Most new customers come through two main doors.
Where they first hear about you is not always where they decide.
They may first see you on social media, hear about you from a friend, or read about you somewhere. But then they Google you, checking photos, reviews and menu, to decide if you're worth their time.
The other group starts inside a third-party app. They're looking for a type of food, and the app introduces your restaurant. Paying for that first referral can make sense. Paying for it every time they return does not.
Once you send that customer to a third-party app, the marketplace doesn't promote the restaurant that created the demand. It promotes competing restaurants instead.
You send them your customer. They send your customer your competitors.
Are you renting your customers, or do you own the relationship?
The answer has nothing to do with who cooked the food. It comes down to one question: can you communicate with that customer directly?
With consent, you have their name, phone, email, delivery address and order history. You can reach out and invite them back.
You get the order, but no way to contact the customer. The marketplace has both, and controls what that customer sees next.
"A referral should cost you once. A relationship should pay you for years."
This wasn't theory. This was my restaurant.
When I had No Bull Burgers, I thought I had it all figured out, until I looked closely at what I was paying third-party platforms.
That's not a commission. That's a house.
Most of those orders were coming from repeat customers. Why was I doing this? There had to be a better way, and that question became Orme, and this strategy.
Own your Google order.
More than 60% of new customers order through Google. Before worrying about the second order, make sure you aren't giving away the first one.
A customer searches for your restaurant, then your pickup or delivery button sends them to a marketplace. You created the demand. The marketplace gets the customer, the data, and another chance to advertise competitors.
Set your own direct ordering system as the preferred provider, or the only provider, for both pickup and delivery.
Google → your direct ordering → your customer
Now make the 2nd order yours.
Once Google is sending direct orders to you, fix the other front door. Marketplaces are excellent for discovery. Pay for the introduction, then build the relationship yourself.
Let the marketplace make the introduction. That's what it's good at.
On every eligible bag, add the two-sided flyer: savings and education on one side, an easy QR path on the other.
Use incentives, loyalty and follow-up until ordering direct becomes the obvious choice.
Give them a reason to order direct.
Customers won't change their ordering habit until they understand why direct is better for them.
Most customers don't know that marketplace commissions can be baked into higher menu prices and fees.
Explain that ordering direct can mean lower prices, no middleman, and more support for the local restaurant.
Add an extra 10% off the first direct order, and a QR code that makes switching effortless.
Delivery apps charge restaurants up to 30% in commissions, baked into higher prices and fees for you. Order direct: lower prices, no middleman, supporting a local kitchen.
Use only where marketplace terms permit. Use compliant owned channels where they do not.
Systematize.
Once a direct customer opts in, the system keeps the relationship moving without relying on anyone to remember each follow-up. This is the exact sequence we use.
You can build this with Mailchimp and other automation tools. Orme runs the entire sequence automatically in one system.
Let your regulars create the next customer.
Every repeat order creates the right moment to ask for feedback. Great experiences can then lead to honest Google reviews that strengthen your profile and bring in the next direct customer.
A $25 contest rewards honest feedback, good or bad, so the restaurant can listen and improve.
After a great experience, send a separate, non-incentivized invitation to leave an honest Google review.
"Restaurants over a long period of time make it or don't make it on the strength of their regulars."
Build the stack, or use Orme.
You can put this strategy to work with several specialized tools. The trade-off is managing the integrations, customer data, billing and automation between them.
Examples only. Features, pricing, integrations and regional availability change.
Direct ordering, customer data, loyalty, Wallet, SMS, email, feedback, reviews and follow-up, all connected in one system.
Book a 15-min walkthrough →Five moves. One strategy.
Own the first order when you can. Make the second order direct. Then build a system that turns customers into regulars, and regulars into growth.
Make direct ordering the preferred, or only, pickup and delivery option on your Google Business Profile.
Use marketplaces to acquire new customers. Don't keep paying 30% to serve the same regular.
Educate, show the savings, add an incentive, and make switching easy with the two-sided flyer and QR path.
Automate loyalty, Wallet, feedback, the 5-5-5, proximity alerts, win-back and year-round email.
Turn repeat orders into feedback, Google reviews, referrals and the next generation of direct customers.
Don't buy the same customer twice.
It's time to build momentum in your favour.
My name is Tony. I've spent more than 20 years in the restaurant business, and I know firsthand what it feels like to finish what looked like a good month, only to wonder why there's nothing left at the end.
Too often the platforms, fees and disconnected tools are building momentum for everyone except the restaurant owner.
A good month should feel like a good month.
It's time to take back control of the customer relationship, keep more of what we earn, and build momentum in our favour as business owners.
Our job is to give restaurant owners the information and the tools to build stronger customer relationships, run healthier businesses, and get back more of their time and their money.