Regulars Return
They came once. Give them a reason to come back.
Customers who came once get a reason to come back, and regulars who’ve gone quiet get a nudge, drafted in your voice and sent through the tool you already use.
30 minutes, no cost. You’ll leave knowing whether Regulars Return is the right first step.
Sound familiar?
- “We have thousands of customers in the system, and we never message them.”
- “Lots of people come once, and we never see them again.”
- “Some regulars have stopped coming, and nobody noticed when.”
If that’s your week, Regulars Return was built for it.
What changes
Most of your customers are already in your point-of-sale, booking or online ordering system, and most of them never hear from you after they leave. Regulars Return sets up three moments that bring people back: an invitation after the first visit, a note when a regular passes their usual gap, and one occasion message. Every message is about something that’s actually happening, and a control group shows whether it worked.
Before
- The customer list sits in the POS and never gets used.
- First-time customers hear nothing after their first visit.
- Regulars drift away, and nobody notices until they’re gone.
After
- Three moments are set up: a second-visit invitation, a “we miss you” note at each customer’s usual gap, and one occasion message.
- A month of messages, drafted from what’s actually happening, approved in one sitting.
- Return rates are compared with a 10% control group after 60 days.
Why it’s worth doing
Four things decide whether anything is worth your time: how big the result is, how sure you can be that it works, how long it takes, and how much it asks of you. Here’s how Regulars Return measures up.
The result (bigger is better)
More first-timers come back a second time, and fewer regulars drift away.
Why it works (more certainty is better)
One customer in ten is held back at random, so after 60 days you see how many more came back because of the messages, not just how many came back.
How fast (less waiting is better)
Running in 1–2 weeks. The first real comparison comes about 60 days later.
Your effort (less is better)
About an hour a month to approve the next month’s messages.
Everything you get
Regulars Return, piece by piece. Built on tools you already use or can buy off the shelf.
The List Check
Every customer you can contact, pulled from your POS, loyalty program, online ordering or booking system, with their last visit and their marketing consent. If fewer than about 500 people can be reached, we fix how contacts are collected first.
The Three Moments
A second-visit invitation a few days after the first visit. A “we miss you” note when a regular passes their usual gap, such as 45 or 60 days. One occasion message, such as a birthday. Three, and only three.
The Voice Guide
How your business sounds in a short message, written from what you already send and say, including the words you’d never use.
The Monthly Drafts
Each message is written from what’s actually happening: the new seasonal menu, Tuesday’s event, a restock. No made-up personal details. You approve the whole month in one sitting.
Sending through your tool
Messages go out through the email or text tool you already pay for, such as Toast Marketing, Square Marketing, SevenRooms, Klaviyo, Mailchimp or Shopify Email. Each person gets about two messages a month at most, and opt-outs are honored right away.
The Control Group
One customer in ten in each moment is held back at random and gets none of these messages. Anything your tools already send, like order receipts or appointment reminders, carries on as usual. After 60 days, the two groups’ return rates are compared, and that difference is the number I report.
Ongoing care
Monitoring, tuning as your business changes, fixes when a connected tool changes, and a 30-minute review with me every month. Cancel with 30 days’ notice.
Plus three bonuses
- Bonus 1
Built-in features check
What your POS or email tool already does on its own, such as automatic welcome and win-back emails, switched on and checked so you don’t pay twice for the same thing.
- Bonus 2
Usual-gap report
How long your regulars actually go between visits. Most owners have never seen it, and it sets the timing for the “we miss you” note.
- Bonus 3
Contact capture plan
Simple ways to collect emails and phone numbers with consent at the counter, at checkout or on the booking form, so the list keeps growing.
Want to see it on your own work? Bring a real example to the call.
Book a free consultationHow it works
Check the list
How many customers you can actually reach, with their last visit and their consent.
Set up three moments
The second visit, the usual gap and one occasion. Nothing else.
