Why does restaurant customer retention fail when one owner does it all?
Restaurant customer retention breaks down when one person has to carry the kitchen, marketing, systems and the guest experience all at once. According to Robin Vromans of BUNKR, you can't be good at everything. That's why BUNKR splits those roles among specialists, and why restaurants are increasingly handing repetitive work such as reviews and Google posts to AI agents.
Which roles decide whether guests come back?
BUNKR divides the business into three roles. Marketing keeps an eye on the details, social media and how guests see the restaurant. The chef manages dish costing, plating and the atmosphere in the team. The systems role connects the tools and safeguards how guests experience the concept. Customer retention suffers as soon as one of these three roles is left unfilled.
Who manages how guests see the restaurant?
At BUNKR, that's the marketing partner, with an eye for detail and social media. Reviews and Google posts belong in this role. An AI agent can keep up with them daily, so you don't need a full-time marketer.
Why shouldn't the chef be handling reviews?
The head chef costs out dishes, oversees plating and leads the kitchen team. Every hour spent on reviews is time taken away from the product guests come back for.
What does the systems role do for customer retention?
Vromans calls himself the 'geeky Excel guy' who connects all the systems. By linking reservations, review requests via email, SMS or WhatsApp, and review replies, every visit becomes a touchpoint with the guest.
You can't be good at everything. Each of us is really good at one thing.
Frequently asked questions
Can a single-location restaurant split these roles?
Yes. At a single location, the roles are often tasks handled by the same person, but it still pays to define them separately. Repetitive marketing tasks, such as sending review requests, replying to reviews and publishing Google Business Profile posts, can be automated. That leaves the owner with time for the kitchen, the team and the guest experience. This way no role gets neglected, even without extra staff.
Which customer retention tasks are suitable for automation?
Mainly tasks that keep recurring and are tied to a fixed moment. Think of asking for a review after the visit via email, SMS or WhatsApp, replying to public reviews on Google, TripAdvisor, Booking and Facebook, and publishing Google Business Profile posts. Tasks that require craftsmanship, such as developing dishes and leading the team, remain work for people.
Why does the systems role matter for repeat guests?
Separate systems produce separate data. Only when reservations, communication and reviews are connected can a restaurant reach guests at the right moment and see how the concept comes across. Robin Vromans of BUNKR describes this role as connecting all the systems, combined with insight into how guests experience the concept.
Try it on your own restaurant first.
Three days free. No login, nothing to install.
More from the knowledge base.
- Running a restaurant in a recession: how do you survive?Running a restaurant in a recession means refreshing your concept in time, before guests start to drift away.…
- What does restaurant sustainability really mean?Restaurant sustainability is about long-term thinking: lasting relationships with producers, development progr…
- Why are later dinner times becoming the norm?Later dinner times are taking hold, with dinner moving to 7 or 8 PM, because at today's prices guests who pay…
Video transcript
You cannot be good in everything. So that's also a really, um, yeah, nice thing on, on the way we are running our businesses. We are with several people and every one of us is really good in something.
So, uh, like Yuri, my associate, he's really good in marketing, in being sharp on all the details, and especially also social media, or how are things seen by the guests. And like Mark, he is more the, the, the head chef of all the kitchens, and he is really good in calculating all his dishes and understand how things should be plated and the team feeling. And I'm really more like the, yeah, maybe the, the, the, the geeky Excel guy who knows all to, to attach all the systems and also understand how a concept should feel and be intercepted by the guests.