The Restaurant Doctor - Electronic House Call

ELECTRONIC HOUSE CALL -- March 22, 1998

MARKETING INFORMATION
Tom Shanahan, hospitality industry trainer passes along the following recommendation. For electronic media access go to www.gebbieinc.com . "A Marketing Idea a Day by email" has some useful material.

TOP SHELF MANAGEMENT
Marv Hunt, one of the most talented restaurant operators I know (along with his chef) is suddenly available. For reasons to bizarre to explain here, his management company's contract was cancelled when the client suddenly decided to close the restaurant. While it is a clear breach of contract on the part of the client, there is nothing to be gained by legal wrangling and he just wants to run great restaurants. This may create a tremendous opportunity for someone with the right situation. If you would like more information on Marv and how to contact him, give me a call.

STAFF SCHEDULING PROGRAMS
I got the following note from Aurelio Soliveri, Floor Manager of the Hard Rock Cafe in Toronto.

"I would like your recommendation on an automated employee scheduling program for the food industry. I have tried several but none seem to fill every need. The best one I've found to date is Employee Schedule Partner. It good but not good enough. Can you recommend a program?

Does anybody have any ideas for him? If so, send them to mailtoaurelio@idirect.com and include me as a cc.

YOUR RESTAURANT IS BORING
Your restaurant is boring . . .
. . . if you haven't made changes in your menu in the last two years. (Price increases don't count)
. . . if you haven't updated your decor in the last five years
. . . if you do not provide continual education for your more experienced workers
. . . if you are only as good as you need to be to stay competitive
. . . if you wait until someone else has proved an idea will work before trying it
. . . if you have not had some spectacular failures in the last three months
. . . if you are the only one in the operation authorized to make a major decision
. . . if you regularly lose talented staff
. . . if you do not visit restaurants outside your market area and find new ideas to adapt
. . . if you never run special promotions or food festivals to break up the routine
. . . if you (and your staff) do not know the names of your regular guests
. . . if you do not receive requests from guests to have specific staff members serve them
. . . if you are regularly working more than 60 hours a week
. . . if you -- and your staff -- are not having any fun

You may not agree with all these ideas, but they might be worth pondering.

GOING TO CHICAGO?
I will be conducting a program from 1030-noon on Monday, May 18 at the NRA Show in Chicago. ("There's GOT to be an easier way to run a restaurant!") If you are planning on attending the show, I hope you will drop by and say hello.

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