Archive for April, 2008

Why Your Restaurant Needs A Marketing Plan

Or is it enough that people come because the food and service are good. Certainly, if your tables are full every day, you probably don’t need one (unless, of course, you’d like to make a bigger profit). Simply put, a restaurant marketing plan is a plan for success.

If you agree that you need a restaurant marketing plan and are able to write one, we don’t have to convince you of its importance.

But before you sit down to write it, keep in mind that a restaurant marketing plan has to cover much more than the 4P’s taught in Marketing 101 product, price, place, and promotion.

Restaurant marketing doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Great marketing is about solid operational execution, effective positioning and the cumulative results of marketing inside the four walls of your restaurant and in the immediate trading area not taking over the airwaves. continue

Popularity: 27% [?]

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Cause Marketing

What do you stand for?

Today, restaurants must express their humanity and values in authentic and emotionally compelling ways to reach their guests, employees, partners, communities and other stakeholders.

RCSâ„¢ is recognized for its work on behalf of clients in creating and implementing substantive cause initiatives. We work extensively with corporations and leading nonprofit organizations to develop transformational business and social impacts. We are leaders in establishing such relationships and expertise.

RCSâ„¢ defines Cause Branding as a business strategy that helps an organization stand for a focused social issue(s) aligned with its business to gain significant bottom-line and social impacts while making an emotional and relevant connection with stakeholders. Effective cause branding improves your reputation, enhances guest loyalty, builds employee morale and solidifies relationships with key stakeholders.

Restaurants today are embracing a new set of issues to support based upon where they can have the greatest and most sustainable impact. We believe more and more restaurants will embrace “socially-aligned business initiatives.” These are long-term, multidimensional strategies in which a business commits to a key issue not only to drive social change, but also because the issue they stand for aligns with their business objectives and values.

So, what do you stand for?

Some of the relationships RCSâ„¢ has helped clients establish included:

• The Make-A-Wish Foundation
• The North Carolina Children’s Home Societ
• The Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation
• The Children’s Miracle Network

· …and dozens of other local and regional charities and causes nationwide.

2007 Cause Evolution Survey

More than two-thirds of Americans say they consider a company’s business practices when deciding what to buy, according to the 2007 Cone Cause Evolution Survey. The latest study in Cone’s 14 years of Cause Branding and corporate responsibility research indicates an evolution in consumer thinking about the ways businesses interact with society.

Download the 2007 Cause Evolution Survey (PDF, 828 KB)

2004 Corporate Citizenship Study

Operators who want to connect their values with community efforts can look at the latest findings of an 11-year research poll for a solution. The 2004 Cone Corporate Citizenship Study shows that eight in 10 Americans say that corporate support of causes wins their trust in that company, a 21 percent increase since 1997.

Download the 2004 Cone Corporate Citizenship Exec Summary (PDF, 295 KB)

For more information on how Cause Marketing can help you, call us toll free for a free consultation 877.535.2324 or email me at Jeffrey at Restaurant Coaching Solutions dot com.

RCSâ„¢ is itself partnered with the Susan G. Komen For The Cure Foundation and donates a percentage of all its sales to this extremely personal and worthy effort.

Popularity: 17% [?]

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Recent Interviews With Jeffrey

Popularity: 8% [?]

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Dates Set For Next Restaurant Marketing Session

June 9th & 10th.

This is two intense days of analyzing your current Restaurant Marketing efforts in order to design a better Marketing plan for your business.

Because of their intensity and focus we limit each of these session to only 15 people so they fill up extremely fast. The cost is $1,500 for non-clients and $750 for clients. The Restaurant Marketing seminar location is Dallas, Texas.

What does it involve?

- A complete analysis of the effectiveness of your marketing efforts.

- Ideas to make it more effective.

- 3 months of ongoing marketing Coaching by me.

- All the tools and resources you need to develop a much more effective measurement component.

- Anything else you need to make more money by marketing your business more effectively!

Call me for more information or to reserve your space today. 877.535.2324 or sign up here.

Popularity: 13% [?]

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The Best Loyalty Tactic Yet

Develop a “Contacts Calendar”.The idea is to write a hand written letter (best form of personal communication ever!) to each of your best guests, no less than every 30 days. This is in addition to the normal channels you communicate with them through.

The important thing is that you really should not make it about you (or your business) every time either. Talk about the kid’s, hobbies, new shows, new community events, etc… that you have in common with the guest.

How soon can you get started?

Popularity: 8% [?]

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Is Your Restaurant Really Different…or Do You Just THINK It Is?

By Kevin Levi

Can you honestly say that your restaurant stands above the rest (in your area or culinary specialty)? In your heart of hearts you likely believe this is the case, but how can you be sure? I mean, how well do you really know the competition? continue

Popularity: 12% [?]

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More Service Crap

Two incidents in the last three days while dining out has me thinking that a trend in bad service is developing. I call it “blame the guest”!

Scene #1. Breakfast with my wife, early morning at Waffle House for a quick breakfast before we go out on a beautiful Saturday morning to enjoy life. I order 3 eggs over easy. They are delivered looking really good until I pierce the first yolk - Raw. No problem, tell the waitress and she’ll fix them.

