What makes a good restaurant? Sure, the food is the main draw, but customers also want to feel welcome and important. You can serve the best food in town, but if your restaurant isn't customer-friendly, you'll have a hard time winning customer loyalty.
Fortunately, you don't have to hire ambience personnel to make your restaurant customer-centric. Follow these tips on how to make customers feel valued.
How to Make Customers Feel Special
Customers at a restaurant want to feel special. Many people become regulars at restaurants simply because they have such an inviting atmosphere. The food may be mediocre, but the staff is friendly and the ambiance makes you feel welcome.
There are many ways to make restaurant customers feel special.
Friendly Restaurant Waiting Staff
A warm, inviting staff will make customers feel at home. Beyond being friendly and personable, servers can really wow guests by offering a more personalized experience. Encourage them to get to know the guests, and to greet regulars by name. Remembering drink orders or preferred menu choices can also make customers feel valued and appreciated.
People want to be remembered and important. Teaching customer service skills that are focused on personalization and friendliness can go a long way in making your restaurant more customer-centric.
A poor customer experience can cost you business. One study found that 89% of customers stopped doing business with a company after having a negative experience with customer service. Customer satisfaction in restaurants is crucial to success.
How can your staff improve the customer experience?
- Smile and be friendly
- Be respectful to customers and use respectful titles
- Improve conversation and listening skills
- Have patience with customers
- Practice proper etiquette and respect
Staff can make or break your success. That's why it's so important to have regular restaurant customer service training sessions. Host restaurant server training games to improve skills, and give your wait staff a restaurant server checklist to ensure they hit all of the most important points when dealing with customers.
The right waitressing techniques can mean the difference between a memorable and so-so restaurant experience.
Reward Customers
Loyal customers will keep your restaurant in business. Reward your regulars with a loyalty program. Loyalty programs allow you to give back to your most loyal customers - to show your appreciation for their business.
Maybe your program could offer a free dinner or appetizers after so many visits. With some programs, diners earn points with each purchase. After accumulating so many points, they can exchange them for a meal or certain food items, such as drinks or desserts.
If you're not ready to offer a loyalty program, you can reward loyal customers by surprising them with free food or drink. Diners are always happy to receive a surprise, and they will likely spread word of your kind gesture to friends and family.
Listen to Customer Feedback
Collect and listen to customer feedback. While it can be daunting to stay on top of suggestions and creative criticism, it will ultimately pay off in the form of greater customer loyalty and better diner experiences.
Your customers are telling you what they want to see and experience at your restaurant. They're also telling you what they love about your establishment, and what you could change for the better.
Take constructive criticism with grace, and understand that every complaint - no matter how trivial - is important to the customer. Other customers may have similar complaints. While you don't have to make changes based on every single complaint you receive, you should take every piece of feedback into consideration.
Handle Customer Disputes with Grace
While you and your staff do their best to make customers happy, disputes can and will happen. How you handle these disputes is what really matters.
The key important thing is to handle the situation quickly, efficiently and as gracefully as possible. Make sure that your servers understand how to handle disputes and diffuse situations before they escalate out of control.
Always be respectful and professional. Make every effort to make the customer happy. Offer to comp their meal, or offer a gift certificate for a return visit.
Offering free food items may cost you, but you will be repaid in repeat visits. Even if the customer never returns, offering something for free may prevent that customer from leaving negative feedback or reviews.
Give ShoutOuts on Social Media
Make customers feel special outside of the restaurant by giving shout outs on social media. Did you host a trivia night or contest? Mention them on Facebook or Instagram. Do you have a loyal customer who comes in twice a week? Give them a shout out on your social media accounts.
Customers want to feel valued, and this kind of special attention will make them feel special. Just make sure that you get the customer's permission before posting their photos on social media. If they do give permission, there's a good chance that they'll share your post with friends and family - further promoting your restaurant.
Celebrate Birthdays
Give customers a treat on their birthdays. This could be a free coffee, breakfast, dessert or whatever you please. Customers may also have the option of choosing their birthday gift.
Customer birthdays can be added to your database through loyalty programs or email newsletter sign-ups. Emails or text messages can be sent with a digital gift card or coupon code for their birthday surprise.
By treating customers on their birthdays, you'll keep your restaurant fresh in their minds. It's a great way to get customers back through your doors and win them over again.
Connect with Customers
Encourage your servers to connect with customers and engage in conversation. Other staff members should smile and say hello. If regulars come in, they should greet them by name and ask how they're doing.
These simple gestures make customers feel valued and appreciated. It takes just a few seconds to have these short conversations.
Servers, who will be spending more one-on-one time with customers, should try to connect with the customers at their tables. If they engage in conversation, customers will feel more relaxed and it can put them in a better mood. Happy customers are more likely to return and will likely spend more money with each visit.
A customer-friendly restaurant is a successful restaurant. It's important to make sure that your servers and the rest of your staff are taking every step possible to make diners feel welcome and at-home when sitting down for a meal.