[GUIDE] Attract, Sell and Retain Your Event Customers

In summer, many of you will open your terraces! Existing or ephemeral terraces, we have followed you in recent weeks in your quest to find a location to exploit for the summer and get the machine back up and running.

At BookingShake, we had the pleasure of reactivating your accounts, adapting your settings to your needs and above all helping you in your strategic thinking around sales, customer relationships, communication,...

And you all had a lot of questions so we decided to share them with everyone by offering you our guide to promote your terrace and be sold out as of Wednesday!

Our guide consists of three essential themes: Attract, Sell, Retain. This week we invite you to discover the first part: Attracting.

Finally, to help you immediately find what you need in our guide (yes we know that you will not have much time with the recovery), here is a detailed summary and at the end of the article download our free templates to make your life easier.

SUMMARY

PART 1 - ATTRACT

1. The Newsletter or emailing
   - Why and to whom
   - Writing, model and advice
   - Emailing and newsletter tools
   - Recover your database
   ‍
2. Social networks
   - What social networks
   - What format
   - Your ready-to-use content board (planning and advice included)
   ‍
3. Referencing and press relations
   - For what purpose
   - Referencing
   - Press relations
   - Influencers and bloggers

PART 2 - SELL

1. Guarantee its filling
   - The interest of reservations
   - How to receive bookings
   - Set conditions
   - The advantages
   

2. Operation Seduction
   - Before
   - During
   - After
   

3. We want glitter
   - The importance of the visual
   - Video tutorial
   - Visual type according to use
   - FOCUS

PART 3 - BUILD LOYALTY

1. The foundations
   - FAQ
   - Department
   - Atmosphere
   - Quality
   ‍
2. Brainstorm
   - Ephemeral products
   - Games and contests
   - Programming
   - Collaboration
   ‍
3. Make some noise
   - What to talk about
   - Expand your community
   - Tell us about you
   - Newsletter
   ‍
4. VIP only
   - Recognize
   - CRM
   - Process
   - Training

‍

PART 1 - ATTRACT

1. The Newsletter or emailing

It's the base of the base, your starting line. Because it is the best way to be sure that your customers know that you are reopening and under what conditions.

So be sure to inform your customer database but also all your partners (suppliers, employees, neighboring businesses,...) of your opening through an emailing format or a newsletter. Don't underestimate word of mouth.

Often at this stage you ask us two questions because two subjects give you a hard time:
“What do I say in my email?”
“What do I use for my emailing or my newsletter?”

TERRACE OPENING EMAIL TEMPLATE

Hello CUSTOMER,
The entire ETABLISSEMENT team is very happy to announce its reopening as of Wednesday, May 19, 2021.
For this long awaited big moment,...
Presentation terrace/outdoor space
Presentation of opening days and hours
Presentation of offers, menus, packages,...
Presentation of the conditions (on reservations, no-show deposits,...)
Presentation of events (live music every Friday, uno competition on Tuesday,...)
Reminder of the recovery calendar and in your establishment:
Changes in your conditions on June 9
Changes in your conditions on June 30
Booking link and all useful contacts

Feel free to make this email come alive with photos or illustrations depending on what you have at your disposal. Even a short selfie of the team on the terrace preparing for the resumption will have an effect.

Attention an email does not have to be long to be effective! You don't have to be a great writer either, don't feel guilty! Write as it comes naturally to you and do 2 rereads: one for the wording and one for the spelling.

To send your email we recommend two tools that are very easy to use and free or inexpensive:

• For an emailing = YAMM (between €16.47 and €32.93 per year)
  They explain how it works here: https://yamm.com/#HowItWorks but if you have any questions, contact us.
• For a newsletter = Substack (free)
  Discover Substack by clicking here: https://substack.com/for-writers and if you need help contact us.

Obviously there are plenty of solutions for emailing and newsletters, but these two are by far our favorites.

Finally, in this article you will find tips for recover your customer database if you don't have BookingShake.

