4 proven ways to improve customer experience in your restaurant
Do you own a restaurant? You probably are, especially if you are reading this article. As a restaurant owner, your priority would be to serve tasty food. But having delicious food isn’t enough for customers to keep coming back. You need to put more effort into making the experience of your diners delightful. When a person goes to a restaurant, it is the dining experience that lingers in his/her mind along with the taste of the food. Therefore, it becomes necessary for restaurant owners to ensure that they deliver the best kind of service to their customers.
According to a report by Zendesk Customer Experience Trends report 2022 talks about how critical it is for restaurants to render a delightful customer experience. Mature companies operating in the food industry have clearly understood the importance of rendering a good customer experience. These companies are spending a lot of time and money to win the loyalty of their present customers. Many academic studies have suggested that it is better to retain present customers than to acquire new ones.If this is achieved, “a business can easily transform a customer’s loyalty into higher sales and revenue”.
Another way to win the hearts of today’s diners is by making use of loyalty programs.Companies big and well are spending a volume of money on loyalty programs, Customer Relationship Management technology (CRM), etc as part of their customer retention strategy.
From our observation of partnering with over 400+ F&B outlets across Singapore, what many of these restaurants are missing out on is building a personal relationship with their customers. Customers typically want to feel appreciated and rewarded, and when a brand is able to provide customers with this sense of belonging, these customers will tend to stay loyal. As Singapore’s leading customer loyalty solutions provider in the F&B space, we have identified effective methods to improve the customer experience of your restaurant:
- Personalize the experience
To win the hearts of your customers, it is indeed very important to create a personal bond with them.Giving a personalized experience makes your customers feel special. Knowing their preferences, remembering their favorite dishes, etc. are simple examples of how to make a customized experience for your customers.
In order to do so, you’ll need a robust CRM system that enables you to record your customers’ purchase patterns and personal preferences. Upon collecting this information, you’ll be able to cater your services to match the needs of your customers.
- Be open to feedback
Having an accurate feedback mechanism is essential. It is because it helps you know about the areas that you lack in.do this by asking for feedback from your customers and critically analyzing their needs and wants. Listening to your customers and allowing them to voice out their thoughts is a great way to ensure that you are prioritizing your customers. They will appreciate that their thoughts are being heard. To sweeten the deal, you can also offer a small incentive for those that take the time to leave a review. These incentives do not need to be extravagant – they can be as simple as a free dessert or a SGD10 discount voucher! Simple acts like these will make your customers feel valued and motivate them to visit your place again.
- Connect with your customers
Connecting with your customers is something that you need to do at every step. In today’s world where everything is digitized,human connections are something that can be developed very easily. Running a restaurant would mean greeting the customer with a smile when they come. There can be many ways to establish a personal connection with your customers.
For example, you can send them special offers during special times of the year, like Christmas, Valentines Day, Mother’s Day, etc. Imagine if you sent a message to a working mother that she would get a free dessert and meal on Mother’s Day. She is so busy fulfilling her responsibilities that she almost forgot to take care of herself. A simple gesture like the above would warm her heart and make her feel cherished. This will increase the likelihood of her continuing to frequent your brand, as she feels a sense of belonging and acknowledgement.
In today’s world of technology, maintaining relationships with the customers has really become hassle free and easy. Loyalty solutions such as Advocado has enabled over 400+ F&B outlets across Singapore to come out with enticing rewards programmes such as memberships, cashbacks, loyalty points, etc. to empower these brands in terms of adding more value to their customers.
- Acknowledge the loyalty of your customer
As a restaurant owner, customer loyalty is something that you crave for. Who would not want a customer that dines with you again and again. A customer that keeps revisiting your restaurant is clearly exhibiting his loyalty towards you. So, showing gratitude in lieu of their loyalty is a must. This can be done in the form of customized rewards or offers.Thoughtful & relevant rewards go a long way in making customer interactions meaningful. Try and delight your customers in every possible way. For example, you can ask them to be indirect advocates of your restaurant by referring your restaurant to their friends and families and reward them when they do. The rewards can be monetary, like cashback, discounts, vouchers, etc., or non-monetary, like a free cold drink, a free scoop of ice cream, etc. All such rewards help to strengthen customer relationships.
Add CTA (e.g Improving a customer’s experience is the first step to ensure that your business is frequented. At Advocado, our forte is empowering F&B brands to enhance their customer experience through rewards, loyalty programs, and marketing automation, enabling them to remain at the top of their customers’ minds and staying loyal for many years to come.
Effective Marketing Strategies for Retailers in Singapore
Marketing and Selling have been used interchangeably in the past decades. But there lies a vast difference between the two. Selling is concerned with just selling the product to a customer. In contrast, marketing is concerned with designing a strategy such that you can attract new customers. At the same time, you manage to keep a grab on your present customer.
Your business can be big or small, retail or wholesale, online or have a physical store, etc. You need to do marketing to run it. If you think you can survive in this competitive environment, especially in a country like Singapore, just by selling your product. Let me tell you, No! This is practically impossible.
You need to market your retail store well to attract new customers and keep the old ones. To achieve this, you need to develop some strategies. But do not worry. We at Advocado have your back. Here are some marketing strategies that you can use to build yourself in a competitive country like Singapore.
1. Engagement is the key
Engaging with your customer is very essential. This does not mean that you need to hire someone who would stand at the door and greet everybody. It simply means try and be helpful to them. You need to search for potential ways to show a helping hand to your customers. You can do this by sharing your experience with the product or asking how they feel about your product. Yes! You need to have an effective feedback mechanism system. Ask your customers to review your product or service and then act like you also feel the same and agree to work on that particular aspect.
2. Study the demographics well (smart customer profiling)
Effecting retail marketing is not just about the campaigns that you run. It has more to it. You need to see the platform on which it is being run or may behaviour of the channels used. This sounds a bit complex, but in reality, it is not. You need to know the tracks from where your store is driving traffic from.
For instance,
A customer might visit your store if they are beguiled by the colour of your window, or maybe they find the architecture of your store appealing.
A customer who is a bit evaluative might decide to visit your store because you have an excellent online listing.
You can also maintain information about the devices that your customers are using to browse through your website. This information will help you develop a website that is responsive on all kinds of devices.
Hence, identify the channels, tactics and activities that bring visitors to your retail store. Once this is done, keep working on that particular strategy and then see where your business goes.
3. Try and gel with your customers in all possible ways
Ask your employees to be polite and engaged. Train them on the way to break the ice with the customers every time they walk into your store. If you find this a bit hard, you can also engage with your customer by being nonverbal. This sounds a bit tricky. But it is not as tough as it sounds. Adopt the following strategies to engage with your customer in a non-verbal format:
a. Showcase your social media handles
you can display your social media signage and ask customers to follow you on different social media platforms. This is the most inexpensive way.
b. Offer discounts
Discount is something that can persuade anyone to buy your product or service. Give your customers a discount every time they review you on any platform, for instance, Facebook.
c. Host a giveaway contest
Organize games, and whoever wins can be given a hamper, voucher, or free sample of your product. This strategy gives your customers a delightful experience and helps you build a customer base.
Developing an online retail marketing strategy calls for considering several factors. You need to look at things from a different perspective and then choose a particular marketing strategy. A specific method might work well for your competitor but might not show similar results for you. Hence, analyzing your customer and their needs is essential. At the same time, you also need to have. A thorough understanding of your business and its products. Besides the above-stated strategies, several other methods can help you target customers. Just before I conclude, don’t forget Singapore has a competitive market. It would be best to stand out from your competitors to have that dominating position. Therefore, plan your marketing strategy after considering every minute detail.
