Friday and Saturday look after themselves. It is Tuesday and Wednesday that decide whether an independent restaurant makes money this month. Restaurants on Team-Connect use email to put a reason in front of past diners on the days the room is half empty, and because the list is theirs, every cover it brings in is commission free.
Most independent restaurants run at a loss on their two or three quietest nights. Staff are rota'd, the kitchen is lit, the rent does not drop, and the room is a third full. Owners know this, but the usual fixes cost money they do not have: paid social, discount sites that hand over a big cut, booking apps that charge per cover and keep the customer's details for themselves.
The frustrating part is that the people who could fill those tables have already been in. They enjoyed it. They just have not been given a reason to come back on a Tuesday.
A restaurant has something most small businesses would kill for: a steady stream of customers who hand over an email address every time they book. That list is the most valuable marketing asset the restaurant owns, and most restaurants never send it anything.
Illustrative industry figures for an independent restaurant, not one venue's results. Email cost assumes a paid list of a few thousand contacts; discount site cost reflects a typical 50% offer plus platform fee on a £40 spend.
Email also fits how people decide where to eat. Nobody books a Tuesday dinner on impulse. They see an idea on Monday morning, mention it to someone, and book that evening. An email is the idea.
The restaurants that do best keep it simple: a list that grows on its own, and two or three campaigns a month that each give a specific reason to come in.
A Tuesday and Wednesday special sent every fortnight. Free dessert, a set menu, a bottle of wine with two mains. Something worth the trip.
Seasonal menu changes go to the list first, with a photo and a line from the chef. Regulars like to be told first.
Wine dinners, supper clubs, a guest chef. Events sell out from the list before they ever reach social media.
An automated email a week before a diner's birthday with a treat when they book. It runs itself and it is the single best-performing email most restaurants send.
Illustrative flow. Send times and offer content are set by the restaurant. Diners who book online or by phone through Team-Connect are added automatically.
Short, one offer, one button. A photo of the dish helps more than any amount of copy.
Subject: Free dessert on Tuesdays this month
Quiet nights are our favourite nights. Book a table for any Tuesday or Wednesday in September and dessert is on us. Just reply to this email or book online and mention "Tuesday treat". Table for two? Table for ten? All welcome.
It names the offer in the subject line, gives a clear window, and tells the diner exactly how to claim it. No newsletter padding, no "we've been busy this month". One reason to come in.
Offer emails are marketing, so diners need to have opted in. A tick box at the point of booking or ordering, unticked by default, is enough. Every Team-Connect email carries a working unsubscribe link and your business name and address, and unsubscribes are honoured automatically. Booking confirmations and reminders are transactional and can go to anyone who has booked. For the full detail, see the GDPR compliance guide.
Any restaurant on Team-Connect can send these campaigns. The same platform that answers your phone and takes bookings holds the email list, so a diner who books by phone on Friday can receive the Tuesday offer on Monday without anyone typing anything in.
The full guide for restaurants, cafes and bars
Ready-made menu, event and offer templates
When to text a diner and when to email
How the same restaurant answers booking calls during service
Work out what a midweek campaign is worth
Email from £9.99 for 1,000 sends
Most of it comes from bookings. Anyone who books a table or orders online gives an email address, and a tick box at that point gives you consent to market to them. A card on the table with a QR code, a Wi-Fi sign-in page and a birthday club sign-up on the website all add to it. A restaurant doing 400 covers a week can build a list of several thousand within a year.
Keep it to things a diner would want to know: a midweek offer, a new menu, a wine dinner or tasting event, a seasonal special, a birthday treat. One useful email every couple of weeks outperforms a weekly newsletter with nothing to say.
For a midweek offer, Monday or Tuesday morning between 10am and midday works well, when people are already thinking about the week. For a weekend event, send the Wednesday before. Team-Connect lets you schedule sends so it goes out at the right time without you thinking about it.
Considerably. Booking apps typically take a fee per cover, and diners who come through them belong to the app, not to you. An email to your own list costs pence per send and the diner books direct. The first few covers from a campaign usually cover the whole month's email cost.
Send offers, menus and event invites to the diners who already love you. Email from £9.99 for 1,000 sends, GDPR compliant, UK support.