Tracking Your Restaurant's Customers Is a Bare Necessity

Do you know where your customers are? Most of us don't, nor do we try to find out. It's a missed opportunity that costs us money and business relationships.

The first year I opened The St. Alban's Boathouse on Lake Minnetonka in Greenwood, Minn. the summer months were a huge success. I knew from the beginning summers would be profitable, autumn would be a break-even period, and that I could easily survive through New Year's Day because the 350-seat capacity restaurant was perfect for Christmas and holiday parties.

However, I was very concerned about how I would survive the remaining winter months in Minnesota.

During that first year, January 3 was the test. My customers seemed to have dried up. On average, I had 320 empty seats nightly. Nothing destroys a perfect ambiance quicker than empty seats. I struggled during the frigid months of winter with my partner, Kranston, inquiring daily as to what I had done to drive away business.

That April I got a call from John Ahern booking a party for 150 people for the following week. Business was back. When the Aherns arrived they had a tanned glow that highlighted my winter peakedness. As the other tanned guests arrived we learned everyone left the western suburbs of Minneapolis for the winter.

It was vital information that I should have known. If I had been tracking my customers, I would have learned earlier and planned for a losing season.

Knowing where your customers are and where they have been is an important technique in any sales-driven business. And, as I have preached before, restaurant owners and their sales force -- their servers -- need to model certain areas of their businesses after more traditional sales-driven companies.

Tracking customers and their tastes is one of the most important practices a restaurant can learn from these companies. Currently, there are numerous options available for restaurant customer-tracking software. If you read the manual that came with your POS system, somewhere behind the menu development program and the cost of goods program – both of which I seldom used – there is a customer tracking program.

There are also a number of other tools available that simplify customer tracking and also help you to take advantage of new marketing opportunities. Last week, I received an email from a software company that I had contacted a year ago to develop a website for me. I didn't choose them at the time, but now, a year later, we are exploring future possibilities.

First and foremost, restaurant owners need to develop the practice of contacting customers who they have not seen in a while. Drawing from your customer base is a simple way to increase business. Whether you're using a bounce-back offer, a gift certificate, or a simple "come in and have a drink with us" email, tracking customers who have not returned for a while, and marketing specifically to them, is an opportunity to increase your nightly covers.

After that first long, cold winter at The St. Alban's Boathouse, I began tracking my customers. It helped me make a decision to close the restaurant for the months of January, February, and March, saving approximately $58,000 and allowing me to break even during the winter season.

That's why customer tracking data, even for the smallest restaurant operator, pays off if you use it wisely.