I am about to advise you to give away free meals at your restaurant. Before you dismiss me as a crackpot, I want you to tell you that my advice will also add to your total business. Giving something away for free only works if it leads to more sales in the end, after all.
Leverage Current Customers
Let’s say that you would like to get more customers to visit your restaurant. How can you do this? Well, there are lots of things you could try, including spending money on advertising. But I think it is a good idea to look at what you already have and try to figure out a way to build on that.
If you are in business, you already have customers. I am going to make the assumption that you try to make the dining experience great, including having delicious food and a friendly wait staff. A certain percentage of your customers come on a somewhat regular basis already. They are your bread and butter, so to speak.
Instead of trying to get these customers to visit your restaurant more often, you can focus on getting them to bring new customers to your restaurant. There are different ways that you can go about this, and offering a free birthday dinner is one of them.
Become the Birthday Destination
Here’s how it works. Start a birthday club at your restaurant. Advertise it wherever you advertise, including in restaurant and on your menu. Be sure your regular customers know about it, especially.
Here is what you want to offer. Give a free meal to whoever is having a birthday. You are going to be able to modify this anyway you want, but the important thing is this, you want people to make your restaurant the destination for their birthday dinner.
Giving away free food isn’t really all that bad of a deal, considering what you get out of it. First of all, no one eats alone on their birthday. If they are getting a free meal, they will be bringing family and friends along for the ride. Chances are good that they will bring people who have never even been to your restaurant. Now you are starting to use current customers to spread the word about your restaurant.
Another benefit of doing this on birthdays is that they happen every day of the year. This means the promotion will help increase business all throughout the year, and not just doing a specific period, like the holiday season.
Here’s the biggest benefit. You will gain the reputation as the place to go for birthday dinners. Do a really good job, and you will win new customers who will come back for more than just birthdays.
Its important not to scrimp on the free meal. You want the person with the birthday to have a memorable experience. If he or she has an outstanding time, don’t you think he or she will spread the word to everyone? So, don’t place limitations on the meal. Open up the whole menu. Include a free dessert. If you serve adult beverages, its perfectly fine to charge for those. The key is to make this program accessible and enjoyable for the customer.
The Value of a Free Meal
What’s the cost of a dinner? Compare it to the cost of advertising. Remember that with every free meal you give away, you will get to charge for the meals of the other guests.
Developing loyalty and buzz is hard for a restaurant. Focus on the food and service, of course. But adding in a unique promotion like this can really help you get new customers in the door.
What do you think? Is this something you would try in your restaurant? How about other types of business. What can you give for free that will actually bring in more business?
photo credit: Omer Wazir
Bradford Shimp
Bradford Shimp is the President of Broad River Creative, a blogger and blog designer. He designs blogs and websites for small businesses, and teaches small business owners how to use the web to grow their business.