Turn Your First Timers Into Return Customers

Return customers are the life-blood of a food truck business. Each and every return customer starts off with a first visit to your service window. So what can you do to ensure those first time customers come back a second or third time? Your food and service can be great, but if that is where you stop thinking about keeping a customer coming back for more, you are missing some opportunities.

So how do you know it’s a first visit? Your service window attendant’s welcoming statement should gather information so they can tailor the service and make the visit special. This can be done quickly and easily with one question:

Have you been here before? Whatever the answer, this is the opportunity to give more information about your trucks menu, how long you’ve been open, best way to find your truck etc.

Turn Your First Timers Into Return Customers

Service for first timers may need to be a little different to what’s offered to your return customers.

Share information in small chunks. Do this instead of providing one long speech at the beginning. Take several opportunities to talk about the specials, the menu, the beverage choices and any upcoming special events.
Gather contact details. Hand each new customer a small card asking for their email address. Ask and you may receive…don’t ask and you’ll never be able to start a customer list.
Offer other ways to stay in touch. If you have a Website, Facebook Page or Twitter account (which you should have), make sure they’re on the menu board and on your food truck wrap. You’ll be surprised how many customers will check them out before they even get their order.
Send them off with a souvenir. This can be a business card and a copy of the menu. You never know where this marketing literature will end up or who else may get to see them. Also, remind them about your website and social media accounts: “They’re on the card and on the menu”.
Follow up with an email. Remember how you already got it (see item two on this list). Food truck owners I have spoken with and send feedback forms to all of the customers who join their mailing list. In most cases they tell me they get between 50-75% of them returned with positive or constructive feedback. Set apart about 30 minutes a week to send your new customers a feedback form.

The Bottom Line

Using these suggestions in any food truck business can help bolster the number of your return customers. In doing this, you will also gain word of mouth marketing that these new loyal customers will provide…all free of charge.

To further discuss the topic of return customers, leave your comments below, our food truck forums or on social media. Facebook | Twitter

About the Author: Richard Myrick

Richard Myrick is an architect by degree (Lawrence Technological University, Southfield, Michigan) who began his career in real estate development and architectural planning. In September of 2010 he created Mobile Cuisine Magazine to fill an information void he found when he began researching how to start a mobile hotdog cart in Chicago. Richard found that there was no central repository of mobile street food information anywhere on the internet, and with that, the idea for MCM was born. Richard also wrote the "Running a Food Truck for Dummies" available in bookstores everywhere and Amazon. You can reach out to Richard by email at: [email protected].