“Excuse me, I need to have these re-cooked a bit, The’re raw. I ordered over easy.”

Waitress, “Well you shoulda ordered them more done!”

Me. “Excuse me?”

Her. “You ordered over easy and this seems to be overeasy.” Me. “They are raw. Can you not see the yolks are raw?” ‘Is there a medium overeasy? Or a well-done overeasy?”

As she points to the check one more time.

Me. “Excuse me, but what I want you to do is take them back and have them scrambled and please stop telling me how I should or should not order. ”

Hash browns greasy, beverage un-brixed and watery to the point of no carbonation. I get my scrambled eggs - they were the ones I just cut up, ate them, paid my check and left permanently.

Scene #2. My wife and I are out celebrating tonight - no special event, she just keeps getting her strength back from the radiation treatment being over - so we are out to have a good time enjoying life - this time at Red Lobster. My wife asks for a booth for two in a non-smoking section. After a long stare at an inanimate object, the host says to “follow me.” We do and are led to a booth in the middle of the highest traffic area on the floor. I say we need something a little less dangerous.

Host scans room for table, then asks us where we would like to sit. I motion to a quiet booth in the corner out of harm’s way. We are seated. My wife ordered a salmon dish - high in Omega 3 - with mashed potatoes and asparagus as sides. Food is delivered. Asparagus is like pasta it’s so flimsy. This was cooked 4 times in the last day and finally served. She requests the side - which was extra - be taken off our bill. Server complies.

Manager approaches our table to ask what was wrong. (Grrr) Lori educates the manager on proper cooking technique for asparagus and that limp, wet and soggy products are not acceptable.

The manager proceeds to tell her, “that next time she should order them a little more well done.”

This has happened several times lately - servers and staff instructing guests that they were at fault for the problems they encountered while dining.

All I can say is to beware the next time I get told I should order blah, blah ,blah hotter, cooked more, deeper, longer, etc… it won’t be a pretty sight.

Popularity: 11% [?]

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The RCS T.E.A.M. Coaching Program

Are you…

• Looking for a solution to improve the satisfaction and engagement of the employees in your company so that they will work better, produce more and stay longer?

• Tired of paying for training that provides a lot of information but no specific tools and strategies you can implement right away?

• Hoping to find a cutting-edge Coaching model to replace your old ways of working with your staff that have failed to produce the results you need to increase productivity and performance?

• Searching for a program that will provide you and your employees with hands-on experience as well as follow-up strategies to maximize application of the content?

This package is for:

• Small independent, multi-unit chains (2 or more stores) who need Coaching for their GM’s or other managers - or the executive team as a whole. Or a…

• Single unit business where you - the owner - are “hands-off”, but need to supply your management team with real-world solutions, direction, follow-up and support.

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The Five Key Reasons Why Businesses Launch A Coaching Program… and Need My Coaching Skills!

On the surface, “Coaching” is an intangible business process, and its value can be hard to quantify. However, the seasoned veteran and the open minded employee alike value the results that a well-designed employee Coaching program yields. More than two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies are already using Coaching – isn’t it time your business joined them?

Here are the top five reasons businesses hire Coaches (from a Manchester, Inc. study)

1. Sharpen leadership skills of high potential managers and operators (86%)

2. Correct management behavior problems (72%)

3. Ensure success/decrease failure of newly promoted managers (64%)

4. Correct employee relations problems (59%)

5. Provide required management and leadership skills necessary to improve performance and results (58%)

Do you want to begin building a competitive advantage now? Then add a business coaching system designed with your employees in mind which offers the following benefits:

• Increased Productivity – A Manchester, Inc. study in 2001 showed a 7-fold return on investment (ROI) on Coaching

• Improved Job/Employee Fit – Many employees need objective and ongoing feedback and Coaching is the perfect model for this. Employees who are part of a career development initiative, including Coaching, have a plan for progressing professionally – and you have built-in succession planning too!

• Increased Sales and Profits – The Gallup organization has documented that companies whose employees are “engaged” (well matched to their jobs and enjoying what they do) lead to increases in the most critical bottom-line metrics: sales and profits.

• Improved Morale – Employees who feel valued will perform better, stay longer and contribute more to the bottom line of the business.

• Sustained and Enhanced High Performance – Gone are the days when coaches were used only to address performance problems. Now Coaches are used to optimize the high performers by keeping them moving on to new challenges to contribute to the business.

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Want To Achieve Greater Results in Your Business Through the Leaders of Your Business?

Great leaders get great results; without dynamic leadership, businesses will not grow and succeed.

Give Your Leaders What They Need!

Today’s workforce responds to leadership that follows a Coaching model; gone is yesterday’s top-down managerial hierarchy. Today’s successful leaders work with their teams to provide vision and to set goals, as well as to encourage involvement and accountability.

