Return Engagements

“The past is a guidepost, not a hitching post.” L. Thomas Holdcroft American Author.

Has anyone noticed a very popular concept that retailers are using this holiday season to help draw people into their establishments in January and February? I have three examples in my wallet right now, and I can’t believe that I haven’t passed this along sooner! Sometimes the answers lie right in front of us and it takes a while for us to recognize that it has been there all the time.

We all know that the key to success in our industry is repeat customers. In today’s economy it is even more important for us to seize the opportunities that lie before us and find a way to draw these same customers back again. How are you doing that? Are you improving your food quality? Your service profile? Or are you lowering your prices? Are you running loss leaders? All of these can be effective measures to draw customers back to your restaurant, but I think I came across a couple that are even better.

The first one I want to talk about is the one that I discovered while shopping for my daughters at American Eagle this weekend. It is kinda sneaky but it got me building my ticket size so that I could take advantage of it. I also want to talk about another variation of this same concept that I think adds some elements that will really speak to your customers.

Right now American Eagle is running the “for every $50 you spend you can get a $10 gift card for after January 1” promotion. This is effective because it gets customers (and me) finding that one more item that will propel them over that $50 increment so that they can take advantage of the next $10 gift card. It builds their check size and all but insures that I (or my kids) will be back in January to cash in my gift cards. Not a bad way to lock out the competition. American Eagle even imposed a minimum purchase in January for that gift card to be valid. I have to spend $50 more in order for that gift card(s) to be effective.

Buona Beef is running a similar promotion right now. They are offering a $5 gift certificate valid between January and March for every $25 gift card you purchase today. They are hoping to leverage that $5 gift certificate into a visit by you and a friend or two or three. Besides, who buys just $5 anywhere they go? Not a bad concept – they get cash now and give you a piece of paper that 25% or so of us will lose anyways. What a great way to convert today’s customers into customers in January and February, something we would all like to do.

My favorite variation of this concept is the “Secret Envelope” version. I think this one is a home run because it really does create good will and a talking point for word of mouth advertising when your customers leave. To implement the Secret Envelop tactic, all you need to do is create a wide range of prizes ranging from something as trivial as a cup of coffee all the way up to something as outrageous as a $500 gift card and stuff them into different envelopes. Here is the kicker, your customers can’t open the envelopes themselves (if they do, they forfeit the prize). They have to bring the envelopes back into the restaurant (during the designated time period [January – March]) to have a staff member open it to discover what their prize will be. What a great way to create a buzz and bring back that energy and enthusiasm to your customers.