Transforming a casual visitor into a loyal customer is a complex process. Every dish, smile, and interaction matters when building long-lasting connections with your clientele.
TheFork Manager helps you turn passing customers into steadfast regulars. It’s an essential tool that enables improved business management and helps to offer guests a memorable experience on every visit.
What is customer loyalty?
In the restaurant industry, loyalty comes from building a trust-based relationship with customers to encourage them to visit your restaurant regularly. Achieving this loyalty goes beyond delivering excellent quality food and service and is also about providing a consistent and remarkable dining experience.
Benefits of implementing loyalty programs for your restaurant
Fostering customer loyalty is a strategic investment that pays off on multiple levels, investing in your restaurant's reputation while also creating a community-focused brand image.
By putting loyalty at the top of your agenda, your establishment has the opportunity to maximise the lifetime value of each customer passing through your doors.
Gaucho, a restaurant chain operating in 20 locations across the UK, rewards its guests for each visit when they also subscribe to TheFork’s Yums loyalty program. Customers benefit twice over through this system: first, they are rewarded by Gaucho for returning, and second, they earn ‘Yums’ points through TheFork that can be spent at hundreds of other restaurants.
Every additional visit from a returning client not only guarantees a sale but also increases the chance that they will spend more. Loyal customers are often more open to exploring the menu, including the chef’s signature dishes, personal suggestions, and special items.
By strengthening clients’ loyalty, you will build a solid foundation for your restaurant, ensuring a stable and growing source of income while accruing new ambassadors who will recommend you far and wide.
How word-of-mouth can increase your restaurant’s reputation
Your reputation is one of your greatest assets. Through word-of-mouth recommendations, customers share their positive experiences, attracting new visitors keen to know more about you. Loyal customers are often the best testimonials to promote the quality of your offerings. This type of free marketing is invaluable: personal recommendations have a much stronger impact than traditional advertisements because they are perceived as more sincere and reliable.
With the rise of digital marketing, word-of-mouth is no longer limited to a small circle of friends and family. For many, sharing social media snaps of great food is part of the restaurant experience. By encouraging this, you could tuern loyal customers into prolific micro-influencers that can widen your customer base.
By prioritising loyalty, you encourage your guests to return, and act as ambassadors for your brand, reinforcing your reach and reputation.
Winning strategies to enhance customer loyalty in restaurants
So, what can you do to maximise your chances of turning one-off customers into repeat guests? Here are five tried and tested methods.
Offer rewards with TheFork’s Yums loyalty program
A well-designed loyalty program rewards your guests and helps to build a valuable relationship with them.
With TheFork's Yums loyalty program, restaurants can take advantage of a ready-made offering. When you join TheFork and customers reserve a table in your restaurant through the app, they automatically earn 100 points — or ‘Yums’. Once they reach 1,000 Yums, these points can be redeemed and turned into discounts on future visits. This is a simple yet effective system that adds value to every visit, transforming casual guests into regulars.
Customers who book restaurants via TheFork are also encouraged to share their opinions. An increase in bookings through the Yums loyalty program can lead to more reviews, improving your restaurant's online reputation.
The Yums scheme is a true loyalty-generating machine, making each reservation more valuable. Customers will feel rewarded and appreciated, strengthening their bond with your restaurant.
By joining TheFork Manager, you offer your customers the opportunity to be part of a foodies' community where each meal offers future benefits.
Special offers: the personal touch that makes a difference
Offering special deals is a winning strategy for building loyalty in your customer base. TheFork Manager allows you to set up special offers during your preferred time slots to acquire and retain new customers.
A customer benefiting from special offers ranging from 20% to 50% off is often a happy diner who will return to your restaurant, even when the promotion has ended. These offers have two advantages: they boost visibility on TheFork platform, attracting a wider audience and increase customer satisfaction, encouraging them to return.
One example of the success of this strategy is The Real Greek, who offer a diverse range of small plates inspired by Greek cuisine. During TheFork Festival, an event celebrating restaurant culture, this chain experienced a significant uplift in bookings. While the festiva was on, customers could book one of the platform’s best restaurants with up to 50% off food and other exclusive offers.
The Real Greek’s surge in bookings highlighted the festival’s success in attracting new diners. Backed up by high-quality food and service, many of those customers went on to become regular guests.
Try TheFork Manager today
Ensure the customer experience is central to your restaurant
As The Real Greek shows, customer loyalty relies on an exceptional experience from booking to billing.
TheFork Manager's database functionality gives restaurant managers all the tools they need to turn casual diners into regulars. By taking the admin off their hands, they are free to offer customers the best experience possible.
When a customer reserves online at your restaurant, our all-in-one software automatically creates a customer profile with their name, surname, email address, and phone number. A profile is created regardless of the digital channel they used (e.g. TheFork, TripAdvisor, Google, the Michelin Guide, your website, various social networks). You can also easily create a profile on TheFork Manager for telephone reservations or walk-in customers on the database, which is entirely private.
When a customer profile is created in TheFork Manager, you can modify it and add any information you wish to share. For example:
- The customer's birthday
- Allergies to certain products
- Specific dietary habits
Having extra information to hand allows restaurants to anticipate customers’ needs and address them personally when they order.
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