Are you struggling to retain customers? If this is the case, then you have a big problem on your hands. After all, not retaining customers directly affects how much your food truck business is making.
Perhaps you are struggling to lure in customers in general, which means your sales are likely low as a result. Whatever the case, if your food truck lines are not flooding with people every day — well, at least during your busy hours, because there are likely slow periods during the day — then you need a quick fix.
While everyone’s situation is different, we have come up with four tips for mobile kitchen owners who are struggling to retain customers. If you have run out of options and are looking for new ways to lure in customers, then make sure you try out at least one of the options below.
Tips For Food Truck Owners Who Are Struggling To Retain Customers
- Look At Your Customer Service Game
- Try To Reach A New Audience With Events/Catering
- Think About Changing Your Location
- Look At Your Menu And Prices
Look At Your Customer Service Game
How are your customer service skills? How are your employees’ customer service skills? Are customers excited to go to your truck? If not, then you may need to change up your food truck environment. You need to create an environment that screams happiness. Going to your mobile kitchen should be an experience for you and your customers.
There are basic ways to take your customer service game to the next level. For example, you can ask your customers questions, give them suggestions and be extremely friendly to them in general. Your customers should never feel intimidated when they pull up to your food truck window, so make them feel wanted, and treat every customer like he/she is your No. 1 customer.
There are also more advanced ways to take your customer service game to another level. For instance, you could give out free samples, ask your customers for feedback, implement your customers’ feedback and turn your food truck into a community. You can achieve that feat by making your food truck environment a happy and friendly place, for starters.
Try To Reach A New Audience With Events/Catering
If you are struggling to retain customers, then it might be time to reach a new batch of customers, and you can achieve that goal by going to events and setting up catering gigs. Not only could this help you gain new customers, but it really helps to get your name out there.
Think of it this way, there are still likely a boatload of people who don’t even know your amazing food truck exists, but you can tackle that issue by branching out in this industry. The good thing about events is the fact that there are so many going on, especially in the summer. There are food truck events that are tailored around food trucks. There are concerts, festivals and parties that mobile kitchens can venture to — you name it.
In terms of catering, the options are unlimited. You could cater for a big party (such as an office Christmas party), you could cater for a family reunion, you could cater for a wedding, etc. The point of this tactic: Instead of waiting for customers to come to you, you are essentially going to them. Not to mention, events and catering are a great change of pace for lunch truck owners.
Think About Changing Your Location
Is there enough foot traffic in your designated location? If not, then that could be a major problem. There is a reason why so many mobile catering trucks decide to set up shop downtown — because there are a lot of people downtown.
Perhaps your competition is attracting all of the people. If that is the case, then you might want to think about finding another spot. Of course, you don’t want to jump the gun if you are new to the industry. After all, not a whole lot of people know about your business yet, so make sure you give it enough time before you decide to change locations.
If you do decide to change locations, then make sure your new location has a ton of people lurking around, and also make sure you give it enough time before you consider this new location a bust or success. In every sense of the word, be patient during this process.
Look At Your Menu And Prices
If all else fails and you are really struggling to attract and retain customers, you might have to change your menu and prices. Here’s the thing, it’s not always your fault that you aren’t retaining customers. In other words, your food might be amazing, your customer service game might be at the ultimate level and your business plan might be flawless, but you still might not be getting enough customers to make a profit. It might be because you are still relatively new to the industry, or it might be because of your location.
If your menu is cluttered or if your prices are higher than anywhere else, you might have to make some adjustments. No one wants to be told how to run their businesses, but you need to make sure going to your food truck is worth it for your customers.
If they can’t justify paying $20 for a burger, then they are likely going to eat somewhere else, even if said $20 burger is otherworldly in the taste department. Remember, this might be a last-case scenario, but it is definitely something you need to look at if you are lacking in the customers department.
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