Daily Tip for Monday June 7th. – I am your Restaurant Marketing Boss Next Week

Posted on 07. Jun, 2010 by Guest Blogger in Blog

By guest blogger Michael Hartzell

My Dad’s Dad probably taught me the most about restaurant marketing and he was a carpenter. Alfred was his name and every day he met each person with an outstretched hand and said: “Hello friend”. Everyone he met. Didn’t matter if he knew them or not. When Grandpa Alfred passed on, the church was full. Friends one and all arrived to say thank-you and share in a celebration of his life and what he believed. Father’s Day is just around the corner. It is a good time to remember Alfred.

Here are the words to note:

restaurant marketing
outstretched hand
hello friend
friend
celebration

He was the best of the best (other than his son, my dad).

Now then. It is time to put that foolishness behind us. We have work to do. You have to build business and you have to do it now. I am going to be your boss for a week.

First I have to know what you believe:

What is your target for increase in number of guests per week?

(Or do you call them customers in your building?)

What is your target for increase in number of guests per week?
- (Or do you call them customers in your building?)
- What is your target increase in sales dollars?
- On a scale of 1 to 5 (5 being highest)
  - How important is the phone book to your business?
  - How important is face to face meeting people for impacting business?
  - How important is direct mail to having an impact on your business?
  - How important is the newspaper to impacting your business?
  - How important is Facebook to having an impact on your business?
  - How important is repeat guests to your business?
  - How important is the weather to your business?
  - How important is your dining room, counter, lobby and parking lot to your business?
  - How important is your telephone to making an impact on your business?
  - How important is television to having an impact on YOUR business?
  - How important is having one guest personally tell another guest “go there”?
  - How important is radio to having an impact on your business?
  - How important is reaching out to every guest and saying “hello friend” to your business?
  - How important is having an Internet presence to making an impact on your business?
  - Of all the choices, which has the most impact on your business?

If you have 2000 people dine at your restaurant next week, do you know why they are in your restaurant?
- How do you know the answer to this question?

Remember: I am now your boss. (Just go with it. Don’t worry, I have experience with this.)

Your task is to find out where they are coming from and why they chose your restaurant.

I don’t care what tools or style you use. At first it may seem odd. There will be some ideas that are dumb. That is ok. Call it a test. A few of you will use tools that Inside Hospitality offers. That is fine with me. It will be interesting to see what methods you use. (No I won’t cheat and tell you the best method. You won’t learn the lesson then.)

The point is this:

A restaurant business owner or manager assumes too much. When you tally everything up and learn where people are coming from and why they are visiting you will give them more. You will connect with them more via the methods they are using.

Again, what do you believe?

Is it better to send out 10,000 “advertisements” and get a 1% response? Or is it better to send out 500 Unique Personal Invitations and have a 10% response?

By the way, if you are not getting a 10% response when you make the invitation you need to do a test. Give this invitation: “I would love to have you for lunch at my restaurant. We have a special dish I would like to share with you. Why don’t you let me buy you lunch? Can you make it in this next week? Be sure to let the staff know to grab me when you come in so I can take care of you special.” If you made 500 invites like this and you only have a 10% response then you better look closely at your reputation management. Inside Hospitality does this for you quickly. (I do not work for Inside Hospitality nor do I gain a reward for helping you see the benefits of their service.) It is a sad day to make personal invitations with gusto and enthusiasm and have people say: “no thank you”. That should make you think hard about your restaurant, your message and your reputation.

If the test overwhelms you with responses take away the section that says “Let me buy you lunch and keep everything else the same (including your passion).

The next task will be to invite 500 people as quickly as possible. Nope. There is no marketing calendar. There is no plan. There is just survival. It is war against failure and each day is a new battle. This is not how I operate a business but there are many who do, so let’s go with it. Instead of saying: “Do it my way with a plan”, let’s just go with the flow and grab the sales as quickly as possible. I see this too often. It is not OK, but you know what? Let’s go for it. What the heck.

(Some say I get crazy. Maybe so. Then again, I just saw four more restaurants close last week. That is not OK. It is avoidable. Systems and planning can get it done but if you are not interested in that then you can do it the messy way. Maybe after a few messy campaigns, you will be ready to create a plan. )

Note: Take out a 3 X 5 blank card. Every time you come up against a barrier, write it down. What is the barrier? Why?

If you can figure out a way to send an invitation to 500 people in the next 7 to 10 days and you received a 10% response because you were so enthusiastic and have a great reputation, then I suppose you could say about $1500 would come your way. (500×10%x$30) Change the numbers to fit your situation. Need to double the numbers to survive? Then do it.

How much would you invest to get $1500 in sales increase? I am thinking … $300 is a budget. (Rule of thumb.) Combine that with elbow grease, personality, innovation and imagination? I think you might have something. You don’t think it is possible? Too bad. It has already been done again and again so just because you don’t believe it doesn’t mean it isn’t so.

How? Ahhh…. that is when a little magic marketing comes in handy.

If you had my Dad’s Dad still around and you hired him, he would greet EVERY guest with a smile and “Hello friend”. Every person would leave feeling as if they owned the restaurant themselves.

Your immediate tasks:

Be like Alfred. Hire people like him. Interview, recruit, empower. Hire Eagles. Let them soar.

I want to see them on your schedule ASAP. (Call them Alfred if you want.)

Know where people are coming from and why they chose you.

I want a report. How will you break it down?

Make 500 unique personal invitations with enthusiasm and commitment. (Do a test if you have to.)

The trick to this is to find the people who are already carrying the burden of leadership and responsibility and make their life easier any way you can. They can be found in places like Business Examiner, Associations, Universities, and Hospitals. I am sure you get it, right? Help leaders solve problems.
The more closely you get into their inner circle, the better the rate of response. The more you use automated systems, the lower the response. When you find ways to use the automated systems and have it appear in every way like a personal invite, it is a good thing. (Ever heard of Bubble Joy? How about Phone Evite?)
- If you can’t think of anything, go to the dollar store. Pick up some special invitation cards with envelopes. Personally hand them out to every business owner and tell them you are celebrating the community next week in your restaurant.
- I want to see a list of who you made the invites to, how many, what the offer was, how you made the offer (vehicle) and the time it took. Be sure to include $$ spent as well.

I remember a question someone once asked: “If you really want to do it then who is going to stop you?”

Any questions? Time to go to work. If you have any barriers written down on your card, as your boss for a week, I am here to ensure your success. Contact me at ask@michaelhartzell.com It is not a matter of if it will get done, it is only a matter of when.

Along the way, remember Alfred. Make people’s day, extend a hand and say: “Hello friend” and mean it

About Michael

Michael Hartzell – Inbound Marketing Certified Professional, entrepreneur, writer, speaker, restaurant marketing coach. As a self proclaimed Professor of Magic Marketing, author of “10 Magic Marketing Tips” and over 30 years experience in the restaurant business, Michael helps business owners “Boost Sales & Build Teams” on the foundation of Knowledge Empowers so Learn & Teach ™. Read more from Michael at Restaurant Marketing Ideas Blog or contact him at ask@michaelhartzell.com. Member of the American Marketing Association and Guerrilla Marketing Association.