Plain Talk

Restaurant operators receive an endless number of lists from “trend watchers” that supposedly spell out what consumers will want to eat, drink and do at restaurants.

However, consumers repeatedly demonstrate that there is no “average” customer – meaning restaurant operators need to focus their attention on what their individual customers actually want.

That is true now more than ever with the staggering amount of competitive pressure.

Questions and Answers

So the question is – how do you break away from the pack and grow your business?

The answer: open more successful locations and increase year-over-year sales by expanding your customer base and increasing the frequency of purchase. If repeat visits increase by 5%, profits will also increase anywhere from 25% to 125%.

That answer may seem completely obvious, but if your restaurant’s growth has reached a standstill, my question to you is why?

In order to boost the frequency of visits by regular customers, simultaneously grow your customer base, effectively utilize various marketing strategies and pick the best sites for new restaurant locations, you must know who your customers are, where they are and where more of them can be found.

Get Personal with Your Customers Through Customer Analytics

The best way for restaurant operators to discover who their customers are is through enriched customer data that goes beyond loyalty program data, email lists and transaction records.

By leveraging customer data, it’s possible to create unique customer profiles based on your best customers within the trade area of each individual restaurant location. You’ll also be able to search trade areas across the U.S. to find the ones with large concentrations of consumers who have the same characteristics as your best customers – showing you exactly where a new restaurant location should be.

This 360 degree view of customers will also help operators understand what their customers want and create seamless strategies in terms of pricing, targeted promotions and additional menu offerings.

But that’s not all.

Customer profiles and analytic solutions allow restaurant operators to:

• Optimize store renovations and other major initiatives
• Develop marketing campaigns that hit the right customers with the right messages in terms of day parts, price points and regional preferences
• Identify and target untapped customers in existing markets
• Track customer lifetime value and measure that value against ultimate customer value potential

The bottom line is that the restaurant operators who know where their customers are, what they want and the experience they desire will have the greatest opportunity to optimize and maximize growth.

Buxton is the leading customer analytics firm that helps organizations identify who their customers are, where those customers are located, and the value those customers have to the organization.

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Fort Worth, TX 76137
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