Business Guest Post

Retain More Customers to Your Business in 2021

Leads, strong customer base, and finally, sales. 

These three are the primary goals of every business. 

The restaurant industry was one of the most affected industries due to the corona pandemic. Due to lockdown and social distancing, people’s shift towards online ordering has increased, and this trend will continue to flourish in the coming years. 

Whether you own an online business or offline, if you want to build a thriving restaurant business, you need to focus on your biggest assets- Customers. 

Yes, a solid existing customer base is a goldmine to your restaurant business because they are the people who will also trust you and keep doing business with you during challenging times like pandemics. Hence, you need to entertain and encourage them; it will prevent them from going somewhere else. 

Once you set up a restaurant successfully, you should focus on keeping your customers happy and delivering them a great experience so that they will keep doing business with you. 

Grow Your Restaurant Business by Selling More to Existing Customers

Keeping existing customers happy and satisfied is equally important as gaining new ones. We often hear the popular phrase “old is gold,” the same proverb implies here, old customers are the restaurant business’s backbone because the content customers will always give positive feedback about the restaurant to their friends and colleagues. Eventually, you will also attract new customers without much effort. 

Customer retention is more important than customer acquisition. 

According to the survey of Harvard Business School, increasing customer retention rates by 10% will also upscale profitability by 25-95%. It helps to increase the ROI of your restaurant business and cultivate long-lasting relationships with customers. 

In this post, we will focus on:

What is customer retention?

What are some exciting ways to increase customer retention rate?

Here we go. 

What is Customer Retention

Customer retention is a simple process of turning one-time buyers into repeat customers by following exciting techniques. 

In short, customer retention means, 

Customer retention= satisfied and loyal customers=repeat visit= boost in sales

No matter even if you are running a small restaurant business, developing a pool of loyal and satisfied customers is the lifeblood of your food business.

According to SEMrush’s studies here, you can see more than 68% of customers stop doing business with you because they feel you don’t care about them. 

So, what’s the outtake?

It means you need to work on a customer retention strategy; once you craft a well-researched customer retention strategy, it will help grow your business and increase profitability quickly. 

There are always plenty of ways to build and retain your customer loyalty, but here we have presented the top and useful tips to build a customer retention strategy for your restaurant business. 

Provide Seamless Customer Service 

The reality is: customer retention entirely depends on customer service. 

As per Capgemini’s research, eight out of ten customers are ready to pay more for a product if they receive seamless after-sales support from brands. Delivering world-class customer service is important as it fosters loyalty and trust amongst customers. 

Today, we live in a digital age; there are a plethora of tools available on the internet that promise brands to assist customers round the clock. For instance, having a live chat option on a website or app can answer customers quickly and solve their queries in no time. Whether customers land on your site through email or social media pages, instant welcome messages,s and resolving their queries can turn a prospective customer into a satisfied, repeat customer. 

Offer Loyalty Programs

Who does not like freebies? Almost everyone. 

Running promotions and offering special discounts is the best way to entertain your customers. No doubt, online food delivery service offers comfort to people, but the attractive discount is another major reason why people more often use food ordering app for restaurants as it is the easy way to keep customers engaged and hooked with your brand. (source)

Moreover, around 79% of customers look for deals and rewards before visiting any restaurants. Offerings like free home delivery, hefty discount for repeat purchases can also turn your first-time customers into repeat and regular customers. 

Send Personalized Emails to Customers 

Today, the word “personalization” has become the talk of the town in the digital marketing landscape because people today want everything personalized, from customer service to discount to social media channels. 

One-to-one personalization increases the customer retention ratio. In today’s connected world, people are bombarded with plenty of emails every day, but personalization is the thing that keeps you one step ahead in the competitive curve. There are many ways to send personalized emails, such as: 

  • Include your customers name in the subject line
  • Suggest them dishes based on their preferences
  • Send personalized content to high engagement users

Sending personalized emails is one of the best and effective ways to increase customer retention rate. You can leverage Shopify, which will help you send personalized emails and save time. 

Communicate with Your Customers

Effective communication is the key to the success of the restaurant business. 

Today, businesses have multiple tools to connect with customers, and those tools make communication even faster. Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, iMessage, etc., are effective ways to reach out to customers. Even when your customers don’t reach out to you, it’s your job to reach them on a regular basis. 

It will reignite your relationship with customers. Moreover, you can address customers’ pain points more quickly. Instant communication with customers increases conversion level. Recent statistics show that regular communication with customers increases profitability and fosters brand loyalty. 

Restaurant owners here can use a communication calendar to keep a record of their customers; moreover, it will also automate period communication with customers. 

Delight Your Customers Consistently 

Attractive perks and discounts are the two major ways to delight your customers. However, this method is quite expensive. Thus, instead of offering a heavy discount, you can set certain limits. For example, if a customer’s order value exceeds a certain amount, they will avail the discount. Eventually, it will encourage them to buy more and increase the sales of restaurants.

Along with the discount, you can also invite them to any event, offer them free coupons; by doing this, you can constantly stay in touch with your customers and push them to visit your place more often. 

Parting Words

There you are. These are the five ways you can use to increase customer retention rate.

Overall, there are three keys to successful customer retention,

  • Keep them happy
  • Fulfill their demands 
  • And deliver excellent customer service 

Stick to the strategies mentioned above, and you will experience an increase in profitability and customer retention.

About the author

Brijesh Vadukiya

Brijesh Vadukiya is a tech activist and avid blogger. My major concern is to educate people who are interested in technology. I am passionate about helping people in all aspects of SaaS solutions, online delivery business, digital marketing and other related topics that make tomorrow's world better. I am fond of writing useful and informative content that helps brands to grow business.

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