Sorry, PF Chang's, But You Blew This Promotion

Comments

[Don]

OK Steve, Picture yourself in the restaurant biz. What sort of discount or bonus added method would you think a customer would find to be meaningful and worthwhile ? Not to mention easy to use. You don't want to give away the house, and still you want it be be trackable so you can see if it's working and check results. If they don't carry a card with them, what system WOULD you use?

[Steve Miller]

This has nothing to do with the restaurant business. They are in business to create and maintain long-term relationships, just like the hotel example I used. I can go into Borders Books, give them my phone number, they look it up and I get an immediate discount. I don't have to carry a card. My wife inputs our home phone when grocery shopping at our local Fred Meyer and we immediately get 15¢ off each gallon of gas purchased outside (and their margins are WAY slimmer than a restaurant's). I wrote about a great promotion from Hyatt Hotels in my Aug 18 post where they've offered me a $200 for staying at their hotel.If PF Chang's offered me a flat $10 discount on my next bill, I would probably do it (like several people suggested on Twitter). This has nothing to do with giving away the farm, but rather a meaningful offer to help enhance a long-term relationship.

[jon buscall]

I'm with you on this one, Steve. I hate carrying all those loyalty cards. In Japan it's all based on your smartphone.

I'm sure in 2 - 3 years they'll be a thing of the past. In the meantime, how difficult is it to have a database register that the waiter can pull up.

The company should do the work, not the customer if it's a genuine promotion.