2. Social networks

Whether you have thousands of subscribers or a few hundred followers, it's already enough people to fill your terrace, so we're going all out on social networks to broadcast the announcement of your reopening!

We advise you to bet on social networks where most of your target audience is. If you have a lot of individuals, at first glance, you will focus on Instagram and Facebook or maybe TikTok.

If you still have a large business clientele, a few posts on LinkedIn will be welcome.

Now it may be a good idea to combine several formats with ideally:

• a few stories every day (adapted to Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn)
• several posts during the week (adapted to Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn)
• video/s to post in real format or IGTV or post depending on the network (adapted to Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn)
• a live (adapted to Facebook, Instagram)

Here is our table with ideas for posts by format as well as tips for organization and production:

Format 1: The Photo Post

Ideas?

• Photo of the terrace last year: Announce your reopening date and the conditions (table of 6 max, curfew,...)
• Photo of the terrace being assembled: Suggest to your customers to book
• Photo of the team preparing for the reopening: Ask your customers if they remember your first names (and the one who just got 1st wins a tour)
• Photo with your suppliers: Highlight your products, menus and packages, offer pre-orders

Organization?

• Prepare all your post ideas with the selected photos or make and write short texts
• You can schedule posts in advance so you don't have to think about them anymore
• Idea: https://www.instagram.com/p/COx-CJvhDvr/

Any advice?

• Reuse the text parts of your email or newsletter for your post when it makes sense.
• Tag customers, team members, suppliers, when it makes sense to provide visibility and be shared. Remember that you are looking for visibility.

Format 2: The Story

Ideas?

• You on the way to your establishment
• Opening the grid
• Supplier reception
• Reunion with your team
• Reunion with your commercial neighbors
• Tasting: new menu
• Cleaning the place
• Assembling and shaping the terrace

In short, behind the scenes of your daily life!

Organization?

• Post every day, as you go: to not forget to make and/or post stories you can set 2-3 alarms during the day on the quietest times for you.
• Idea: https://www.instagram.com/p/CO9oa9_IcEc/

Any advice?

• Write down all of your story ideas in your phone notes so you never run out.
• Take photos regularly so you always have them on hand.
• Tag as soon as you can, put #'s and your geographic position on your stories!

Format 3: The Video Post

Ideas?

Throughout your reopening: before, on the big day and the following days, feel free to capture short videos of a few seconds to show us what's going on behind the scenes, the joy of the team to get back up and running, the atmosphere with customers, etc.

Compile all this on a real format for example and you will have a great video to promote your reopening and your terrace.

Organization?

• As for the stories: to not forget to make short videos, you can set yourself one or more alarms during the day.
• Idea: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ninkasi_on-a-jamais-autant-aim%C3%A9-le-lundi-matin-ugcPost-6799976194889650176-qD7H/
  

Any advice?

• Videos are the most powerful formats on social networks in terms of visibility, it would be a shame to deprive yourself of them.
• You can use your stories to compile them and make a short, more complete video. Optimize your time.

Format 4: The Live

Ideas?

Lives are a format with great visibility and very much appreciated by your community.

You can do one live per week or every 15 days to present a member of the team or a recipe available at the moment in your establishment (drinks or food).

It is also an opportunity to get important messages across:

• Are you open?
• When? How?
• Do you have to book?
• Can we pre-order from you?
• And to answer customer questions.

Organization?

• Prepare your live with notes to know what you are going to say.
• Announce your live in advance to your community.
• Have a clear message and a fixed appointment (a recipe every 15 days, Sunday for example).
• Idea: https://www.instagram.com/p/CNb-hN_Iwvy/

Any advice?

• Choose a quiet time for yourself.
• Then save this live video on your networks.
• You can present this live to several people.
• Have a good connection and good lighting.

You do not have to do everything, do as best as possible according to the means at hand.

And above all be yourself, imagine that you are talking to a customer in your establishment.

It doesn't have to be perfect, we want to have a good time with you because we missed you!

3. Referencing and press relations

Now that you have broadcast the opening of your terrace and more widely of your establishment to your customers by email and that you are communicating with your community on social networks, it is time to remember the good memories of those who know you from afar and especially those who do not know you at all!

