Given how fierce the Restaurant industry is, you must be proactive to stay ahead of the competition. Statistics indicate up to 60% of new outlets fail within the first year, with more failing to celebrate the fourth anniversary. You might have the tastiest food but won’t become profitable without attracting enough customers.

The other challenge involves instilling loyalty in your diners. You also want them to leave positive reviews and advertise your business to family and acquaintances. The following tips will help you attract more patrons to your eatery:

1. Prioritize Excellent Customer Care

Professional restaurateurs have the same dedication to customer service as they do to preparing tasty meals. It starts the minute your guests walk in. Greet them warmly and address them appropriately using respectful titles such as ma’am, miss, and sir. Listen keenly to their inquiries without interrupting.

Have a detailed understanding of your menu to suitably answer any special request they might have. Repeat orders and ask relevant questions to ensure there’s no mix-up. Try not to keep your customers waiting because it will negatively affect the overall experience. No matter how well-trained and efficient your staff is, you’ll always receive a complaint or two from some customers.

Listen intently to their concerns without arguing. Even if you feel offended, stay calm and avoid showing any emotion. Maintain eye contact, apologize and fix the problem as soon as you can. These simple gestures can turn the most hostile diner into your most loyal customer.

Invest in training your employees on customer service skills, including dispute resolution, social interactions, and feedback requests. Did you know the restaurant workforce accounts for 10% of the total US labor force? Remember to appreciate your employees for their hard work and passion. If they feel valued, it will boost their motivation and productivity. They’ll also transfer their positive attitude to your guests.

2. Embrace Technology

An online presence is one of the most important aspects of any modern business. It’s advisable to have a mobile responsive restaurant’s website that gives potential diners a glimpse of your offers. Consequently, it should be visually appealing, intuitive, and have a fast loading speed.

The content should prominently display a gallery of your dishes, decor, and events. Diners should be able to make online reservations and interact with your customer care reps. If you can’t afford a new premium site, you can opt for free but feature-rich alternatives such as Google My Business.

With up to 79% of the US population having a Social Media presence, you can only succeed if you make it a part of your digital marketing strategy. Through your Facebook page, you can update your loyal customers on offers and other upcoming events. Instagram is suitable for displaying images and video content. Other viable social media platforms are Twitter, Snapchat, Pinterest, and YouTube.

Remember to monitor restaurant review sites such as Yelp, Zomato, OpenTable, Zagat, and TripAdvisor. Always read what past visitors say about your establishment to improve services. Other technological innovations include a mobile POS system, free Wi-Fi for customers, and staff scheduling software.

Digital menu boards are better at catching the customer’s attention and increasing brand awareness. Furthermore, they hasten the decision-making process, which reduces overall service time.

3. Create a Pleasant Ambiance

Your atmosphere determines how much time guests spend. If they like it, they’ll stay longer, spend more, advertise it via word of mouth, and post positive online reviews. Once you settle on a niche, you can set the right mood to maximize the customer experience.

Common concepts include fine dining, family-style, casual, contemporary casual, fast food, buffet, and pop-up restaurants. Consequently, the following tips will give your eatery a world-class ambiance:

• Maintain the highest standards of cleanliness regardless of how busy your establishment is. Remove clutter, keep unused items in storage, and ensure there’s no dust, dirt, or other debris around.
• Install high-quality LED lighting to set the tone. Dimming or making them brighter will have different outcomes depending on the time. Whatever level of intensity you choose, distribute it evenly across the facility.
• Set the mood with appropriate music. There are many entertainment options to choose from, whether you’re catering to a fast lunch crowd or slow dinner guests.
• Give your guests enough space. No one likes feeling like strangers are invading their personal space. Although you want to maximize seating, ensure your layout gives patrons some privacy.
• Use colors to stimulate your customers’ appetites. Apart from reflecting your theme, your color palette also influences their decision to order particular items on the menu.
• Let the decor correspond with your theme. Your furniture, painting, wall decorations, staff dress code, and other interior elements should consistently integrate with your overall concept.

4. Organize or Be Involved in Regular Events

One way of creating awareness about your establishment is to invite food bloggers to review it. Although you can offer them free desserts and other meals, you can’t influence their decision. The review can either be positive or negative, so inviting them means you’re confident about your service. If it’s satisfactory, your establishment will receive several new customers from their army of followers.

Additionally, consider approaching small businesses around your location for catering opportunities. Some may hire you for regular meals such as lunch or events such as company meetings. Another idea is to host a happy hour on Monday to Thursday in the afternoon or another suitable time. You could also schedule your calendar to take advantage of popular events. Examples are New Year’s Eve, Valentine’s day, the super bowl, Independence Day, and other festivals.

Take such opportunities to offer discounts, limited time promotions, giveaways, and other rewards. As part of your growth journey, unique branded events and classes to attract and retain new guests. Likewise, you can send birthday emails and coupons to your most loyal customers as a show of appreciation. Other offline marketing strategies include handing out smart flyers, business cards, and a free drink with particular meals.

5. Reinvent Yourself

You must always define or keep up with industry trends if you want to stay ahead of the competition. To that end, technology is your biggest asset. You can launch a digital loyalty program as soon as your revenues and projections justify its implementation. Ensure you always update your blog, social media pages, and apps.

Customers are more likely to visit if you post regularly on new menu items, recipes, and customer interactions. Take advantage of trending, sensible hashtags to give your eatery some exposure. Encourage your online followers to sign up for your newsletter to receive exciting content and offers. Use video to share the day to day operations, including rarely seen meal preparations.

Likewise, this is an opportunity to create a deeper connection between your customers and staff. They’re more likely to remain loyal by interacting with the chef and staff who prepare and serve their delicious dishes.

Other ways of reinventing yourself include performing renovations, hosting new events, and encouraging your customers to take part in fun challenges. You can also introduce vegan, gluten-free, and other niche diets to your menu that will ultimately attract a new customer segment.

Final Thoughts

These tips are useful for restaurants of all types and sizes. Whether new or established, you’ll steadily increase your brand awareness and attract new customers. Besides, you’ll witness higher revenue, fast-tracked profitability, a boost in employee morale, and long term growth. The most apparent benefit will be the satisfaction of introducing your tasty meals to an ever-growing number of taste buds.