5 Principles to Generating Frequency

Your sales will increase by 40% if you can get your customers to visit once every 10 days (36.5 visits per year) instead of once every 14 days (26 visits).

There is now one restaurant for every 664 people in this country. That's different than 30 or so years ago when there was one restaurant for every 1,029 people. People are eating out less frequently these days (consumer confidence is waning), but they have more choices each time they do.

Share of wallet makes all the difference to your customer count (and, therefore, your advertising costs). Here are 5 principles to getting customers to visit more often.

1. Invite them back. Don't assume their experience was great, invite customers back (and soon) with a bounce-back coupon. Make it a BOGO or half off a scone with purchase of coffee. Make it a Trial offer for a different menu item. Put a tight expiration date on it (get them in the habit of coming back and bringing friends).

2. Let them try everything. Sample at the counter. Sample to those standing in line. Walk the dining room with little Lagniappes (New Orleans for "a little something extra"). The more menu items guests have tried, the more likely they will have to choose between two favorites when they visit you. Meaning they'll crave you more often.

3. Tell them when you'd like to see them. You can eat at the same restaurant more than once in a week more easily if one meal is lunch (sandwich) and the other is dinner (meal). Give bounce-back coupons for specific dayparts or for carry-out. Use your current traffic to drive more traffic, with more occasions to love you.

4. Surround them with messages. Studies suggest that RECENCY (the time gap between seeing your message and making a buying decision) is more important than either reach or frequency in advertising. This means that if you can deliver a message to lunch customers at 11am you have a better shot at getting them. You have a better shot at reaching them at 11am if your message is out there in several forms (email, bounce-backs, direct mail, etc.).

5. Let them know you love them. None of your marketing matters if the experience sucks. Don't just be polite, be genuinely happy to see your customers. Walk the tables, ask for feedback, offer samples. In my experience, one of the most critical factors for success is whether an owner/manager walks the tables. It puts a face on the ownership.

More customers visiting more often. If you have a high traffic count, you'll be amazed at what increasing frequency can do for sales (as much as $3,000 per week - honest). All without spending any more money or eroding profit.

Next up:
5 Principles for Increasing Ticket Average