How can I make new customers regular customers? - The Caterer, 09 March 2006

What can I do to make sure new customers become regular customers?

Guy Holmes, Captivate Restaurants

I shall take it for granted for the purposes of this article that the food and service available at your establishment are enough to make new customers return, but nevertheless with so much competition out there, they sometimes need a push.

One of the most tried and tested as well as the most cost-effective ways to do this is by using "bounce backs". Basically, these are enticements to get customers to make return visits, and they usually take the form of vouchers. For example, over the Christmas period some restaurants decided to make their own crackers and put a January offer inside, such as two main courses for the price of one or a free bottle of wine for every table of two.

Obviously a bounce back is not just for the Christmas period, and any senior staff should be able to give a limited number of vouchers out every week. The vouchers can simply be the offer written on the headed restaurant notepaper and can be useful in getting bums on seats at quieter times of the week like Monday and Tuesday nights, and could turn new customers into regulars.

As each bounce back is given personally, and the offer limited to whoever you like, it makes it somewhat easier to get the customers you want at the times you want. For example, there may be businessmen who come to your restaurant in the evening but never for lunch. By giving them a bounce back with a good lunchtime offer you'll make sure they come for lunch at least once - and obviously the reverse is also true.