Today’s Tip: Guests… can you hear me now?

Unless you have been living under a rock for the last few years, you know how the social media landscape is revolutionizing the restaurant and hospitality business. Never before have operators, managers and owners been able to engage directly with guests and potential guests with the click of the mouse.

We have heard people say that every restaurant and hotel needs to have a Facebook, Twitter or some kind of social media  presence. That’s crazy, no they don’t!

Why you may ask?

You need to be where your guest’s eyeballs are. If your guest demographic is a Yellow Book reading bunch, then having a slick Facebook fan site is a collassial waste of time.

That’s not where your guest’s eyeballs are.

Posting your daily specials on Twitter is swell (actually, we think it’s  an old transaction based tactic that doesn’t work.) But, if that is where your guest’s eyeballs are and how they want to be engaged with, that is where you need to be.

You need to ask. You need to listen. You need to react. You simply need to be where your guests are.

If your guests are on Facebook, FourSquare or the next 2.0 social media sensation that’s currently being built in a college dorm room, then that’s where you need to be.

Or you can take a shot gun approach and water down your message and hope to reach someone, by trying to be everywhere.

The choice is yours. Ask or guess. You can’t be everywhere and hit the target. You need to be where your guest’s are. Not where this weeks social media guru says you need to be.

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Today’s tip is brought to you by Inside Hospitality™, a comprehensive and innovative guest experience management and measurement company whose integrated suite of hospitality business solutions from restaurant focused mystery shopping to online reputation management achieves tangible results in the marketplace and is the choice for restaurant and hotels worldwide.

Contact us today and learn how Inside Hospitality™ can create a custom solution for your organization. We can be reached anytime @ (888) 260- 0380.

Click the “RingMe” button and we’ll call you back within 1 minute.

Starting today (Tuesday July 20th.) we will be giving away 5 free tickets to independent restaurant/hotel  operators. This is on a first come, first serve basis. When the 5 tickets are gone, they are gone.

To register for the event please visit our event site at www.RestaurantSocialMedia.com and use VIP code “INDEPENDENT”

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by Jeffrey Summers, Pres., RestaurantWorx Consulting

Just having completed the Restaurant & Hospitality Social Media Marketing Bootcamp in Chicago last week, we wanted to take a minute and talk about some of the most common mistakes we see being made by operators at all levels.

1. No goals. Without setting goals, your efforts become aimless and unfocused. Unless your social media strategy fits seamlessly with your overall marketing strategy, your message becomes fragmented and confusing to guests and results in killing your businesses momentum.

2. No measurement. You can’t pay the bills with fans and followers. You have to tie results to actual cash in the till. Doing anything in social media (or any of your marketing efforts in general) further than two degrees of separation from an actual sale is worthless and a waste of resources. The closer you engage a guest at their point of experience with your brand, the more impact your efforts will have on real loyalty and facilitating great word-of-mouth.

3. No social culture. The biggest factor that prevents a business from having any social media success (or any success in our business period) is that the actual business does not have a culture that encourages real engagement with its guests. FOH staff that can’t have real conversations with guests about their experiences, at the minimum, is not going to be able to fake it virtually. Real social media success begins in the dining room or lobby and without making a tangible difference in the moments your guests share with you, will only allow social media to amplify your mediocre levels of execution.This also includes using the wrong people to manage your social media efforts. You don’t want to give up this tremendous responsibility, facilitating relationships with your guests, to someone who isn’t engaging or who does not know your business. Outsourcing any part of the guest experience is always a definite “No” in our books. If you can’t find someone in your business who is the most “people friendly” then you have more problems than getting started in social media. And I don’t care if they know a tweet from a post, you can teach the technical stuff, but you can’t teach empathy or sincerity. This leads us to the next point.

4. Nothing to say. I get this question so much it scares me. “What do we talk about?” First you don’t talk about yourself. Stop pushing specials, coupons and discounts to your social media community. That’s not creating a relationship with your guests. That’s treating each one of them as nothing more than a transaction. That makes you a commodity and provides absolutely no basis of understanding who your guest is or why they visit you.Second, what you do talk about are those things that matter to your guests. What’s going on in their lives and how can you make an impact in those situations. Do they have kids? What events are their kids involved in at the moment? How can you make an impact in them? What are they celebrating in their life? What problems or difficulties can you help them overcome, within the context of your business? Do they work at a business that you need to establish and build a relationship with? How many names of core guests do you know? Can your staff recognize those guests on sight? What events do you have coming up? Pictures and video to share with your community? The list is endless.Third, understand that the conversation you have offline are no different than then ones you have online. Keep the focus on your guests and what’s important to them. Don’t be a social narcissist.

