Customer Loyalty: Rewarding Your
Customers
Larry O’Connor, GRS Development Manager
The choices we make about our food
spending are changing rapidly...
•Restaurants in the western world began on post roads in
medieval Europe
•In the old days, you built your restaurant, served good food,
and waited for customers to come.
•McDonald’s changed the model forever
•We live a time when consumers “cocoon” - couch potatoes
are staying home. When a customer does come to your
location, it has to be EASY and REWARDING to do business.
•More businesses are competing for prepared food dollars all
the time
Fast Food restaurants
Table service restaurants
Supermarket grazing bars
Convenience stores
Book Stores
Video stores
Who Are YOUR Customers?
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Business People On the Go
Families looking for a meal cooked to order
Singles with a microwave
In-house diners Who See Your Place as Theirs
“Friends” Groups looking for a place to gather
Party organizers with friends
in town
What Are YOU Doing To Bring Them
Back?
• Buy 10, get 1 free
• Buy 9, get 1 free
• Buy 12, get 1 free
• See any pattern?
Is your “Loyalty” program creating loyalty or just keeping you
even with the competition?
10% senior discount is EXPECTED in foodservice today
Isn’t buy X get one free just a standard procedure?
How can you keep your customers YOUR customers?
Why Do Customers STOP Coming?
• Bad Service Experience
• Bad Quality (usually more than once)
• Economic Concerns
• BOREDOM!
Customers are NOT IMAGINATIVE
Have you noticed that MOST of your customers have a
“Standard Order”?
That’s good for FAST business, but bad over time for
repeat business
How can you keep your customers YOUR
customers?
It’s All About Building Repeat Business
• Dine-A-Mate booklets
• “Meal Deals”
• Sub Clubs
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The modern restaurateur is looking for a way to get the customer in the door
twice a month instead of once a month
Ways to encourage you to order a side item or a dessert
Ways to get customers to “share ownership” in their restaurants
Increasingly, you compete against food
operators of many stripes for limited
discretionary dollars.
Introducing…
The Intelligent Restaurant
• Not all of your customers fit the same profile.
• Everyone expects a reward for every X pizzas purchased or $ spent
• Not everyone that stops by is thinking about your:
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Appetizers
Sandwiches
Soups & Salads
Wine Lists
Store paraphernalia
An automated system can do much more than keep track of
card punches for you
Customer Loyalty
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Identify a customer by card, phone number or NAME
Summary of each person’s purchasing history
Detail history of prior orders
The ability to reward your customers based on WHY they come to
you
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Business People – encourage them to buy salads, not sandwiches for lunch
Students – encourage them to ADD ON to the small purchases
Families – encourage kids’ choices to get parents to bring the family
• Loyalty - Generate rewards for your loyal customers
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Based on total dollars spent
Based on orders of specific item groups
• Award Loyalty by suggesting NEW item purchases
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Discount Sandwiches if you order pizza
Discount Salads if you order sandwiches
• Find Reasons for your Customers to Return
• Web based tools to get lost customers back
• Web based tools for “thanks” e-mails to stars
Customer Loyalty
•What they always get:
Customer Loyalty
•What can we offer:
•The “Try Something Different” Award
Customer Loyalty
•What can we offer:
•The “Instant Gratification” Award
Customer Loyalty
•What can we offer:
•The “Tell Others About Us” Award
Customer Loyalty
•What can we offer:
•The “You Spend Too Much Money” Award
How Else Do We Create Repeat Business
Smart Phone Ordering for “Get It Quick” Ordering
Communicate with the Loyalists,
Redeem the Lost
Gift Cards
• Mag or Bar Code Card based
• Loyalty - encourage repeat customers to “tell a friend”
with instant award for Gift Card purchase
• Make it EASY to ALWAYS put the change from a cash
payment BACK on the card
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Gift Cards/Certificates are a powerful way to talk
about your store (and get others to do the same)
• On-line, real time issue and redemption for multi-store
operations
Corporate Loyalty/Gift Management
• For multi-unit operations
• Each store can be on line
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Centralized data for multi-unit operations
• Software will consolidate activity from
units
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Customer adds
Customer new activity
Gift Card Activity
• Generate batch mails/e-mails based on
master criteria, usage history, lack of
orders
• In store and above store can be identical
OR complementary plans