It also costs significantly more to get in a new guest than keeping your loyal ones.
Implement a reward and loyalty programme to show your guests that you are willing to invest in them and to give them more incentives to return. The longer they have been coming, the better their rewards. Perhaps organise a special event with a cocktail class or a musician to show your gratitude?
Lower costs
The guests value can be increased if you sell more to each guest, keep them for longer and then there are reducing your costs per guest. With every restaurant, costs are a big concern and needs strong controls.
Firstly, find out what your variable costs are that changes with the volume of guests. Secondly, explore ways of reducing these costs without reducing the service to your guests. E.g. are there new technologies that you can implement? For example, instant messaging is a much more cost effective channel than phones, as it is much quicker for your staff to deal with multiple messages at the same time. More and more people also prefer this way of communicating. Read more here.
Lastly, where possible and if it works with your concept, try to offer guests self-service options which can improve your staff’s efficiencies and reduce overhead costs.
Oystein Mojord
Chef & Yöung is a Scandinavian brand working to grow the talent and passion of yöung chefs and foodies, promoting cooking as a lifestyle. Everything started when the Norwegian chef, Oystein, travelled around the world and noticed that there was a high demand for quality chefs in the kitchens; meanwhile his colleagues were constantly switching jobs. He decided something had to be done and Chef & Yöung was born to bring in a new attitude among yöung chefs and promote cooking as a lifestyle. Oystein co-owns Chef & Yöung with Mattias Nordlander who focuses on the sales, marketing and finance side of the business.
Twitter: @chefandyoung