To do this, you need to broadcast yourself in strategic places. That is why we invite you to ask yourself the following questions:

On which marketplace, guide or directory site are you referenced?

The reopening of the terraces of restaurants, bars, cafes,... is expected like the white wolf and consumers will want to find the taste of their life of yesteryear.

What are they going to do? Search the internet for cool terraces around their homes. So make sure that your information is up to date on all the websites on which you are referenced.

Do not hesitate to take the opportunity to ask them if they are going to make special terrace guides and if you can appear there?

Do you work with a news or public relations agency?

If so, it may be a good idea to make a point with them so that they plan a press release on your terrace and your summer program. Also ask them if there are any actions planned to increase your visibility in the press.

If you are not yet working with a news agency, it may be interesting to look into it and for that we recommend Benady Conseil's very good blog which will help you see more clearly.

Have you contacted influencers and bloggers?

Via your social networks, or by email, do not hesitate to call, invite, and contact influencers or bloggers. Many of them are also in the process of updating their selections of terraces and favorite places. They are always looking for new things (new does not mean new place, it means a place they do not know) and therefore will surely be happy to discover you.

Now that your terrace is full, what if we took care of your turnover? See you soon for our part 2!

PART 2 - SELL

1. Guarantee its filling

First of all, you will have small abilities. It would be unfortunate not to be complete as often as possible and with maximum visibility over time. Thus, the method is simple, do not leave room for chance!

To have visibility: the only possibility is to predict, and therefore take reservations, all those available to you!
Even if you are asked for a table for 12? Say yes and offer customers to be spread over several tables in compliance with safety standards.

To optimize reservation requests and not pay commission on them, equip yourself with a reservation form. It is certainly time to discover BookingShake and its solutions for taking and managing reservations!

=> BOOK A FREE BOOKINGSHAKE DEMO

When making a reservation, explain your conditions well to reassure, to be readable by customers and not to accept things that may put you in difficulty.

What do we mean by your conditions:

• if you are requesting a bond (here is an article to help you on the subject: The bond: what are the different types and benefits?) ,
• if you ask for a minimum of consumption,
• Remember your opening hours,
• Remember the maximum number of customers per table, safety standards, and that everything is obviously subject to government decisions.

By guaranteeing a minimum occupancy rate, you will be able to:

• calculate your estimated turnover,
• plan your costs and avoid ordering too much or taking too much extra
• consider investments to optimize your business even more, such as hiring a music group to come and play on Friday and Saturday,...

But you know all that as well as we do!

Of course, put the forms so that the customer also benefits and is attracted by your offer and not the other way around. That's good, we'll see that right after.

2. Operation Seduction

Let it be clear: if your customers do not know what they can consume, they will not consume or much less.
You've ever gone to a store with nothing on the shelves where the salesperson says, “What do you want me to put on the shelves for you?” You would be very annoyed wouldn't you?!

If you have followed our guide correctly, you have put all the chances on your side to attract customers, you have set up direct reservations and you have clear communication with your customers about your reopening and reservation conditions.

Before

One of our customers had an idea that inspired us a lot and that we are going to share with you here:

[He had planned a small live concert from 19:00 to 21:00 on his terrace.
To guarantee its filling and a minimum of consumption: he offered customers to reserve a table and buy a board pack + liter of homemade sangria in advance.
The result: it was full and all customers had already spent money before arriving. Not to mention what else he sold there.]

Depending on your event program, you can definitely set up a system, but what! Here is the list of our ideas to put in place to sell with two objectives: to be complete and to maximize your turnover.

