The Takeaway: Your Guests Didn't Leave. They Forgot You

Josh Kopel (0:02)

Welcome to FULL COMP, a show offering insight into the hospitality industry, featuring restaurateurs, thought leaders, and innovators. Served up on the house.

Welcome to The Takeaway, I'm Josh Kopel. The Takeaway is a tool, one idea, one tactic, one strategy you can implement in your restaurant this week. There's no guest, no interview, just actionable information that will help you make money without costing you a penny, all in less than a time that it would take you to count out a cash drawer. Here is this week's takeaway.

So I'm out to dinner and a server hands me the check with the QR code. And she goes, you can scan this to join our mailing list. And then she said, and I swear this is real. She said, but don't worry, they'll never actually reach out to you. She apologized for the marketing while she was doing the marketing. And I completely understood, because I have employed her a million times in my own restaurants. I think that most restaurants are going to waste a ton of money this year chasing strangers, while promising that it beats guests they'll never hear from again. And that's been the nature of our industry for far too long. But here is the reframe that's going to change everything for you. Your guests aren't disloyal. They just forgot that you exist. Think about your own favorite restaurant. The one that you would defend in an argument. You haven't been in six weeks. Maybe you haven't been in six months. And nothing went wrong. Life just got loud and busy. And they never reminded you that they exist. People don't have a loyalty problem. They have a memory problem. A guest who forgot you doesn't need 10% off. They just need to hear from you. They just need to be reminded that you exist and why they love you. And the math validates my thesis. A guest who comes in once a month at $60 is $720 a year. You get them to come in twice a month. And that same guest, which doesn't cost you a penny to acquire because you already have them, they're now worth almost $1,500.

That second $720, it came from a reminder. It came from an email that didn't cost you a penny to send. And now run that across 100 regulars. One extra visit a month could equate to $72,000 a year. And none of these people are going to come alone. And so many of you have big mailing lists. You just don't know what to set. And there's also all of this pressure to reinvent the wheel, to try and do something new. And that is a mistake because they're not looking for something new every single month. I did that for years myself. The wine dinners, the comedy nights, a cigar thing that I'd rather not discuss with you. And my guests didn't want new. All they wanted were the greatest hits. All they wanted were the reasons that they already loved me. And so what I did was I stopped inventing and I started scheduling. A couple of signature events built around the things they already loved, a few activations with a couple of chefs that I knew were going to hit based on my audience and theirs. And then it was just the hits, the things that they already loved, the familiar presented in an elevated and unfamiliar way.

And what I did was I planned my whole year, instead of inventing 12 different things that I was then going to have to keep track of. And I called it the preloaded year. Instead of giving people five different reasons to come in this month, all I did was give them five reasons to do this one thing that I knew they were already inclined to do.

One great reason every month to patronize my restaurant. And that reminder beats a reward every single time. And it's nearly free. You own your guests. You don't rent them from Google or from Instagram every month. And they love you. They open your emails. They signed up for your mailing list, and they haven't unsubscribed. So here's what I want you to do. I want you to think of one great reason for them to come in next month. The thing that's actually going to get them off the couch. That's full of surprise and delight, an experience that is a reimagining of something they already love. Not a discount, not a freebie.

Just that dish that keeps them coming back. That night worth having a name. The thing that your guests already love. And then what I want you to do is mark it to your people like you would mark it to your friends. Hey, we're doing this thing. I'm sure that you will love it. You should come by. Most of us are foolishly chasing new guests, while the loyal ones quietly forgot us. And that's your takeaway for today.