How do cafes increase their patronage?
Cafes are really one of life’s little pleasures. A good café offers a place for friends to meet, family to spend time together, and a place to get great food and drinks. Cafés can also be a place to get a quick bite, and provide somewhere warm to sit.
So how do cafés increase their patronage? Modern life is busy; people are trying to manage their financial affairs. How do cafés ensure that people keep coming in and spending money? Here are 5 top tips for attracting more customers:
> 1. Serve great food and drinks. This one might seem obvious. But you would be surprised at how many cafes just miss the mark with this one. Is your café catering for the tradesmen and blue collar workers? Then steer clear of too much fancy food, and offer them what they want: a bacon toasty and hot cup of tea. Likewise, if you are serving the family market or business district then offer a menu that is appropriate. Try to inject some flair into the food and offer the right type of drinks.
> 2. Reward repeat business. Everyone loves receiving something for free. People also feel good when they are recognized or praised. So if you have regular customers then reward them with a loyalty card. This does not need to be expensive, simply get some small cards printed and stamp it every time they buy something, then after a certain number of visits they get a free coffee. So for every 9 coffees purchased they get the 10th free. Or after they spend $100 they get a free sandwich. Get creative and cater the offer to the type of customers you want to attract.
3. Customer service: Again this may seem obvious and it also ties into point 2. Get to know your regular customers. Know their name and greet them when they come in to your café. This simple strategy has been proven in studies to make people loyal to you. They will choose your café over the one next door because so far, you have offered them great food, a reward for their business and also great customer service.
4. Attract the walk-by customer: Getting someone in for the first time is easy if you make your café seem welcoming. Often, people are just walking by, looking for somewhere to get a coffee or quick snack. Or, better still they might not even know they wanted to stop, but they see your café and cannot resist coming inside for something. Clean and bright cafes will attract these walk-by customers. Signage outside should be friendly and offer a simple yet attractive offer: Coffee and muffin for $5. This is simple and catches people’s attention.
5. Up sell to current customers: All this basically means is encouraging a customer to buy more. Suggest they buy a drink with their food order, or offer a discount for buying a large coffee.
