Do you have regulars at your business? ‌🤝‌

[isabelle]

Hey Seller Community! ☀️ Apparently Summer officially started yesterday 🎉 I hope everyone is enjoying their week and hopefully some good weather!

This week, we're wondering...

Do you have regulars at your business?

How long have they been your regulars? Do they get special discounts? Are you a regular anywhere? 

A regular is defined as "a regular customer or member, for example of a bar, store, or team"...

[cupzcoffeeaz]

Hi @ryanwanner , 

I love your approach to regulars and the job description. I have a coffee shop myself, and I totally agree with you. Coffee shops bread and butter are regulars. For a lot of people we are not their second home, while from other the third home 🙂 (1st.home, 2nd. Office, 3rd. coffee shop).

I never thought of including memorizing regulars name on the job description and raises. I am super curious how do you measure it. Even if it is not a 100%, how do you track if your team is learning the names of your regulars?

Cheers!!

[ryanwanner]

Hey @cupzcoffeeaz !

Yeah, that was my goal from day one: be everyone’s Third Space. As much as all of us Indy coffee bars dunk on Starbucks we have to admit that Howard Schultz’s vision of creating that environment is what let us all be here slinging $5-6 lattes!

As for tracking regulars names, I can say I don’t have the metrics down to a science, but it’s pretty solid. My team and I always welcome the regular in by name for one. We have table numbers at our register; for regulars we always type in ##, regulars name for the tickets. And many, many times the regular will just come up to the newbies and introduce themselves. When it’s time for that promotion, my manager or I will point out people in the dining room and ask their name or drink. We just drill it in the newbies heads that this is vitally important. And it pays off too: I can’t tell you how many times I hear regulars tell their friends about their mug in their coffee shop. That kind of loyalty is priceless. 

[ReginaRMT]

@isabelle  yes I have regulars that make up about 75% of my business. They all receive a loyalty discount of 5% each appointment. The regulars can be weekly, bi weekly or monthly. 

[JohnSpearsPro]

Ohh Nice!

[JohnSpearsPro]

Yes.

[Greenmonkey65]

Yes, we do!  We are blessed to have many regulars. They were the ones that kept our doors open during the pandemic. 
we have a special program for our best customers called MonkeyFan Elite. This group is made up of mostly regulars because you have spend over $1000 with us a year.  They get special privileges on their birthdays, special luncheons, access to sales before others etc

[Thevioletfox]

Yes! I've got a handful of loyal regulars and I so appreciate them! I always send them extra goodies (like bookmarks, stickers, etc.) with their shipped orders as a thank you. And Square's Loyalty program is STILL on my to do list because I've heard such amazing things about it. I just have to find the time to piece it together and gather my thoughts. It'll happen LOL

I'm definitely a regular at some small businesses in my area as well - including a couple of other local bookstores, a vegan cafe, and a local tshirt artist who basically supplies my entire wardrobe 😄

[JupiterGames]

I'd estimate that, on a monthly basis, our customer base is roughly 2/3 regulars and 1/3 new customers, but we also have a subgroup of our regulars that we'll see maybe once or twice a year, like clockwork, for particular seasons, sales, or events. Being a friendly local game store, there are folks who we see in our store and play area for 4-6 hours two or three times a week. We also have folks who have been shopping our store for almost 15 years who we only see on the first weekend of December but they'll buy board games by the armfull to give to all of their loved ones as gifts at the holidays.

As for being a regular myself, I try to give my business to the small businesses in the neighborhood around my store. I'm often running out for a cup of coffee from the new cafe that opened a few doors down from my store or nipping out for lunch (and sometimes a cocktail) at the restaurant just a few doors down the block in the opposite direction. This allows me face-time to chat with other business owners so that we can all stay in the loop on neighborhood happenings and share opportunities.

[pigsnoseinn]

We have a group of about 100-150 regular people that live in our remote village where we are based that come in the pub 2 or 3 times a week definitely on Friday Nights and Sunday Lunch. All the regulars need to live locally to get the exceptional 12.5% discount. Some are newly moved into the village; some have visited the pub since we took it over 25 years ago.

[ProsperityPools]

Our entire business model is built around "regulars". We have a pool company in HOT South Texas, so we serve mostly the same customers weekly by doing their maintenance and keeping their pool blue year-round. It can be detrimental to miss even one week, due to the algae build-up it can make the pool start turning green and unsafe to swim in.

On occasion, we also get some one-timey jobs when customers need repairs, or to resurface the pool with new plaster (typically this is something needed every 15-20 years). With the home market the way it is, it has been very busy for us due to people buying and selling homes in the area.

Great question!

[Bronze_Palms]

YES! We love our regulars. We have clients who purchase 12 packs of tans meaning we see them for almost 6 months straight, others who utilize a spray tan then a teeth whitening appointment and are regulars in the red light beds.  

I would say the best place for us to find them are through word of mouth referrals. Would love to hear where others find their regulars!

[dimo10]

We certainly do have our regulars.

Just looking at today's Square report and we had 37 customers with 33 returning.

My favorites are the oldies, we have Sid who comes in every Saturday afternoon for a fish and small chips with a wedge of lemon and no salt. He always brings the correct money. Dot comes in on Sunday and gets a Flake, a potato cake and 2 pineapple fritters. Always the same order.

[Wmichael1987]

We operated 24/7 for years but eventually that took a toll and I decided to scale back. I now operate 7-7 mon-sat. Sunday is my mental health day as I believe everyone needs a mental health day regardless of what you do for a living.