Our hospitality philosophy is centered around the simple understanding that every time a guest walks through your door, it’s a day in their life. First date, last date, engagement, divorce, birthday, anniversary, new job, old job, every success or failure is celebrated and if you can add to their level of enjoyment by making a significant difference in their day’s event, you can make an emotional connection that plants the seeds of real loyalty. Don’t add to it, and you are actually taking away from their celebration and won’t be remembered for anything positive.

5. Trying to be everywhere. The only platforms you need to engage in, are those where your guests are. Which means you have to have a conversation, at some level, to get a good understanding of where your guests socialize online (and offline!) . Where do they talk with their friends and family? That’s where you need to be, no place else. This might be one of the “Big 3″ (Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook) but it could also mean someplace more local like your local newspaper’s website, in their culture sections (reviews, community news, etc…). Most likely you will reach more of your guests through these local community sources than the “Big 3″.Most times, the place where you should be, is in your own dining room, simply talking to guests. If 90% of your time isn’t spent talking to guests, or staff who do, then you’re not doing your job. How else will you find out what they’re celebrating today? Why they came? What they love about you? What they hate? Who and how they socialize? How much influence they have within their social circle?  (This goes for both staff and guests!) Which leads me to the final point.

6. Forgetting staff. The most important people in your social media efforts are those front-line employees who greet, shake hands, talk to, laugh with, engage with, celebrate with, encourage, and serve every single guest, at every single table, every single day. They know your guests better and they know your business better. They make or break every guest experience. Your guests know them better than they know you. Plus there’s simply more of them. Ignoring the impact that your staff has and can make is insane. Which is why the first people you need to dedicate yourself to are them. Don’t hold them back from being a part of your social media efforts. In fact, insist on it. It should be a criteria for employment. If you have a decent Facebook or Twitter presence as your main social media focus, then so should your staff. There’s nothing more powerful than a server commenting to a guest on your social media outpost with: “Hey George! Glad to see you visiting our Facebook Fan Page. I wanted to thank you for allowing me the pleasure of taking care of you and Helen when you were in celebrating your 40th anniversary last night. I’ll email you some of the pictures and video we took so you can share it with your family and friends.”

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Today’s tip is brought to you by Inside Hospitality™, a comprehensive and innovative guest experience management and measurement company whose integrated suite of hospitality business solutions achieves tangible results in the marketplace and is the choice for restaurant and hotels worldwide.

Contact us today and learn how Inside Hospitality™ can create a custom solution for your organization. We can be reached anytime @ (888) 260- 0380.

Click the “RingMe” button and we’ll call you back within 1 minute.

Learn more about this exciting event at www.RestaurantSocialMedia.com

Came across this blog post and wanted to share.

One of my favorite restaurants is at Salty’s Seafood Grill Restaurant in Redondo Beach. (Des Moines, Washington).  I am also a fan of GuestPulse and Gary Tripp of Inside Hospitality (Who is also recommended by Jeffrey Summers from RestaurantWorx.  I listen to Jeffrey and you can too at Hospitality101Radio.)

If you can stay with me for a moment because this is not a plug.  (Even though I just plugged Salty’s Restaurant, GuestPulse AND RestaurantWorx.)

Since I no longer own a restaurant, I miss some of the good times when I can play around and test the fun stuff.  I can’t resist any longer, I am now testing GuestPulse personally.

This will be a personal challenge as I use my expertise in Inbound Marketing, restaurant marketing, guerrilla marketing, magic marketing and tricks up my sleeve.  I will be using Twitter, Facebook, Stumble, Blogging and commenting on Blogs.  The bag of magic marketing is pretty deep and I will be pulling out all the tricks of the trade.  Rather than wait for the news about Salty’s Restaurant, I will be using social media tools to create a buzz.  Well, at least a mini-buzz.  After all, I am but one person.

Read complete blog post by clicking here!

Join us in Chicago on June 21st. & 22nd.  for the Restaurant & Hospitality Focused Social Media Marketing Bootcamp.

“Early Bird” registration and additional information can be found at http://RestaurantSocialMedia.com

“Jeffrey provides a level of professionalism that is a cut above the rest. Because of Jeffrey our members are now better equipped to be competitive and survive these tough economic times.” ~ Gabe Munoz, Director of Sales, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Greater Kansas City.

