Key Points
- As a business growth strategy, retention programs which incentivise frequent customers can drive loyalty to the business, according to Jazmine Flores.
- A strong customer base is a good indicator that loyalty programs will be well-received by patrons.
- Restaurants owned by Australian-Filipinos can benefit from collaborating with other peers in the industry.
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Australian-Filipino restaurant owners can turn to retention programs as a business model to increase revenues and build customer loyalty.
Entrepreneur Jazmine Flores says, “Customer loyalty is a massive ingredient for a successful business. It lays the foundation towards growth and scalability. There has to be a way to have a retention scheme so they can keep coming back to you in many forms. More importantly, they can refer you to other people.”
Based on a survey conducted by Statista, 1 out of 3 respondents indicated that they have not used any form of restaurant loyalty scheme in Australia. This provides an opportunity for Australian-Filipino restaurateurs to tap and maximise the potential to convert any customer to loyal patrons.
Ways to build customer loyalty
· Offer loyalty card stamps to help you track repeat sales
· Use promo code on your restaurant’s social media pages and offer discounts when diner shares or posts it online
· New restaurants can collaborate with established businesses to launch their products
Flores shares, “For instance, in restaurants and cafes, you get a stamp for every purchase or meal. Upon accumulating several stamps, the client can get discounts or a free drink.” She adds, ”Lately, it’s quite common to encourage the customers to post their meal or drink on social media by using a promo code which are readily seen on their tables. It really works in promoting the business while offering concessions to the diners. ”
For any newcomer in the Australia- Filipino restaurant community, she says, “They can look to collaborate with established business to launch their own products. For instance, working together with a well-known restaurant and perhaps introduce say their chicken inasal or whatever viands they have.”
Loyalty programs should be well-timed
As with anything, timing is everything particularly in launching the loyalty programs.
To gauge the customer base, it’s all about looking at the numbers.
Flores says, ”You can roll out the retention program after you’ve seen your customer base relative to your sales goal in numbers is almost the same as or equivalent to another- whether it’s a restaurant or a service - based business.
"Say you need 100 customers a month so every year that would be $1,200 annually. You can also look at your invoices and directory or contact list or to gauge if your customer base is solid. That’s a good indicator that it might be right time to launch the loyalty scheme.”
She adds, “Depending on the size of the business and the industry, revenue goals vary but as it’s a must to be on top of your business and make sure you know your customer base even at your breakeven point because you that this will sustain you all throughout because they’re (customers) solid with you and they can go back to you in two to three months. So you have to know those numbers.”