1. Make your customers want to book - Objective = to be complete
   ‍
   ‍Do not hesitate to highlight special offers for reservations in your establishment, but also online on your website and on your social networks.
   These offers should only be available for pre-order to encourage your customers to book because they win!
   
   example :
   For any table reservation, your first tour is 50% off!
   Formula one board and four pints of beer, 10% cheaper than à la carte prices!
   Two boards purchased = one liter of homemade sangria free!
   ‍

1. ‍Proposing is already selling twice as much
   ‍Objective = maximize your turnover
   ‍
   ‍When receiving a request, we advise you to always send by email a selection of a few attractive formulas* available only for pre-order.
   You can use the same formulas and offers above that you put forward to encourage customers to book.‍
   ‍
2. No order: no table guaranteed
   Objective = maximize your turnover
   
   And why not make customers who are good consumers VIP? In a nightclub to reserve a table, you have to reserve bottles, why not you?
   You can explain to customers that if they book a pack, they will have a guaranteed table and they can choose their favorite one if it is still available. If they do not want to take a pack, they will be placed according to the seats available upon arrival, if space is available.

During

Now it's up to you to make your talent work so that the mayonnaise takes effect! Good vibes, warm welcome, atmosphere maker, you control your menu and the products you know how to offer to the right customers at the right time!

However, you may need to think about ways to improve your sales right now. Some customers may appreciate being able to re-order online directly from their phones if your entire staff is busy.

Several apps offer this online table ordering service and QR codes also open up the field of possibilities.

By the way, did you know that you can create your QR codes in a few clicks and for free? No, discover our video tutorial: How to Set Up a QR Code in Your Establishment?

After

Selling after customers have left? But yes you will see. If Covid-19 has taught us one thing: it is to sell without having physical customers.

With curfews at 9 p.m. and soon 11 p.m., many of your customers will obviously continue their evenings at home. Did they plan to continue the evening? Do they have everything they need at home? Chances are not, so what if you offer them take-away bottles or boxes?

Cocktails in bottles, wines, beers, platters in the form of take-out boards, take-away tapas,... Integrate a “To take home” part into your menu and present it at all your tables.

You don't cook, collaborate with a nearby pizzeria (or other) and make a joint offer.

Imagine an “All night long” box that you could offer for pre-orders when booking customers that includes a take-away game (so you can plan your production).

And to go even further, prepare a playlist for them, or a list of game ideas to bring the atmosphere of your place to them. A little attention that will make the difference you will see!

We want glitter

If you missed out, you should know that your customers want glitter. In our case, this simply means that all the materials that present your offers, formulas, etc. must be beautiful and appealing.

An offer, a formula, even if they are well thought out, if they are not visually highlighted, does not work.

Today, there is a dream tool to make beautiful visuals without being a great designer or without being a computer crap.

We already told you about it, it's Canva and again we have a video tutorial to show you how to create an account and make a presentation brochure for your formulas: How to Make a Commercial Brochure, Menus, Posts with Canva?

What visuals for what uses?

When you are going to create your offers remember to plan for:

1. A visual such as a card or brochure
   ‍- to be printed in your establishment,
   - to be sent in PDF to your customers
   - to link to your website and other desired online media,
2. A post-type visual
   ‍- to communicate about these news on social networks
   - to illustrate a blog post
   - to illustrate a newsletter

FOCUS: Selling today is good, selling tomorrow is smart!
Don't bet everything on the next 15 days, think about your summer, the start of the school year in September, broadcast your offer for the next few weeks now according to the calendar and take reservations for the whole summer, or even for the start of the school year with flexible cancellation conditions!

Attention: taking good care of customer requests, without wasting too much time, following up effectively and not forgetting anything on the day when customers are there, is a skill that requires having the right tools! That's why your best friend is BookingShake.

Contact us to optimize your space and:

• Easily communicate your pre-order offers
• create customer categories to distinguish those who have taken a pack from those who only have the promotional offer,
• review the message on your reservation form
• set up an online deposit or online payments for pre-orders
• ...

Now, we invite you to investigate together how to make your customers come back again and again. Stay connected and sign up for our Shake News so as not to miss anything!

PART 3 - BUILD LOYALTY

We have reached the final stretch of the key steps to promote your establishment. 3rd and last key step: Retaining your customers!