With Restaurant Coaching Solutionsâ„¢ you have the opportunity to benchmark this world-class approach to leadership. I will Coach your team in the fundamental leadership philosophies behind some of the greatest and most successful restaurant brands in the world today and they will understand specifically, the principles that need to be at the core of your businesses strength.

We will show them how to…

• Interpret the business vision for your team and communicate that vision in a way that motivates action.

• Examine the culture of those they lead and structure them in a way that maximizes their involvement.

• Employ strategies that will enable your team to take a proactive approach toward change.

• Identify the specific leadership values and behaviors that will contribute to their success as a leader.

• Implement your own action plan so that your vision, goals and leadership development complement one another.

• Use all of the above to drive the businesses success.

What’s In The Package

• This package is for 90 days of unlimited access to me, so all of your company’s managers and supervisors (as well as you) can feel free to contact me as often as they need to during business hours. An on-site option is available too.

• I will work one-on-one with your managers - IN YOUR STORE! - for one week. Then the remainder of the Coaching program will be conducted via conference call (or email) with you and/or your team - as a group or individually. Once a week the team gets together for the weekly meeting and then we schedule calls with each member individually throughout the week to set goals, follow-up on assignments and projects, check progress, work out action plans, etc..

• You will need to supply me with a list of eligible managers and supervisors and maintain it as well. Anyone who is not on your list will not receive access to the Coaching Program materials.

• The price for this package is $7,500 and runs for a 90 day interval. This is the option with no travel component. If your location requires me to travel to you the flat fee cost is an additional $1,500 per visit - less if we can schedule them in advance.
  (Pay for 6, 9 or 12 months in advance and receive a 10, 15 & 20% discount)
  [See the RCS Travel and Accommodation Policy here.]

• How much would you pay for a GM or a Director of Operations to be able to drive business to the next level? $40,000? $50,000? A year! One year of this program would cost only $30,000! and the ROI is much, much greater.

  And with a Guarantee!

• This is the most cost effective means of giving your team the Coaching support and real world answers they need to drive your business to the next level.

Call us to begin the process of Coaching you to achieve the kind of success you deserve. 877-535-2324

Popularity: 11% [?]

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15 Predictable Reasons Why Change Efforts Typically Fail

From Ken Blanchard’s Latest Book “Leading At A Higher Level” Available In My Bookstore!

1. People leading the change think that announcing the change is the same as implementing it..
   

2. People’s concerns with change are not surfaced or addressed.
   

3. Those being asked to change are not involved in planning the change.
   

4. There is no urgent or compelling reason to change. The business case is not communicated.
   

5. A compelling vision that excites people about the future has not been developed and communicated..
   

6. The change leadership team doesn’t include early adopters, resisters, or informal leaders.
   

7. The change isn’t piloted, so the organization doesn’t learn what’s needed to support the change.
   

8. Organizational systems and other initiatives aren’t aligned with the change.
   

9. Leaders lose focus or fail to prioritize, causing “death by 1,000 initiatives.”
   

10. People are not enabled or encouraged to build new skills.
    

11. Those leading the change aren’t credible—they under-communicate, give mixed messages,
    and do not model the behaviors the change requires.
    

12. Progress is not measured, and no one recognizes the changes that people have worked hard to make.
    

13. People are not held accountable for implementing the change.
    

14. People leading the change fail to respect the power of the culture to kill the change.
    

15. Possibilities and options are not explored before a specific change is chosen..

Popularity: 13% [?]

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The Difference Between Tips and Service / Gratuity Charges

Catering, Parties and Banquets are a boom for restaurateurs. And while tipping is the norm for the rest of their business, most operators choose to impose a mandatory “service charge” on unusually large groups. .

The decision to impose a service charge brings with it a host of legal and tax issues that don’t apply to tipping. For example, sales taxes generally applies to service charges but not to tips. To help operators understand some of the other key differences between the two, here’s a review of federal and state rules concerning tips and service charges.

Definition of Tips and Service Charges

A tip is a sum given by a customer as a gift or gratuity in recognition of some service performed for the customer. Whether a tip is given, the amount and the recipient of the tip are determined solely by the customer.

A service charge is an amount added to a customer’s bill by management. It’s important to inform customers of the service charge and the amount (customarily 15 to 22 percent of the charge for food and beverages) before they order, either by notice on the menu or some other means. (Suggesting an appropriate tip amount to customers does not qualify as a service charge.)

Federal Law

Under federal law, service charges belong to the establishment, become part of its gross receipts and may be retained by management or distributed to employees in any amount management chooses.

Amounts distributed to employees from service charges must be taxed as wages. Service charges distributed to employees may be used to meet an employer’s minimum wage obligation. However, even if distributed to employees, service charges cannot be counted as tips or applied toward the tip credit.

State Sales Tax

For state sales tax purposes, gratuities are not subject to tax when all of the following apply:

1. Gratuities are separately stated on the bill and are optional for the customer.
2. No portion of the gratuity is retained by or for the profit of the business.
3. Gratuities are given to the persons providing the service.

IRS Publication 531 (Reporting Tip Income)

IRS Publication 1244 (General Information Regarding Tip Reporting)

Popularity: 24% [?]

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