Restaurant Marketing: Olive Garden’s Guest Loyalty Restaurant Marketing

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Restaurant Marketing: Olive Garden’s Guest Loyalty Restaurant Marketing

Restaurant Marketing: Think that having your guests sign up for a restaurant loyalty program is “true loyalty?”
Think that’s going to make them really true-blue loyal to you? Think again.
Although there is a place for such programs, and a great one is “Loyal Rewards ” loyalty shouldn’t be construed as solely a sign-up tactic to join the latest greatest club.

Loyalty is something deeper than that. True loyalty is something that you as a restaurateur have to earn. How do you earn that true loyalty?

Start by listening to your guests and what they have to say. It’s the best, most immediate (and inexpensive) business advice you’ll ever get.

Provide a great product and dining experience that WOW’s your guests, so they want to visit you again – rather than visit the competition.

Develop a connection with your guest. Surprise them with an action or a comment – an act of random kindness—things that other restaurants don’t do.

Olive Garden earns the loyalty of their guests by providing them with a “family experience.”

Now, I know this “sounds” great and tends to be trite and over-used by many other restaurants, but Olive Garden President David Pickens, in the July/August issue of Fast Company magazine says, “treating guests like family isn’t likely to happen unless employees feel like family too.”

The company’s COO, Drew Madsen says, “people come to a restaurant for both physical and emotional nourishment. The physical is the food; the emotional is how they feel when they leave.”

Loyalty is truly difficult to earn, but the first step to take is to tear down the old rules and throw away the old tapes. Mold your staff into a championship team. Don’t hire second stringers. Exert your passion for hospitality. Decide what you want to be and what it’s going to take to be what you want to be. Take some bold risks. Have some fun. Be known for something.

Once you’ve established true-blue loyalty, people will continue to dine with you because you’ve shown them the love ... and that’s not in the cards.

Technorati Tags:

restaurant marketing restaurant promotion restaurant business restaurant management restaurant consulting