Week 1: identity capture is the whole job
The app is live. Now the only thing that matters is guests joining it. 15-minute standup per shift, one message: 'Ask every guest for their phone number at payment. No pitch, no explanation, just ask.' The whole program lives or dies on that one behavior.
Give cashiers a single counter card: QR to join + 'scan to earn.' Nothing else. Measure identity capture rate daily, target 40%+ by end of week. Below 30% means the team isn't asking; above 60% on day one usually means cashiers are pre-enrolling guests without consent (bad data).
Don't schedule a Reach Out this week. Let the signups accumulate.
Week 2: your first Reach Out
Open the Reach Out tab, pick the 'New guests (last 7 days)' segment, and schedule the second-visit nudge. Don't reinvent, the template is 'Your <menu item> misses you.' with a small free-topping incentive. Targeted, not promotional. Single product reference, no percentage off.
Schedule the send for 48-96 hours after the guest's first visit. That's the window where the taste is still in memory but the decision to come back is closing. Watch return visits in the fourteen days after delivery, which is the number Habitu actually reports, plus the redemption rate on the attached offer (target >15%). Open rate is not measured: it needs a delivery-provider webhook Habitu does not have.
This is your first real proof that the database is a tool, not just a list.
Week 3: reading Pulse for the first time
Pulse populates after about two weeks of signal. By now you have a score. 70+ means things are working, don't intervene. 40-70 is normal baseline. Below 40 means something broke: check identity capture rate first (is the team still asking?), then check the lapsed-guest count (are you missing anyone slipping through?).
Read it, note the trend, don't act on any single data point. Pulse is a leading indicator, it moves 2-4 weeks before revenue does. Watch the direction, not the level.
Week 4: your first saved guest
By week four, the Slipping segment has people in it. These are guests who enrolled in week 1, visited once, and haven't been back. Send them a 'we miss you' Reach Out, same template as week 2 but acknowledging the gap ('been a minute, your <item> is ready when you are').
You're aiming for a 25-40% return rate in the 14 days after the nudge. That's the first dollar of measurable revenue the program has generated, and the number to cite the next time someone asks whether loyalty is working.
What to watch at the 30-day mark
Identity capture rate should be stable at 40-55%. Not growing much, not shrinking. If it's drifting down, retrain in your next standup.
Pulse score should have settled into a trend. Either 60+ and steady (healthy), 40-60 and moving up (gaining), or 40-60 and moving down (intervene).
You should have one saved guest story, a specific person who you know by name, saw slipping, nudged, and came back. That story is worth more than any dashboard metric when you're explaining the program to your GM or investor.