2006 April | Restaurant Marketing

30 April, 2006 by Jeffrey Summers Categories :
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Links outta whack!

I just recently had to switch servers and redesign my blogs - was going to do it anyway! - but one thing thats still giving me problems are the links in each posting. If you read over an article and the backlink doesn’t work, just drop me an email and I’ll personally send it to you and then get that specific link fixed. I apologize for the problem!

Jeffrey

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29 April, 2006 by Jeffrey Summers Categories :
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Have you flipped your funnel lately?

Check out this video from Seth Godin.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6909078385965257294

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29 April, 2006 by Jeffrey Summers Categories :
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14 things to consider before your shift gets in the weeds!

The fortunate thing about time, is that it doesn’t stop. And even a bad shift will eventually end. The question is what do you do with the de-brief? This situation offers an tremendous opportunity to learn from and come out on the other side, more aware of what actually went wrong and how to prevent it in the future.

NEVER, EVER get pinned down in a position. You have got to train your staff to the point where they can be moved to cover shift critical positions - like the bar. If you get slammed unexpectedly, you have to have a plan to move core staff into positions to support the business and be able to reinforce, not outright work, the weakest position. Make a few drinks, have servers that can make a few of your most basic, as well as get beer and wine tickets filled, make a round of the restaurant, then return to the bar after you have checked on everyone else. When you have multiple fires, you have to prioritize them and then attack them. If you have to, shut down alcohol service and serve only beer and wine.
Servers should be trained to check on their tickets as they make their rounds through the kitchen to ensure that they have been received and are working.
Once you see that your shift is sinking into the weeds, you need to rally the troops. Call a short 60 second meeting of all staff and explain what is happening (like they don’t already know) and talk about recovery and support for every position. This is your “2 minute drill” and should actually be practiced for just such events.
You need to have people who are loyal and talented enough that you can call in on a short notice. If it takes 30 minutes for them to get there, so what, you don’t know how long the rush will last, (in this case it was 2 hours) so you can always utilize them as long as you need. A host or other key employee should be able to make these calls as well as you.
You may have to incorporate a false-wait in order to slow down the flow enough to take care of the guests you have. If you have to lose a guest, better to lose them at the door, instead of the table.
Every time a guest walks into your restaurant, it’s because it’s an occasion in their lives. Birthday, anniversary, first date, last date, job promotion, bad mood pick-me-up, divorce final, winning the championship, etc….And even when a guest has a coupon for a free meal, they are still a guest in your business and are still choosing to celebrate their special event with you. Why do we want to discount their discontent about poor service or food just because they are getting it for free in the first place? The first rule of recovery involves hearing the guest out, then taking action. This is about more than a lost ticket. Which no one ever wants to take responsibility for. It’s about the guest and his family being in your restaurant on a very important occasion in their life, with very high expectations because you do have a good reputation for good food and service, only to be disappointed because they received the ultimate act of disrespect - a forgotten order - and on their birthday. I wouldn’t stick around to talk to you if you lost my order on my birthday. And to be upset because you didn’t get to apologize first? That’s just plain hubris. I’ve lost tickets before, but I also never let a guest leave unhappy. Understanding that guests don’t necessarily want a comped meal but rather better service is paramount to being in the restaurant business in 2005. The zeitgeist of our culture isn’t about apologies, although they are the first point of good manners for a host, its about correcting the wrong done to a guest because IT IS PERSONAL TO THEM, because it’s a celebration of a day in their life. It’s never “just food”. And your response to them should be as personal as the slight. A bottle of champagne or an invitation to a special night of entertainment and dining on you, or something even more personalized would have been appropriate. AND NEVER EVER SEEK REVENGE FOR WHAT YOU CONSIDER UNRULY BEHAVIOR ON THE PART OF A GUEST! If you tell them you are comping their meal, changing your mind because you think you were insulted or abused is simply you not keeping your word. Which is worse? Did the guests at the next table hear you and now see you not keeping your word? What word-of-mouth will you get out of that? We’re not in the food business, we are in the PEOPLE business.
Servers have to be trained to guide guests to choices that don’t further bog down a bad shift. If you don’t have enough talent behind the bar, servers should let guests know up front that a non-alcoholic, beer or wine (servers can pour beer and wine), choice can be made later in the dinner (entree order or at dessert) or when the pressure from the bar has eased to the point that regular patronage of it can be resumed.
Talk to your staff once the doors are closed and seriously ask them what could have been done better to manage the shift.
Servers never “screw up” orders. This kind of thinking will only serve to alienate more people. Your staff doesn’t get up in the morning and try to think of ways to “screw up”. Where was the expeditor? Was there an expeditor? Other servers? Why didn’t the server ask for help? Why wasn’t the server trained to never take out an incomplete order? Why wasn’t the culture in the restaurant established to inculcate the server that he/she MUST ask for help if needed to satisfy a guests order? EVERY SERVICE FAILURE IS THE DIRECT RESULT OF A PROCESS BREAKDOWN. If not, then the breakdown was a direct result of not having a process in the first place.
POS systems lose tickets. But it’s not the POS’s fault. You are the professionals who should have had a system in place to double and even triple check on orders if necessary, to make sure all tickets get worked in a timely fashion. Everything that occurs in your restaurant is a direct reflection of you. Relying too much on a system that you know will eventually lose a ticket is unacceptable. Why? Because you may have more guests after you lost the guest whose ticket was lost, but they only have to lose you once to start talking bad about you. That’s way too much “losing” for my tastes.
If it’s the last night of a promotion or coupon drop. Assume it’s going to be busy- period! You should actually manage your business to expect every shift to be busy anyway. Otherwise, you’re never going to get busier. Work each shift like it’s the volume you expect and want and you will eventually get it.
Staff look to you for leadership. You need to do whatever you need to in order to maintain balance in you emotions to the point of being able to take “unreasonable crap” and still make good on your promise of great experiences for your guests. And continue to offer smiles and encouragement to your staff who still have to work in those weeded shifts. If you don’t keep your cool, who will?
Stop looking at “comps” as the answer to every problem. If you are in the FOH, you need to have the skill to talk to people and make them happy without giving away your profit. This is what a true host does. If you’re just looking at each guest as a dollar, they will know and treat you accordingly. Everyone gives a comp for mistakes. We have trained the public to demand them if they feel wronged. This is our fault. Stop the madness.
Train your staff on recovery! Then train them again. And again. And again. And train yourself while you’re at it. Look at getting some help with trying to understand the recovery event better and creatively dealing with these situations when they happen.

