Driving Brand loyalty for your Restaurant

“I’ll be back.”

Aren’t these some of the most beautiful words that you hear a customer says while leaving your Hotel and Restaurant; post a good stay.

If you start looking around, most people will tell you unequivocally that Brand Loyalty is dead. They may not be entirely wrong -- brand loyalty as your parents and grandparents were used to it might actually be dead.

Loyalty is a two-sided relationship now.

Customers are still loyal to brands however brand loyalty has just shifted to adapt to times. And your business needs to adapt to the times.

What is Brand Loyalty?

The tendency for customers to favor one brand, consistently, above its competitors for goods and services, even when new purchasing opportunities expose themselves.

Brand loyalty and customer retention go hand-in-hand, and are profitable goals for businesses to target. After all, attracting new customers with higher brand visibility is nice, but unless they stick around, you’re only going to see a short-term boost in revenue.

Brand loyalists are driven by emotions, at least to some degree, when going back to their favorite companies, while the repeat purchasers are driven solely by function.

For years, top research firms such as Forrester and Gartner have confirmed that customer experience is one of the most important investments a company can make.

The typical customer experience that gets the customer to want to return is based on a quality product that works and a service experience that is pleasant and easy. While quality/reliability and good customer service continue to be essential, we now have to add the element of 'an exciting experience'.

Why does Brand loyalty matter?

There are primarily five reasons (along with better revenues, of course).

Consumers reward quality. If a brand delivers a positive experience with their product, consumers put their trust in the product delivering the same experience for their next purchase.

Customers are loyal to the Brands which listen.

Customer service plays an important role in retaining business for brands. By responding quickly on social media and dealing with a problem efficiently a brand can win the loyalty of a customer.

Customers advocate for their favorite brand, bringing in more prospects and a chance to make more potential customers Brand loyalists.

Brand recognition plays an important part in an efficient consumer experience. It also plays an important role in filtering the limitless options available for online product research. If a consumer has a good experience with a brand they’ll be partial to what the brand has to offer before contemplating a switch.

Brands provide a sense of Nostalgia to their loyalists. Brands with long histories can depend on brand loyalty so long as the product itself hasn’t evolved too far from its original.

What is destroying Brand Loyalty?

The first is the ready availability of user reviews and competitive data. Because now it is so easy to find out if a place is good, customers no longer tend to experiment (give a chance). This makes the brand no longer a guarantor of quality.

Secondly, most of the products are almost similar to each other hence no differentiator between regardless of whose brand has been stuck on them. That happens because most adapt the easily available product and not developing own. And also because brands tend to ignore the 'providing a unique experience' element.

Thirdly, the persistent use of quirky advertising. this is no longer enough to capture and retain a customer base, or getting the exiting ones to stick around.

What drives Brand loyalty?

There are essentially four recommendations that could help to drive Brand loyalty.

First, Be prepared to provide quality experience. Have real conversations with your customers, and try to address their unique individual needs whenever you can.

Secondly, Loyalty programs can also be an effective way to encourage repeat purchasers and start fostering the emotions necessary to recruit brand loyalists.

Thirdly, People choose brands consistently when they want to have a consistent experience. You need to give them that reliably consistent experience if you want them to keep coming back. That means the quality of your products, the quality of your service, and even your brand voice needs to be carefully controlled for all your customers.

Fourthly, Foster better brand associations and memories by developing interpersonal communities around your brand.

And so, becoming a player in this extremely competitive market would need a lot of help from your existing brand loyalists; and it pays handsomely if your brand could.