How To Win New Customers

How competition is killing your restaurant - and how to fight back.

There are only 2 types of diners at your restaurant; new and repeat. But repeat diners are a function of new ones which means the formula for calculating total bookings can be written purely in terms of new diners.

So, getting more new customers is everything. They're not just the one-timers, they're also your future regulars. 

But getting new customers is getting harder and harder.

Here's why:

Imagine there are 10 restaurants in a town

Our restaurant is ranked as 5th (in terms of appeal)

The 4 least-appealing restaurants are forced to close

Then 4 new restaurants open in their place

2 of those are more appealing than ours

2 of those are less appealing than ours

The 2 stronger restaurants push us down the list

We're now 7th out of the 10 restaurants

The 3 least-appealing restaurants are forced to close

And 3 new restaurants open in their place.  

This cycle never stops and is the nature of intense competition. As restaurants close, others re-open. Some of those will naturally be more appealing and win market share.

So how can you win?

Improve the restaurant's ability to win more new customers. 

And whilst that's easier said than done, we've grouped all the possible ways into 4 categories. This is your framework for new customer growth. 

Walk-by

How effective is your street appeal to turn walk-by into walk-in?

Word of Mouth

Can you get your customers to talk about you more frequently, and with greater advocacy?

Marketing

Can you do it more, do it better or do it differently? 

Guests of others

This is when someone discovers your restaurant because they first dined as a guest of another customer then returned.

In an industry where market conditions make it increasingly more difficult, restaurants can fight back by disproportionately winning more new customers and punch above their weight.

There are 4 key areas to explore and this list should make it easier to start building a plan for 2026.