Must Watch TV

Very few shows, other than maybe some cooking shows, will give you tips and tricks that are really worth spending that time it takes to watch the program.

You will be happily surprised to know that there actually are some newer shows that will give you business marketing Gold.

My current favorite find, is Jon Taffer's "Bar Rescue."

Each episode he has given away some fantastic ideas to squeeze more cash out of a restaurant or bar.

He usually takes many weeks to save a struggling business, while on the show, he does it in 5 days.

These businesses are days, maybe weeks away from shutting down. Mostly due to heavy debt and little hope if any chance of ever getting back into the black.

He has a consulting business and has 35 years of knowledge with "proven" success and recognition from his peers to add."Reaction Management Principles" is how he terms it.

I noticed he offers some downloadable "toolkits" for sale on his site. I haven't viewed any, but am tempted to grab one or more as I expect them to be as excellent as his TV show is.

He has a software offer a well for tracking your numbers.

Using the proper layout of a menu,like how to boost sales on premium items, how the bartenders should work the most effective and efficient way, how to design your floor for the best "flow" of patrons that make the most cash and much more.

Spending a few minutes watching him do his magic on TV, for free, will serve you well.

Just search for Jon Taffer to find him. He has several sites, so it is easy.

Other programs I've seen are Shark Tank, Pawn Stars, Storage Wars and American Pickers.

Each show offers great opportunity to see some powerful skills in action like sales, negotiation, haggling,handling stress with class and more.

Personally I really enjoy these shows as I used to do a great deal of antiquing and rummaging.

Finding hidden gems at a great bargain is great fun.

Fire up your TV for a few of these shows. You too might be glad you did.

Sure beats the normal time wasting programs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Put Some Warm Butts in Those Empty Seats

Looking at your spreadsheet, a HUGE gaping hole is obvious every Tuesday nights.

It is so bad that you are considering closing for that night.
You're not making any money, in fact Tuesdays are losing you money.
A LOT.

Turn it around.

Make Tuesday night a Member's Only event.
To get into the restaurant that night,you must have a VIP card, which costs money, not a freebie.

Have a limited number of memberships available.
Have a waiting list.
Dinners can only get a card if they have dinned "x" number of times in the restaurant on other days, or spent a certain amount of money overall.
Or...you dream up something better :)

Analyze where you are wasting advertising money.
Oh, if you don't have a system tracking where your advertising dollars return the best value, then stop it! Put a system in place where you can know EXACTLY how your customers are finding you.

Of course spend a lot of time considering what your Tuesday nights will look like.
Special menu items, drink specials, VIP services,buffet, all-you-can-eat?
Karaoke, DJ, Dance contest,Improve night, open mic, talent show, Gong show?
Contest winner get's their VIP card paid for or something similar. The prize must be something they get IN the restaurant, NOT something you don't control.

Check with your vendors and work out a special pricing on the food items for that night's supply.

Reminder: you have started to capture those emails and addresses from EACH guest aren't you?

Are You Hoping that Customers Will Return or Do You Absolutely KNOW They Will?

A family just finished eating at your restaurant, paid their bill and left.

Do you suspect that they will come back another time to spend money at your place?
Are you "hoping" they will or are you 100% Positive that they will.
Are you certain enough to actually bet money that they will return again?

If you're like most owners, you have no clue if they will return.
Sure, sometimes you hear remarks from visitors that they ate there once before or maybe a friend suggested that they try your food. What percent return? How often?

If you aren't taking steps to track these things and implementing procedures to ensure returns you are passing up on huge revenue. NOT smart.
Repeat sales make you rich not one time visitors.

Are your servers and other staff making the guests feel like Kings and Queens who are glad and feel lucky to have found you?
If not, again you're missing out on Gold($)

There are probably hundreds of ideas you could test to improve sales.
One excellent way is to simply make certain extra effort is made to capture your customer's data. Names, phones, emails, ages, where they live and other data.

Getting that data could be easy or hard, your choice.
If you have the thought in your mind that the visitors will not be willing to offer that information, then expect it to be like pulling teeth without any pain killer.

Make it fun, make it easy and make sure they get some kind of reward for supplying that precious information.

Have your place secret shopped.
Have a friend,that your staff has never met before, go through your restaurant's experience.Then have them report honestly how they liked the visit.

A better method, although it will cost money, is to hire a person that is a professional secret shopper
They will have a much better idea on what to watch for, better observation methods and will provide you with a very detailed report on their experience.

Don't you dare use any information you collect as reason to fire or even chastise any staff. The procedure is to improve you business not make you staff fearful.

Do you have a detailed written dialog that the staff are supposed to follow when they greet customers or are they just winging it?
Be smart and develop a written dialog.
Test and tweak it until it flows easily and works like crazy.
Demand that staff follow the dialog as well. NO freelancing allowed.

Are add-ons being offered each and EVERY time?
And are they offered with flair or does it sound like wait staff are reading a laundry list.

You should have dialog expressing how wonderful your food is and deliver those messages by the staff with exuberance.

Each and every wait staff can become mini "Super Sales" men and women.
If your food is not such that one can get excited about, then maybe you should consider not even having those items on the menu.
Who wants bland anything?
Offer foods that the guests must come to you to obtain.
Make them glad that they went out to eat, instead of dinning at home.
I suggest you spend some serious time looking at you menu selection.
Drop the slow movers. Add some premium choices. Add some Pizzazz.

A WEEKLY training on this should be happening, with out fail.
Please take these steps to improve.
Add some role playing in how to handle minor troubles too.
Unreasonable customers should be handled with care.
If you serve alcohol you better know how to handle drunks.
Schedule these training sessions as soon as possible.

Make it fun for the staff, make them glad they have you as a boss and they actually look forward to coming to work for you.
You don't have to be their best friend, just don't be their worst boss.

If you have a business that is struggling right now and you are possibly depressed about it,toss out that hopeless attitude and get excited, for you can rescue a sinking ship

Please come back soon to read more ideas.

This topic alone would need hundreds of posts, but I want to discuss more general ideas.