Article contributed by Ken Rhie, CEO of Trumpia
When you run a restaurant business, a happy customer is one that is likely to return again and again.
When you set up SMS texting for your restaurant to communicate with your customers, you can send out flash deals, receive honest and immediate feedback, and engage your customers with technology that they already use. Because text messages have an open rate of 98%, it is a very valuable way to keep your customers happy. You can get your message out quickly. Additionally, when customers can reach you through texting, they are more likely to complain to you first, instead of going right to social media, Yelp, or other review sites to complain about your business publicly.
Respond Quickly to Text Messages
When you have text messaging for your business, it’s important to respond to messages you receive. If you get a complaint from a loyal customer, you’ll want to respond in a manner that tries to fix the problem. If a customer reaches out to you through text messaging, they want to know they are being heard. This two-way texting feature will allow you to know what is going well and what is not. This feature can also be crucial to your restaurant’s success by using it for wait times during the busy hours. Instead of a pile of customers waiting in front of the door to hear their name, they can relax elsewhere and expect a simple text whenever their seats are ready. Your prompt response ensures customers that you are paying attention and ready to answer any questions or concerns.
Personalize Your Offers
When you have a deal to send out, pay attention to the demographical data of those that will be receiving the deal. If your deal is for locals only, make sure that you aren’t sending out this message to your entire list. Also, if your restaurant is focused on Asian Fusion, you can personalize your offer so that it stays on topic and the people who receives them will know exactly what type of food they are being offered. Personalizing your offer will also allow you to separate your restaurant from the rest. Keep your offers personalized so that your customers don’t get annoyed from receiving messages that aren’t pertinent to them. Personalization is also a great strategy to reward customer loyalty.
Create Deals with Real Value
Customers who sign up for a texting campaign are looking for good deals. When you offer the same coupon over and over, your subscribers are going to drop off the list. You have to send out a variety of deals that provide valuable savings to your customers. Creating multiple deals with different categories of food will entice your customers and keep them hungry for what is next. When you want to keep your customers satisfied, reward your customers with deals they won’t want to pass up.
Send Out Surveys for Feedback
Customer feedback is essential to your overall success as a business. When you send out surveys to your loyal customers asking for feedback, it’s import to listen to their responses and make changes as necessary. For example, if customers express their feelings about how the quality of the food was a lot better before your restaurant decided on new ingredients, you would know right away to go back to the old ingredients to keep your customers satisfied. When customers take the time to answer your survey, they are engaging with your business in a way that is useful to you. Listen to the feedback and continue to try to improve in areas of concern. Sending out surveys for feedback can ensure that you do not lose any loyal customers.
Send Texts that are Useful
You don’t always have to send out a discount or a deal to your customers to keep them happy. If you have a link to a recent blog post, or you want to share some industry news, send out a text to your subscribers. An example would be to text loyal customers upcoming news about your restaurants. Whether it be a new item or new restaurant hours, these information can be sent through a simple text. While you don’t want to bombard your customers with texts all the time, but an informational text once a week will keep you and your customers connected.
When you want to keep your customers happy, you have to provide ways to engage with your business. With texting, your customers can reach you within minutes. Your response to a text can make the difference between a harsh online review and more customer referrals for customer service excellence.
Ken Rhie is the CEO of
