How to keep customers happy after raising your restaurant’s prices — the Danny Meyer way From

Heartland

Soyouraisedyourrestaurant’sprices Welcometotheafterparty

To kick us off, let’s acknowledge two things: 1) Raising prices can be a great long-term growth strategy for restaurants, especially when combating the pressure of high inflation.2)Higherpricescanoftentranslatetohighercustomerexpectations.

Whilesomepatronsmightbemoreforgivingofpriceincreases,manywillstart expectingmorefromyourrestaurantinreturnforthesteeperbillattheendoftheirmeal. One study showed that nearly 80% of respondents correlated higher prices to better experiences.

That’s why after you increase those numbers, your best bet to retain customers and attractnewonesistofocusoncultivatingaguestexperiencethey’llhavenochoicebut tolove.

Notsurewheretostart?You’reinluck Ifanyoneknowsabouthowtokeep customers happy after raising prices, it’s Danny Meyer

The founder of Union Square Hospitality Group and Shake Shack famously introduced a no-tipping policy at his restaurantsin2015byraisingmenuprices15-20%.

AlthoughhelaterreinstatedtipsduetotheCOVID-19pandemic,duringthefive-yearrun of his “Hospitality Included” model, Danny not only kept loyal customers happy but managed to grow even more popular during that time despite having markedly higher prices.

Thebestpart?DannyrecentlysatdownwithHeartlandleaderstodiscusshishard-won recipe for how to create a better customer experience and make your restaurant a success higher prices and all with a philosophy he coined as “enlightened hospitality.”

Whether you ' re a multi-location, chart-topping restaurant collective or an up-andcoming hotdog cart, read on to get the ultimate guide to meeting and exceeding customer expectations from the restaurant trailblazer who literally wrote the book on hospitality:

Visittherestofthearticle.