The restaurant has been collecting customers' phone numbers at checkout, and the list grows longer every month. But when it is time to open Zalo, nobody knows what to write, so the shop either sends the same "Thank you for your support" to everyone or sends nothing at all. After-sales care for a restaurant or café does not need many messages; it needs the right occasion and the right person. This article gives five scripts by occasion, each with who to send it to, when, and a sample line to adjust to your shop's own voice. How many messages is enough and the rules on promotional messages are already covered in Zalo messages for customer care, so they are not repeated here.
Five occasions worth a message after a sale
| Occasion | Who to send to | When | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| First-time visitor | New customers with one bill | Same day or the next morning | Say thanks and give a reason for a second visit |
| Group booking, party | The person who made the booking | The morning after the party | Say thanks, ask one question about the party |
| Regular who has gone quiet | Customers who used to come regularly but are past their usual gap | Just past their usual cycle, don't wait months | A gentle reminder, perhaps with a new dish |
| Birthday | Customers who shared their birth date or month | A few days before the birthday | A gift with an expiry date |
| Feedback that has been fixed | Customers who complained before | After the shop has fixed it | Let them know so they give the shop another chance |
These five occasions have one thing in common: the customer can understand why the shop is messaging them at that moment. A message not tied to any occasion is easily seen as advertising and ignored.
Sample lines for each occasion
The lines below are only templates. Replace the parts in square brackets with your shop name and real dish names, and read them back in the way your staff usually talk.
- First visit: "[Shop name] thanks you for coming in today. Next time, try our [best-selling dish], it's what our regulars order most."
- After a party: "[Shop name] thanks you for choosing us for last night's party. If any dish didn't suit the group, please let us know so we can do better next time."
- Regular gone quiet: "[Shop name] hasn't seen you for a few weeks. We've just added [new dish], drop by and try it when you're free."
- Birthday: "[Shop name] wishes you a happy birthday. Enjoy [gift] from us this week, just show this message to the cashier." What to give and how long it should last is covered in what a customer birthday offer should be.
- After fixing feedback: "The other day you told us [what the customer said]. We have [what was fixed]. Thank you for being honest with us." How to collect and handle feedback from the start is covered in collecting customer reviews and handling bad feedback.
How to write so customers read to the end
- Shop name in the very first words. Customers don't save the shop's number; if the first two words don't say who it is, they skip it.
- One message, one idea. Don't cram thanks, a promotion, a new dish and opening hours into the same message.
- Name a specific dish. "Salted coffee" brings a taste to mind; "many attractive offers" brings nothing.
- Mention what the customer actually had. If they usually order peach tea, don't invite them to a beer promotion. Each customer's purchase history tells you which item to mention.
- Gifts need an expiry date. A gift with no expiry usually gets put aside and forgotten.
Who does it, and when
After-sales care is often dropped because nobody is assigned to it. The simplest way is to give it to one fixed person, pick a quiet slot in the day and spend about fifteen minutes on it daily:
- Filter the list by occasion: yesterday's new customers, yesterday's party bookings, regulars past their cycle, customers with an upcoming birthday.
- Message them with the sample line for that occasion, changing a word or two to suit each person.
- Note who was messaged and on which day, so the next shift does not message them twice.
- At month end, count how many of the people messaged came back. How to measure it properly is covered in how to bring old customers back.
How Ordersys helps
With Ordersys CRM software, customers are saved right at checkout on the sales screen, and each person's purchase history is gathered into one profile automatically. The CRM groups customers on its own: new, loyal, VIP and not back for a while, with reminders to care for customers who haven't bought in a while, birthday greetings and offers sent by group, so the person in charge just opens the group for that occasion and the list is ready. Shops can try it free for 7 days. To build a list long enough to care for, see asking for customers' phone numbers at checkout; for frequency rules and promotional messages on Zalo, read Zalo messages for customer care: what to send and how often.
Ordersys has editions for restaurants and for retail stores: checkout, stock, reports and e-invoices, with on-site setup and training.
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