Whether you have a hotel, bar, restaurant, event venue... The loyalty of your customers is the lifeblood. Why? Because they are customers who come back for free, without paying any commission or advertising budget on Google, and who recommend you. So how do you put all the chances on your side to build loyalty?

Obviously, the customer experience when they come to you is essential. Ensuring that the customer has a good time in your establishment is the essence of your job.

So will your smile do all the work? Is that enough? Are there ways to optimize loyalty?

No, yes, yes and we'll get back to you right after.

1. The foundations

It's very easy to remember because we invented a small technical memo just for you: SAQ!

SAQ? Yes for Service, Atmosphere and Quality.

If you are very attentive to these 3 poles you cannot miss out because the experience on site will be successful. But without that, as you probably already know, loyalty is not possible!

So here are “check lists” for each category to help you put yourself on the alert and think about areas for improvement.

Department:

• Be easily reachable, accessible (You need to easily find how to contact or interact with your teams. Especially for event locations whose teams are not necessarily always in the same rooms as their customers.)
• Smile, friendliness, listening, understanding (You are there to make them happy and not the other way around. Make things easy and comfortable.)
• Professionalism (Knowing your job to relieve the customer of having to control the situation, he can trust you.)

Atmosphere:

• Decoration, smell, music (The whole must be harmonious and attractive for your target.)
• Uniforms for your teams (Set the tone for the atmosphere of your establishment.)
• Type of service (Formal or friendly, chic or “candid”, all your teams must send the same message to create a coherent whole.)

Quality:

• Food and drinks (Select your products to offer the options that you find the most delicious for your target audience according to the range of your establishment.)
• From your service providers (Even if you use an external service provider, you have chosen it and it is your responsibility that its service corresponds to the quality expected by your customers, never take risks, it is your image that will suffer.)
• Your furniture and objects (Tastes and colors cannot be discussed, but tables that move, dirty or damaged menus, broken toilets,... It does not highlight you.)

If you want to keep customers coming back, you have to be consistent, be on top all the time. From the quality of the products, to your teams to the care, to the pleasant atmosphere, it is a set of details that will contribute to the loyalty of your customers and to make them return to your establishment.

Well now let's assume that all this is under control at your fingertips. How can you give a little boost to the destiny of your relationship with the customer?

2. Brainstomer

They spotted you, they came and loved you but... they can forget you! So we're going to make sure that doesn't happen.

Suggest offers

Before these new customers leave you did you think of giving them a small gift voucher?

Plan nice little cards or an email with a voucher, a gift voucher or a discount on a product or one of your packages.

There are two advantages to this technique:

• you push the customer to come back to use their offer,
• it can also be an opportunity to encourage the customer to discover your other services.

Ephemeral products

The drink of the day, the entertainment of the month, the menu of the week, the pastry of the day... You have good products, well worked, at the right prices, that's enough to bring back a good part of your customers whether you are a restaurant, a bar or an event venue!

Yes, you too, event venues, build customer loyalty through their gourmet stomachs. How many times have we heard:”Love this place! The coffee is delicious and the cakes during the break, oh la la what a delight! They even prepared small bags of cakes for us to take away.”

And you, the hoteliers and restaurateurs, have, today, when everyone wants to know what they are eating, you have the incredible chance to play with it without limit: who is the producer, seasonality, homemade, locavore,...

And all this makes your customers want to come back again and again to enjoy your new products.

Games and contests

It's not for nothing that influencers do the same thing: because it works! Very easy to set up thanks to e-mailing and social networks.

As for the offers, which we mentioned above, take the opportunity to introduce other of your talents and services to your customers: coffee tasting, a cocktail class,...

Or you launch business breakfasts in your event venue, offer barista entertainment in competitions.

In addition to customer loyalty, this is also an opportunity to give you visibility through the use of social networks in particular, it is a very interesting communication operation that we recommend that you focus on.

And then for places open to the public such as hoteliers and restaurateurs, you can also imagine game nights in your place with prices: a free dinner, a cocktail on behalf of the customer à la carte...

Programming

This last point on game nights allows us to immediately bounce back on your programming! Another of the musts for retaining your customers.

