How to Engage with Guests Beyond Your Restaurant

Standing out from other restaurants requires a lot of effort, and getting customers to return can be even more challenging. The main goal of your customer engagement is to win repeat business and gain customer loyalty. Guests are how you stay in business, so it’s essential to develop and maintain the guest relationship! 

What is Customer Engagement?

Customer engagement refers to how well you can keep guests happy to become loyal customers and continue interacting with your restaurant. Simply put, it’s the connection between the customer and the brand. A connection has been established whether they dine in your restaurant, interact with your website, or use your online ordering system (mobile or web). Providing a seamless, high-quality experience in-person and online will help your customer engagement strategy.

What Guests Want in Modern Dining

In this digital age, your brand is no longer about food alone. Modern dining extends beyond your brick-and-mortar location(s) from mobile apps for online ordering to social media posts and third-party review sites. If you want to make a lasting impression, you need to meet your guests where they are. 

In a recent Deloitte Customer Experience Study, research showed that on top of expecting quality food at a relative price, guests now want to feel engaged, empowered, heard, delighted, and known when experiencing your restaurant. In other words, guests want to have a friendly, genuine experience with your staff. They want the ability to customize orders to their specific needs. Guests also want their feedback to be heard and have adjustments made; for example, when consumers complained about McDonald's cut-off breakfast time, they adjusted to serving breakfast all day. Guests want to have memorable and personalized experiences like receiving a free dessert on their birthday. They also want to be remembered and have their preferences saved. You can have a favorite orders feature for mobile and website ordering so guests can easily reorder their go-to meals.

Effective Customer Engagement Strategies

Meeting your guests where they are across all channels boosts your customer engagement strategy while meeting their needs for modern dining. Here are some channels that you can use to engage with your guests and turn them into loyal customers.

• Social Media Networks: Social media is a powerful tool to build and maintain connections. According to a Sprout Study, nearly four in five consumers (78%) want brands to take an active role in using social to connect with their guests. You can connect with guests by responding to a comment they made on your post, sharing a guest’s tagged photo of your brand, and providing up-to-date content on what’s going on with your business.

• Email is Your Brand’s Best Friend: When guests sign up for your email list, they want to hear from you! Sending out weekly or monthly newsletters keeps your restaurant top of mind with guests. You can send out specials, updated menus like new dishes or seasonal items, upcoming events, or operational updates. This channel is also great for sending birthday emails with a discount or free item! 

• Offer a Loyalty/Rewards Program: A loyalty program is a great way to increase revenue and turn customers into loyal guests by providing rewards such as discounts, points, and special offers. This is an effective communication channel because guests are typically asked to input their phone number or email address during sign-up. The contact information can be used to send customized messages which make guests feel exclusive and known.

• Follow and Respond on Review Sites: It is impossible to please everyone, especially in the restaurant industry. Responding to reviews, positive and negative, keeps you engaged with the customer and makes them feel heard. Being engaged on sites like Yelp, OpenTable, Google My Business, and TripAdvisor will help you understand how guests view your restaurant. This allows you to make necessary changes to suit your guest and their needs better.

On top of these digital engagement channels, you can engage with guests in your physical location through your staff. Conversing and providing a friendly dynamic while guests wait for a table, order, and until they leave can significantly impact their experience.