When you form restaurant hype, you improve your restaurant\’s reputation in the community, which returns the favor by recommending your place to people they know as well as to tourists who ask for the best place to dine. Increasing the hype is a form of restaurant marketing, which depends on the feedback from customers. To increase the hype and start the conversation running, the following tips might help a restaurant owner like you.

1. Form A Restaurant Experience Your Customers Will Never Forget

Your customers\’ dining experience begins from the moment they walk through your doors until they leave your restaurant\’s premises, including the parking lot. To build a long-lasting impression, start delivering the best customer service even before your customers reach your restaurant through a reliable reservation hotline. Finish with an elegant coup de grace at the parking lot with valet service and strong security presence.

However, no matter how good your food is or how great your place feels, all these goes to waste when nobody hears about them. To encourage people to talk about your place, you must do something out of ordinary, such as giving free drinks to the first 100 people to walk through the door. Create a unique event, such as a special performance of a local band every Friday, or raise people\’s awareness and involvement by giving discounts to diners who wear green during lunch.

2. Form Restaurant Referrals Through Postcards And Bonus Points

Referrals bring in paying customers at less the cost for TV and radio ads. By using postcards, your customers can send a special postcard to their friends who receive a free meal or a referral discount. In return, the customers who referred their friends gather bonus points, which they can redeem for some free merchandise, such as a key chain, pen or mini notebook.

Another way for referring customers to benefit from helping spread the word about your place is to receive the postcard back for a special reward. Referring customers write their name and address on the postcard before giving or sending it to their friend. Their friends present the card to redeem the free meal or discount.

However, the cashier does not throw the card into the bin yet because you still have to reward your referring customer. Send their card back to them through mail and inform them they also get the same rewards that their referrals receive at the restaurant in appreciation of their help. Encouraging them to come back to your restaurant increases the chance of developing a deeper and better customer relationship with them.

3. Form Restaurant Diner Programs That Reward Loyalty

Referral cards and bonus points differ from loyalty programs where frequent diners receive privileges that regular diners do not. This does not mean providing better service to a select group of diners, but rather, a reward program for loyalty to your business. Unlike discounts or freebies, loyal customers may receive additional benefits, such as a gift basket, birthday discounts, special holiday gifts and other items a regular diner cannot purchase at your restaurant.

Although the immediate response is hesitation, asking your present customers to \”tell their friends\” or to write about the restaurant in their blogs (if they have one) also works. There is no shame in asking for referrals. Prepare brochures or leaflets to show the services your restaurant offers. Many people will spread the word with their friends and family simply because they like the food and customer service at your restaurant.

Author Bio: Jerome Chiaro is a Restaurant Owner & Consultant out of Orange County, CA.

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Category: Business Management
Keywords: form restaurant, form a restaurant