Customer retention is a big part of restaurant management because it indicates a healthy business. A constant stream of diners brings you reassurance that you will always have profits by the end of the day. To achieve this goal, you can creatively use restaurant forms, such as restaurant templates for cards and brochures, in your customer retention programs.

Keeping your regular diners satisfied and stopping them from straying to your rival establishments offering the same cuisine within the same area as you is a constant struggle. You know by experience that food preference is the most inconstant of all human behavior.

However, you also know from experience that there are creative ways to keep your customers satisfied with their dining experience. One of those ways is to push your customers to invest emotionally in their dining experience.

Many restaurants already provide special treatment to their regular patrons through their loyalty cards and referral cards. Through loyalty programs, special event packages and referral bonuses, you not only satisfy your customers’ gustatory senses, but you also satisfy their need for recognition and belongingness. Create a sense of privilege by giving them a loyalty card, which provides discounts or freebies every time they use it.

Your loyalty program may include rewards for your customers who visit frequently. For example, diners who visit your restaurant seven days in succession may receive a special gift. Give them the privilege to select a prime dish from your menu free of charge.

Give each of your customers a Frequent Diner card, which has special conditions they have to follow to receive the reward. To cut costs, create your own card design by using ready-made templates from websites that provide free restaurant forms.

Customize a membership card by placing seven blank squares at the back. The cashier signs or stamps each square every time the person dines at your restaurant. When all the squares are signed or stamped, the diner presents his Frequent Diner card and receives a special gift in return.

Create the same sense of privilege by rewarding diners who use credit cards from MasterCard, Visa or American Express. Use restaurant forms, such as spreadsheets and restaurant checklists, to track your frequent customers who use credit cards and reward their loyalty by giving them special gifts when they reach a certain amount for their accumulated orders.

Restaurant owners like you benefit from the guaranteed payments credit cards provide. The more often your customers use their credit cards, then the more rewards they receive, not only from you, but also from their credit card company.

Customers can exchange their accumulated points for an item with an equivalent number of points. Customer can also accumulate a number of miles, which they can exchange for free plane tickets in the business or executive class. This reward system encourages customers to visit your place more frequently and to order the more expensive items in your restaurant’s menu.

Appeal emotionally to your regular diners by creating a special Diners’ Club that provides privileges to its members whenever they dine at your restaurant. This sense of privilege strengthens whenever your waiters and food servers treat them differently from non-members.

Train your headwaiters to greet your regular patrons personally by their first names, and teach your food servers to remember each person’s favorite drink or appetizer, which they should serve immediately after your customers arrive. This standard procedure should be included in your restaurant employee handbook.

Reward the members of this Diner’s Club whenever they refer new customers to the club. Offer a slash in membership fees for the friend they referred or you can waive the renewal of the membership fee for one year for the person who referred the new member.

Track your club memberships and referrals through restaurant forms, such as application forms or surveys. Maintain your club members’ interest in your restaurant’s services by sending newsletters or brochures regularly about your updated menu, wine tasting events, and special deals. Cut printing costs by altering the text and designs of restaurant templates for newsletters, brochures, leaflets, application forms and surveys, which you can easily find on the Internet.

Author Bio: Jerome Chiaro is a Restaurant Owner & Consultant out of Orange County, CA. Did you know that 95% of restaurant owners and managers spend over 55 hours per week slaving away at their restaurant! He can help you WORK LESS and PROFIT MORE… Claim your copy of his Free Restaurant Forms Toolkit. Success doesn’t happen alone! Join a mastermind of restaurant owners and a wealth of resources, Free at his Restaurant Forms Blog.

Category: Business Management
Keywords: restaurant forms, restaurant templates, restaurant employee handbook, restaurant checklists