The $0 Strategy That Gets Customers To Come Back Faster

Loyalty is often built before the customer even leaves.

In this episode of Full Fat Marketing, Leonora breaks down one of the smartest low-cost retention ideas she’s heard, and why the best brands don’t wait until someone disappears to try and win them back. Instead, they design the next visit while the current one is still happening.

If you want customers to come back faster without relying on discounts, loyalty apps, or “we miss you” emails, this episode will show you a much smarter way to think about repeat behaviour.

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And if you’re building a food, drink or hospitality brand and want help applying these strategies to your business, feel free to reach out at leonora@lrbcreative.com

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Disclaimer: Insights shared are based on Leonora’s experience with food and hospitality brands and are for educational purposes only. Results may vary.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

I remember hearing John Taffer talk about this once, and honestly, I thought it was so, so smart. From what I remember, if it was someone's first time in the restaurant, they'd leave something red on the table. So the team would know that this customer is brand new. And from there, the whole point was not to just give them a nice experience. It was to make sure they left already wanting to come back. So if they had, say, beef that day, the team might say something like, Okay, next time you need to try the chicken, you must come in for it, and we'll look after you on that. Then if they came back for a second visit, there'd be something blue on the table instead. Again, not for the guest, but for the team to know that that is the second time the customer has visited the restaurant. And now the next return gets planted too. So maybe this time it becomes, okay, you have to come back for the cheesecake. And then the manager comes over and writes 25% off for the cheesecake for next time. And what stuck with me about this was they were not just giving good service, they were designing the next visit while the current one was still happening. It is absolute gold. And honestly, that is where a lot of brands get loyalty completely wrong. I'm Lenora, this is the Full Fat Marketing Podcast where you'll hear the uncomfortable strategy truths for FB brands. Most people won't tell you, but I will. A lot of businesses wait until the customer has already gone and then they panic. So suddenly it's, oh, we'll send you a discount code or a points reminder or a sad little oh we miss you email or some loyalty mechanic that no one actually cares about. And by then you're often already too late and you've missed out. Because the best brands do not wait until the customer has mentally left to start thinking about their return. They build a return into the experience itself. That's the real difference and not in some complicated, over-engineered way, usually in a really, really simple one. They leave something open, that's it. They leave behind just enough of a loose end that the customer doesn't feel fully finished with the experience. And honestly, that matters so much more than people realize. A lot of brands are very good at giving people a really nice experience, but not very good at leaving behind a reason to mentally revisit it. And you've got to remember people come back because something is still alive in their head about that experience. That could be something they didn't get to try, something they heard about afterwards, something seasonal that's coming next, or something that made them think, okay, next time I'm really gonna get that. Or even just feeling that they didn't fully experience the brand properly. And that last one is really, really powerful. And that is something amazing to achieve. Once a customer feels that, the relationship isn't over. It's almost like it's still open, and open things get revisited. Closed things get forgotten. It's almost like a relationship, you know, you've sort of not got closure, so you need to keep going back for more. And that is the real distinction. That's exactly why the John Taffer example is so clever. Because the customer is not just getting good service, they're being gently pulled into a system, a rhythm, almost like a little club. And that changes everything because now they're not just someone who went there once, now they feel known, remembered, looked after, and slowly pulled into the world of the brand. And that feeling is incredibly powerful. This is where things shift. Most brands are trying to get repeat customers by throwing points or discounts at people after the fact. And that's different. This is exceptional service being used to engineer the next visit. And it's a much smarter way to think. And honestly, I think this is where a lot of brands accidentally make themselves too mentally tidy. Everything seems perfectly complete, perfectly resolved, no mystery, no next thing, no curiosity, no, I still need to go back for that. Which sounds really lovely and clean, but commercially, it's not always your best friend. Satisfaction alone is not enough. And that's really the uncomfortable truth here. Someone can have a really nice experience and still not feel the urgency to come back. And if there's no urgency, that return then gets delayed. And delayed return is where a lot of the growth then quietly dies. So if you're a founder, a marketing manager, here's the really practical takeaway from this episode. What is the thing someone leaves still wanting from your business? What are they still thinking about once they've gone? What are they still curious about? What did they not fully complete? It's really important for you to get the mind of the consumer and get to understand what it is that makes them think, I still need to go back for that, because that's where repeat behavior gets much, much easier. Not when you try to manufacture loyalty afterwards, but when you build it into the experience itself while they're still in it. That is a much smarter game. And tomorrow I want to talk to you about one of the biggest traps in F and B today because a lot of brands look busy, they look successful, they look like they're working, and underneath all that, they're actually not growing at all. I know it sounds completely crazy, but trust me on it. This is where you start losing serious money. And that's the full fat version. Thank you so much for listening. And remember, you can listen to Full Fat Marketing Podcast wherever you get your podcasts, with new bite size episodes releasing daily from Monday to Friday. You can thank me later for that. Oh, and if you're enjoying the podcast, I'd really love it if you left a review because it really helps more people find it. See you tomorrow.