“Our goal is to give operators the tools and knowledge they need to “kick it up a notch” or two or three. You won’t get this information from any other event or source. It’s that impactful.” ~ Gary Tripp, President, Inside Hospitality

Day 1 – General session of all attendess. We will talk about what exactly Social Media Marketing means for you and your business and how it can be utilized to grow loyalty and profitability. ***Limited to 100 attendees.

Early Bird Day 1 Tickets – Limited to the first 10 people to register.

Bring A Friend – Day 1 – This is for those who have purchased a full-price Day 1 ticket & want to bring a friend or colleague with them.  There is no limit on how many people you can bring with you from your company.

Day 1 Dinner – Charity Dinner. We will travel to one of the areas best restaurants for dinner on the evening of Day 1 with only the first 10 people to register and pay. This is a great event and the networking and professional opportunities make it a “can’t miss”. All dinner ticket sales go to the event charity – The Children’s Miracle Network.

Bring A Friend – Day 2 – This is for those who have purchased a full-price Day 2 ticket & want to bring a friend or colleague with them.  There is no limit on how many people you can bring with you from your company.

Early Bird Day 2 Tickets – Limited to the first 10 people to register.

Early Bird Day 1 & Day 2 Tickets – Limited to the first 10 people to register.

Came upon this while visiting (via http://www.foodiggity.com) one of our favorite websites www.YelpYack.com and had to share. We are not fans of any platform that allows anonymous guest experience reviews.

Yelp Yack is a blog featuring original drawings by artist Jessica Wassil. Each illustration is based off a brutally real, random, and anonymous Yelp review. All reviews appear in their original form, so don’t front on the grammar!

Actual Review:

“Ok, can someone please get a bus to pick all these hipsters up and send them to their own private island??  Or at least ban them from working in the service industry?

They don’t listen, act annoyed at your simple requests and can’t afford grooming kits.

After teaching a belly class I started craving bacon.  Nice crisp bacon.. I went with some fellow dancers and we were frankly starving from all that dancing.

We walk in and i could smell the attitude over the food.  It was chilly outside and we had on our belly garb so we wanted to wait inside for our table.. OH NO! The waitress scurried us outside and said she would let us know when SHE was ready for us.

Because I was starving i decided to pre-order some bacon while we waited.  the waitress acted as if i asked her for her raybans.  after the stare down she reluctantly put my order in.   10 hours later i got the flimsiest piece of bacon you could ever see.  My dog would reject this crap.

I told the hipster and she said- “if you arent happy with the bacon, you probably wouldnt like our food here”  SERIOUSLY?!  Don’t eat here.”

We introduced the first Restaurant & Hospitality Focused Online Reputation Management solution, GuestPulse™ many months ago and have been literally blown away with the feedback and support we have received from restaurant, hotel and spa operators all over the world.

The goal was (and still is) to provide managers, operators and owners with a no “BS” way to tell them exactly what their guests are saying about their property, service and offerings with a intuitive, clean and simple user interface.

Over the last several months we have added additional robust features that make the program the “complete online reputation management solution”

Some of the most recent feature additions include,

Online Reputation Genius, Automatic Sentiment Analysis, Competitor Tracking, to name just a few.

We are excited to continue the innovation and introduce the following dynamic features that will add even more value to the GuestPulse™ platform as assist in building a better business and foster better guest engagement.

Using Social Media to “Attract” New Guests

Introducing GuestAttract™, the first and only social media based lead prospecting solution for the restaurant & hospitality industries. A guest prospecting solution that scans the entire ‘www’ and millions of websites and billions of web pages and social media sites for potential guests who are looking for dining, hotel or travel recommendations and who closely match your target marketing profile.

Using Geo/Location tracking technology we provide you with a real time ‘stream’ of potential guests that fit within your operations demographic profile. We then provide you a direct “engage and attract” option to make contact with these potential guests immediately right from the GuestPulse™ dashboard.

-GuestAttract™ is will available to all GuestPulse™ accounts on June 1st.

“Online & On-site” Triggered Mystery Shopping.

Need to verify, corroborate or just need more information based on a specific mention? With the click of the mouse our “Online & On-site Mystery Shopping Solution™” will allow owners and unit managers to request a immediate on-site mystery shopping evaluation on the property. On-site evaluation can be scheduled in as little as 60 minites and covers every market within the USA.

On-site mystery shopping services are provided in conjunction with Inside Hospitality.

-Online & On-site Mystery Shopping™ is available on all GuestPulse™ beginning today, Friday May 21.

To signup for your free (no credit card required) 30 day trial please visit www.GuestPulse.com