Stand-up, live music, workshops and workshops, exhibitions, Japanese or cachaça lessons...

In short, do what you want but make the customer want to come back and live unique and original experiences at home and with you. Do not hesitate to create a weekly or monthly appointment to make an impression.

Collaboration

And this programming that we just talked about just before can be done in collaboration: everyone builds customer loyalty and also brings a new community!

Anything is possible for you to be creative: invite a “street food” chef for 1 month or become the ambassadors of a local juice brand, which again resonates with our highest point on ephemeral products.

Beyond the dynamism that your establishment exudes by offering new things regularly and that makes you want to come back, collaboration can have a significant impact on the influence of your brand. You will benefit from the strength of the brand you are associated with.

To inspire you more concretely, here are some places that are full of ideas:

• Ma Pièce Lyon, event venues
• Entourage Groupe Paris, Bars and restaurants

Seduce, imagine, stand out, give this image of a proactive establishment, of a place that reinvents itself, that offers experiences.

3. Make some noise

Breaking news: your customers won't guess what's going on with you if you don't talk about it. An obvious one you will tell us and yet...

On average, 1 out of 5 people admit to us that they do not send e-mails or newsletters: “We don't really know what to say”, “We don't want to spam our customers”, “Nobody is going to read”,...

On the social media side, it's not easy either. Yes generally you have pages, often these pages have fairly regular posts, the photos are relatively neat, but you almost only talk about your place or take a few photos of the food/drinks...

Good news, we have lots of new topic ideas for you because your new customers will love to hear about your:

• ephemeral products
• games and contests
• programming
• collaboration

That you imagined just before.

But beware, for a customer who has come once, it is easy to forget you.

So take advantage of the fact that a customer is in your establishment to get to know them and talk to them about upcoming initiatives or events that they may like. The customer will feel privileged to have had this information from your own mouth. Then invite him to come back (and yes quite simply) and to follow you on the networks so as not to miss anything. And the better you know your new customers, the better your loyalty strategy will be.

A very important subject in your loyalty communications: you are service professionals, you and your teams are unique and engaging personalities.

Your customers want to know you, tell us more about yourself! Without forcing yourself to talk about topics that make you uncomfortable. But tell us about your daily life (behind the scene), the facets of your job, your professional passions...

For example, look at the portraits of Musa Parisian bar or the blog of VERSO by Victoire.

And guess what? Without realizing it, we have just done the topics of your Newsletter:

• Novelty/programming/collaboration
• Focus on a member of the team/partner (a portrait, a center of interest,...)

And that's already quite good, you don't have to write sandwiches unless you really like to write.

You have the opportunity to talk to your customers as often as you want for free: It's crazy!

4. VIP only

We tend to tell ourselves that a returning customer, a regular customer is already won over and therefore that we do not need to invest much more time on this type of customer, but a customer who feels abandoned over time will change the store. Regular customers are your first ambassadors and their loyalty is precious!

The essential thing is already that your teams recognize a customer who comes more than 2 or 3 times in a short period of time in your establishment and offer a particular treatment for this loyal customer. Indeed, this customer has created an emotional bond with your place and you must reward him or make him feel special within your establishment.

And how do you recognize a customer who comes for the first time, a customer who comes once a month or a customer who comes to your place every week? If you could see our little smile in the corner...

With a CRM like BookingShake of course, good internal processes and the training of your teams in these details.

The CRM will allow you, upon request, to recognize the customer, recall your history together, see if they have habits or preferences and to collect them gradually.

By the way, did you know that on BookingShake you can create tailor-made customer files... No? We show it to you for free and with a smile by clicking here.

Internal processes include sending a list of VIPs by email or printing this list to put in the back of the establishment so that all your teams know who is who and how to take care of everyone. But yes we made you a small free model by clicking here.

And training is why not transmitting to your teams the instinct to note the preferences of a customer for the next few times and to have up-to-date data. No need to make a model for yourself here because everything is in BookingShake dear readers, all you have to do is join us.