Thursday is Get to Know Your Customers Day, which got us to thinking: Why one day a year? If the theory holds that customers like to know the owners/operators, like to feel as though they’re part of the family, shouldn’t this be a year-round occurrence? Wouldn’t it help to increase frequency of visit?

“But I have tons of regulars and we talk all the time. I’m on a first name basis with a lot of them.”

Before you make the above statement, stop and think about how many you actually know. You have somewhere between 2,000 and 6,000 unique customers. How many are you friendly with? What percentage of your customers do you really know? Be honest now: you only really know the outgoing customers, don’t you?

Here are some tips to getting to know your customers better:

• Walk the tables and talk to them. “How was everything?” doesn’t count as a conversation. It’s a start, but only a start. Where were they before they came in (awards banquet, soccer practice, dentist, park, work – where do they work)? Time of day will tell you a lot, but start the conversation.
• Note: the first bullet will give you ideas as to where you should be doing your local store marketing. Get more customers who are just like your existing customers.
• Use social media (Facebook, Twitter) to give behind-the-scenes updates on the store and your staff (“new ice machine” or “Manager Bill is going to be a daddy!”).
• Ever have someone ask you to purchase an ad in a program for a school event? Ever buy tickets to that event and attend, or give them to employees for a job well done? You’d be surprised at how appreciative all of those influencers are of your support.
• Surprise guests with a little lagniappe (a “little something extra”). A koozie, coupon, or dessert at the table gets them thinking about their next visit before their current one is even finished. That’s where word of mouth comes from.
• Think of the amazing experiences (not just mediocre, or adequate) you’ve had at other restaurants, hotels, dry cleaners, or other retail places. What made it amazing? How can you replicate that feeling?

Marketing-wise, these tactics will build frequency, and create word of mouth which will bring in new customers. They’ll also open doors for catering, marketing events, and other influencers. Plus, it makes your job more fun. Beats cleaning toilets, eh?

Does your restaurant have high turnover? From an operations side, it may be because your employees aren’t engaged enough in your business. Everyone knows how expensive turnover can be, so keeping your staff is critical. But in most cases your pay scale, benefits and training are already fixed.

From a local store marketing angle, employees who are given responsibility and take ownership of their jobs:

• Engage with customers and provide WOW service
• Are better at doing their job
• Create a warm & friendly atmosphere
• Contribute to higher customer frequency

In the next post I’ll give you 8 ways to keep your staff smiling and keep your customers coming back.

I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. — Maya Angelou

We talk about it all the time, but based on recent experiences in restaurants I’m not sure we actually get it. An adequate experience does not equate to great customer service.

“Well bully for you. You didn’t piss anyone off today.”

I honestly think you’ll need about 50% fewer marketing dollars if you just get that “feeling” right. I honestly know that you need about 100% more marketing dollars if you don’t.

Went to change a $100 bill at a Region’s Bank in Georgia today – since that’s all I had and most small businesses can’t change $100 without at least a little difficulty.

Cashier asked if I had an account, I said no (it was the nearest bank). He informed me that he couldn’t help me because he wouldn’t be able to reach me “in case he needed to afterward.”

Nevermind that this is complete BS, I can understand that certain privileges are reserved for customers and used as an incentive to become one. But shouldn’t certain courtesies be extended to entice others?

I was floored. I really couldn’t believe this was the policy. . .I stared. . .for nearly 20 seconds.

Happy ending: the customer at the next bay, in disbelief himself, gave me change for my $100 bill.

Note: Regions has a PR firm that, no doubt, trolls the web looking for positive and negative statements about their company.

Here’s a blog post for them to find. I’m going to log out so I can tweet a similar message, since I’ve already told at least 4 people (all in under an hour).

When customers have been WOWed they are more likely to express their delight (read: word of mouth).

They’re more likely to come back to your restaurant more often in the hopes of being WOWed again (hint: make the WOW special, it needs to be out of the ordinary, not expected).

They’re likely to bring friends with them (“I know the owner. He’s a great guy, you’ll love him.”).

And, over the course of a year or their lifetime (as a local resident or someone who works in the area), they’re likely to spend more money with you because they are loyal to you and you have a higher share of wallet.

WOW one person per day, you have 365 WOWed customers per year. Sadly, most of us are too busy managing from the back door to the front door to notice. We’re like prairie chickens, pecking in the dirt for scraps, instead of like eagles, flying overhead looking for opportunity.

So I ask you: Who have you WOWed today? Tell us at the restaurant marketing forum, The CommonMan Group.