, effective way to encourage repeat customers. Set up a loyalty program and reward customers that come back time and time again. Customers love to feel valued, and discounts show that you value their business. Look for point of sale options with integrated loyalty programs. Each time you enter a customer into your program, ask for their email as this can also increase your marketing efforts.

Celebrate with your loyal customers

• Your customer made another trip around the sun. Happy birthday! Congratulate them by offering coupons or discounts that are good for more than the one day of their birthday. Instead of offering this discount for just 24 hours, consider expanding this to the month of their birthday. People may celebrate their birthday a few times with their friends and family, so use a discount or promotion to entice them to visit your establishment for one of their many birthday dinners.

Offer weekly specials

• Take an ordinary Monday and transform it into a restaurant full of happy customers by offering half off bottles of wine or special appetizer pricing. Regardless of the cuisine, they will take advantage of those weekly specials and make a choice on where to eat based on those deals.

Overall, it is important to remember that your customers help your restaurant succeed. Utilize the above best practices and find out how your customer appreciation builds your revenue month over month. For more tips on restaurant tech and how to get more people in the door, refer to Payscape’s free Restaurant Ebook.

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