Approve a month
Drafts written from what’s happening this month, approved in one sitting and sent through your tool.
Hold back one in ten
A random 10% of each group gets none of these messages, so the comparison is fair.
Compare after 60 days
Return rates, messaged against held back. That’s the number I report.
The math
$26k
a year from customers who came back
Illustration: 700 restaurant guests a month get one of the three messages, 4% more of them come back than in the control group, and the average visit is 2.2 covers at $35. That’s about $2.2k a month. For a shop, 500 lapsed customers a month, 3% buying and an $85 average order comes to about $15k a year.
Every figure here is an illustration. On the call, I run it with your hours, your rates and your deal sizes.
Run the numbers with meIs it right for you?
It’s for you if
- You have hundreds or thousands of customers who each spend less: a restaurant, a shop, a clinic or a home service business.
- Your POS, booking or ordering system holds their contact details and visit history.
- You rarely message them, or only send the occasional newsletter or discount.
Skip it if
- Each customer is worth a personal note from someone who knows them. Never Out of Touch fits better.
- Fewer than about 500 customers have given you a way to reach them. Start by collecting contacts properly.
- You want to send promotions every week. This caps messages at about two a month per person.
Questions about bringing customers back
How do I get first-time customers to come back?
Give them a specific reason to return within a few days of their first visit, such as a new dish, an upcoming event or something that goes with what they bought. A discount on its own teaches people to wait for the next discount. Regulars Return calls this the second-visit invitation, and it’s the first of its three moments.
What is a win-back email?
A win-back email is a message to a customer who used to come regularly but has gone longer than usual without returning, inviting them back. It works best when it’s timed to that customer’s own usual gap and mentions something new, rather than going to everyone on the same date.
Do I need permission to send marketing texts to my customers?
Yes. In the US, automated marketing texts generally need the customer’s prior express written consent under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), and opt-outs have to be honored promptly. Marketing email falls under the CAN-SPAM Act, which doesn’t require consent first but does require a working unsubscribe link and your postal address. I review consent during setup, but I’m not a lawyer, so get legal advice for your situation.
How often should a restaurant or shop email its customers?
About two messages a month per person is a sensible ceiling for a small business, and fewer is fine if each one has a real reason. Past that, messages start to read as spam, and more people unsubscribe or stop opening them.
How do I know if my marketing messages are actually bringing customers back?
Hold back a random group, about one customer in ten, who gets nothing, then compare how many in each group came back after a set period, such as 60 days. The difference is what the messages did. The revenue an email tool reports usually includes customers who would have come back anyway.
How is this different from Never Out of Touch?
Never Out of Touch is for accounts worth a personal note, where a person writes to each one. Regulars Return is for hundreds or thousands of customers who each spend less, so the messages are drafted in batches and you approve a month at a time.
My POS already sends win-back emails. Why would I need this?
You may not need anything new, because Toast, Square, Klaviyo and Shopify Email all have automatic messages built in, and the first job is checking that yours are switched on and working. Where they are, I keep them and add what’s usually missing: messages about what’s actually happening, your voice, one frequency cap across every tool, and a control group that shows whether any of it brings people back.
Can a dental office or clinic use it for patient recall?
Yes, for recall and the practice’s own services, once every vendor that touches patient data has signed a business associate agreement (BAA). Under HIPAA, reminders about a patient’s own care, such as an overdue cleaning, are generally not treated as marketing, while messages a third party pays you to send are and need the patient’s written authorization. Texts still need consent under the TCPA. I review this during setup, but I’m not a lawyer, so your compliance lead should sign off too.
What does it cost?
It depends on the tools you use and how much setup is involved. Every solution is a one-time setup plus optional ongoing care, and you get a fixed quote before anything starts. On the free call, I’ll tell you honestly whether it’s worth it for your numbers.
Tell me how many customers are in your system. I’ll show you how many you can reach, and what a few more return visits are worth.
30 minutes, no cost, no pressure.