Customers. Ghosts. Revenue.
Larry runs a successful brewery. Great beer. Awesome food. Packed most weekends.
But here's what keeps him up at night: 62% of his customers come once... and never return.
Not because they had a bad experience. They loved it. Five-star reviews. "We'll definitely be back!"
But life happens. They forget. They try somewhere new. They get busy.
And Larry has no system to bring them back.
According to research from Bain & Company, increasing customer retention by just 5% can increase profits by 25-95%. Yet most restaurants spend 80% of their marketing budget chasing NEW customers instead of nurturing existing ones.
Larry's problem isn't his product. It's that he has no retention system.
YOUR ONE STRATEGY LAB THING TODAY: 'Retention Is More Profitable Than Acquisition'
Most restaurant owners are obsessed with getting NEW customers through the door.
Run ads. Post on social. Offer discounts. Do a Groupon (terrible idea, but that's another post).
Meanwhile, hundreds of people who already love their restaurant just... drift away.
They had a great meal three months ago. They meant to come back. But nobody reminded them. Nobody gave them a reason. Nobody stayed top of mind.
HERE'S WHAT AUTOMATED RETENTION LOOKS LIKE:
A customer visits your restaurant for the first time. Great experience. They leave happy.
Here's what happens next automatically:
DAY 2: Thank you text/email
"Thanks for dining with us! We'd love to know how your experience was."
DAY 7: Value-add content
"Here's our chef's recipe for that dish you loved" or "Behind the scenes: How we make our cocktails"
DAY 21: Gentle nudge
"We miss you! Come back this week and try our new spring menu."
DAY 45: Special offer (only if needed)
"It's been a while! Here's 15% off your next visit - we'd love to see you again."
DAY 60+: VIP recognition
Customer gets tagged as "inactive" → enters win-back campaign
All of this happens automatically. You set it up once. It runs forever.
WHAT'S POSSIBLE WITH RETENTION AUTOMATION:
Instead of 62% one-time customers, you get:
- 40% come back within 30 days
- 25% become monthly regulars
- 10% become VIPs (4+ visits per month)
The math: If you have 200 new customers per month and you increase second-visit rate from 38% to 60%, that's 44 extra returning customers per month.
At $60 average ticket = $2,640 additional monthly revenue from people who already know and love you.
And you didn't spend a dollar on ads to get them.
YOUR ACTION STEP: Pull your POS data. How many customers from 90 days ago have returned? If it's under 50%, you're leaving massive money on the table.
Want to build an automated retention system that brings customers back without you lifting a finger? Join the free 14-Day Restaurant Accelerator where we walk through setting this up step-by-step.
We got this,
Jason | The Strategy Lab
P.S. Acquiring a new customer costs 5x more than retaining an existing one. Stop ignoring your best asset - people who already chose you once.
P.P.S. Your regulars aren't regulars by accident. They became regulars because something kept bringing them back. Build that "something" into a system for everyone.
#strategylab #wegotthis
