The Ledger, Issue No. 1 · August 20, 2026
The cheapest customer you'll ever get
One number every chain knows by heart.
The stat
Bain research by Frederick Reichheld found that keeping just 5 percent more of your existing customers lifts profit by 25 percent or more, and in some industries the lift ran as high as 95 percent. That range is from Bain's published research, and it is the reason every chain you compete with runs a loyalty system.
The idea
New customers are expensive. You pay for them with ads, discounts, or a corner table on a slow night. The people who already know you cost almost nothing to bring back, and they spend more when they come. The chains never forget this. Independents usually have no system for it at all.
Try this week
Pull yesterday's tickets or receipts. Count how many customers you could greet by name. That number is your retention system today. Write it down; we'll come back to it.