Loyalty is no longer about a long list of names and addresses. In an age where the market is saturated with advertising and new offers every moment, there are no (or very few) solely loyal customers in any industry – but particularly hospitality. Think about it, how many customers of yours would have not eaten at any other venue for the last 5 years? Pretty insane concept isn’t it, except that’s how venues are still treating their customers. They need to be loved, and direct communication with your customers is the best way to do this.
It is vital to obtain credible and valuable customers that are of value to your business. You need to be aware of their existence, and retain them with good communication, service, and gratification. Understand that your repeat customers want to be rewarded for their commitment to your venue. And you need customer details to continue to engage with them.
Turning a one time customer into a credible and valuable one can be done in many different ways, but at H&L we’ve discovered the best way is to engage them with direct and specific offers regularly via text message or email. As personalised as possible. Use their name, and base your offers on their previous purchasing history. Customers want to be recognised and loved, not a standard “Dear all customers” – Joe Bloggs wants to know that there is a champagne special on. Not everything else, only what is relevant to him.
With our Zen Global Loyalty and Marketing application we can quickly give customers a membership card, and with one swipe collect an email address or mobile number. The customer is then sent a welcome text or email to fill in the rest of their details. Gone are the days of consuming admin work.
Reward these customers in as many different ways as you’d like, this can be done through simple offers that can be sent to the customer, or they appear on the POS with a simple swipe of the membership card.