One of the challenges restaurant owners face is getting enough satisfaction feedback from their customers. Research shows that up to 90% of dissatisfied customers will not do business with you again and won't even bother to tell you why. If your restaurant has an email club, there are ways to get satisfaction level indications in the absence of direct customer feedback.
Email Clubs
Most restaurant email clubs entice customers to join by promising future coupons or promotions emailed to them. For customers that have just had a great experience the decision to join is an easy one. For customers merely "satisfied" the decision is a little tougher. People already get too many email messages. They may be reluctant to join your email club if they do not intend to go back to your restaurant any time soon. Lastly, for customers that have had a bad experience the decision is an easy one - no way.
A Simple Metric
Assuming that you consistently ask your customers to join your email club after each transaction, merely look at the ratio of the number of people that have joined your club per week divided by the number of customers served over that period of time. You will have a good estimate of the percentage of people that were most likely "very satisfied" or at least "satisfied".
Leading Indicator
The ratio should only be used as a leading indicator. For customers visiting your restaurant for the first time it is a good indication of a great customer experience. The ratio obviously does not take into account regular customers that have already joined your club. You still need to push for customer feedback using other mechanisms such as comment cards or online surveys. However, given how tough it is to get customer feedback, you can have some indication whether or not you are delivering great food and service.
Dave Gonynor helps business owners implement email marketing and online satisfaction surveys to grow their business. He is a successful entrepreneur that grew his business from start-up to $24 million in revenues through exceptional customer relationships. For Dave's free Email Marketing and Customer Satisfaction tips, please visit http://www.thatsbiz.com
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