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28 April, 2006 by Jeffrey Summers Categories :
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These Boots Were Made for Loyalty

DSW’s loyalty program includes e-mail newsletters on the latest shoe trends. Take a look…

http://feeds.feedburner.com/ChiefMarketerNews?m=324

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28 April, 2006 by Jeffrey Summers Categories :
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The Seven Deadly Sins of Press Releases

The press release can be one of your most powerful public relations tools. Many companies, however, make the mistake of thinking that press releases are simple regurgitations of company news.

Wrong!

http://feeds.feedburner.com/ChiefMarketerNews?m=323

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28 April, 2006 by Jeffrey Summers Categories :
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How, when, and why you should fire the troublesome client (or guest!).

Eventually it happens, how you deal with it is up to you completely.

Telling a client you have to fire them or no longer work with them is a tough decision to make. The potential for things to go wrong in the process is huge.

- You lose the money (although, the time they were costing you more than probably makes up for the money).
- You do damage to a persons (many times) fragile ego.
- You lose any goodwill with that person (chances are good they will talk bad about you to as many people as they can).
- You may find it incredibly difficult to do - sometimes even reversing your “firing” and taking them back (almost always a huge mistake)
- You may find it hard to do and it may keep you awake atnight
BUT…
- You may find it the MOST liberating experience of your business life when you finally realize it is YOU that is incontrol, not them.

So, how do you know when the time has come?

If you find they are eating up way more time than theyshould be. Calling throughout the day, insisting on meeting after meeting, saying things that just don’t make sense, even putting words in your mouth as to what you promised (contracts in place fix that).

At times, you will have that feeling deep inside the pit of your stomach that tells you this is not a good, healthy relationship.

Having just gone through this process last week, I can sayone thing - ALWAYS listen to your intuition or gut feeling.

In this case, right from day 1, I had a feeling something was amiss… but ignored that feeling. Which was a completely stupid decision on my part… I almost always listen to my gut feeling and it has almost always lead me in the right direction.

This was one of those cases where I thought I would use the facts to out weigh the intuition. A successful businessperson (so they claimed). A fascinating business model. An exciting project. And a decent compensation model for my work (base rate plus residuals from seat sales).

All combined, it seemed like a good thing.

Not.
It was trouble from day 2.

So, I bit the bullet and fired them this week.

Yikes!

True colors get really shown in a situation like this. Now is when you experience what the person it truly like behind locked doors.

You know what else is interesting?

Once they have been fired, chances are good you will also start hearing other people complaining about this same person - even if you never brought their name up.

Other people will somehow sense what is going on and contribute their experiences with that same person - in this case, it happened 3 times without my bringing the persons name up.

If you have a client that is causing you more grief than they are worth, fire them!

It may be a difficult thing at first, but once you get used to it, it will be the most liberating thing you do. Now YOU are back in the drivers seat and you can pick and choose whom you work with.

You will realize that there is no sane reason to put up with a clients abuse - let them drain some other poor souls blood and energy.

Once you gain back control, you will experience a completely different outlook on life, and you will start attracting more of the right type of client.

Don’t let these kinds of clients drag you down - it is not worth it at all.
Be like Trump - “You’re Fired!”

Or you can be more understated - “I just can’t continue towork with you right now”

However you say it, it will open up a new world.

Try it, you’ll like it.

http://advertising.ducttapemarketing.com/2006/04/how_when_and_wh.html

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28 April, 2006 by Jeffrey Summers Categories :
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The future of pizza delivery?

Make sure your volume is on!

http://www.aclu.org/pizza/images/screen.swf

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28 April, 2006 by Jeffrey Summers Categories :
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The Central Nervous System and the Heart - Passionate Partnership or an Apathetic Affiliation?

- By Lizz Chambers, CHA, CHE

We all understand that you cannot force associates to be passionate about their work -passions cannot be controlled by external forces. Teamwork if forced will never be effective. Instead, we must depend on our Leaders to create environments that inspire passion and promote teamwork.

http://www.restaurantnewsresource.com/article22090.html

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28 April, 2006 by Jeffrey Summers Categories :
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Marketing is a System Not an Event

The title to this post is one of my small business marketing mantras and the topic of an interview I did recently with Stacy Perman at BusinessWeek.

Create the system, work the system, go to the bank. Okay, I skipped a few steps, but you’ve got to get out of the “idea of the week” rut or plan to spend the rest of your life making up the next great marketing idea.

http://feeds.feedburner.com/ducttapemarketing/nRUD?m=321

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