Nobody Comes Back for a Punch Card: How to Build Regulars Every new customer costs you marketing. Every regular costs you effort. Dave Ross and Brian Seitz dig into why regulars are the whole game for independent restaurants, and why the answer isn't a loyalty program. It's your people. Chef Anthony Hamilton sits this one out. Why regulars are the whole game - Restaurants aren't car lots or custom home builders with long sales cycles. The model only works when the same people keep coming back. - Brian's go-to neighborhood Italian spot (about 50 seats, a bar as big as the dining room, spot-on veal and chicken parm) gets roughly 30 visits a year from his family alone. That's what one regular is worth. - Regulars cost almost nothing to bring back except effort. They spend more, tip more, forgive an off night, and bring people with them. They're your cheapest marketing. The bar where everybody knows your name - Dave describes a west side brewery where every bartender knows every regular by name. High fives over the bar, greetings like old friends who haven't seen each other in months. - The ingredients: the right people with the right attitude, fair pay, and long tenure. Low turnover is what keeps those relationships alive. - None of it comes from a loyalty club or a punch card. Effort trumps talent - A good attitude and real effort cost nothing and take zero talent. - Owner presence matters. Guests want to know the owner, and a visible owner creates a ripple effect you can't measure. - If you can't be on the floor, train your managers to own it, and consider a comp structure that rewards them for it. - Make the table touch real. Ask about the meal. Ask if they've been in before. A drive-by "how we doing?" leaves guests asking each other who that was. Regulars carry you through the slow months - In Northeast Ohio, January through March is slow, and guests have a finite amount to spend. - They spend it where they feel comfortable, recognized, and trusted. Give your staff autonomy, with guardrails - Let managers and trusted staff comp a drink or add a small extra for regulars. This isn't about over-portioning or giving the house away. - Guests don't really want 10% off. Put that money toward the bartenders and servers who create regulars, and you're paying for exactly the behavior you want. - Nobody is a regular because of your name or your logo. They come back for the people. Small moves that cost almost nothing - "Good to see you back" instead of "table for two?" at the host stand. - The usual, offered before they ask. - Bring new menu items to regulars first and ask for their feedback. - Handwritten notes and remembered occasions: anniversaries, birthdays, graduations. - Seat them in their spot whenever it's open. - A quiet regulars-only perk. - A good, modestly priced bottle of wine for an anniversary costs you about seven bucks. Guests remember it and tell people, which is more than most ad spend can say. The postcard that still works years later - One of the hosts ordered pizza for his moving crew at his first house, then didn't order again for six months. - A personal "haven't seen you lately, we miss you" postcard arrived with 10% off. He ordered that night, and he still remembers it more than 15 years later. Use your data, with a human touch - If you have a CRM, use it. Would you rather mail 100 people who've never been in, or 20 regulars who haven't visited in 3 to 6 months? The 20 convert. - Automated emails and texts have their place, but regular business needs a personal touch, one customer at a time. - Ten regulars at 30 visits a year beats 300 unknown new customers. - Before you chase the street with signs and ads, work the dining room you already have. The wrap - People don't come back for a program. They come back for people. - One idea to try: incentivize staff on how many regulars come back. Pro tips from this episode 1. Change the greeting. Train the host stand to swap "table for two?" for "good to see you back." 2. Know the usual. Staff who know a regular's order should offer it unprompted. 3. Seat regulars in their spot whenever it's open. 4. Give staff a comp budget with guardrails. A comped drink or a modest bottle of wine on an anniversary costs less than your ad spend and gets talked about for years. 5. Pay the people, not the discount. Put the money you'd spend on 10% off toward the staff who create regulars. 6. Chase the lapsed before the new. Pull guests who haven't been in for 3 to 6 months and reach out personally. 7. Remember the occasions. Note anniversaries, birthdays, and graduations when guests mention them, then acknowledge them. 8. Reward retention. Consider incentivizing staff on how many regulars come back. Hosted by Dave Ross with Brian Seitz. Subscribe and follow Restauranttopia: restauranttopia.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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