ELECTRONIC HOUSE CALL - January 30, 2004
I am in Portland, Oregon this weekend
where I will be on a panel at the National Speakers Association Winter Workshop.
I sneaked the taxes in just under the deadline and now have a little breathing
room to work on some new projects before Margene and I head for Germany on the
11th. I have been invited to speak at a hospitality trade fair in Stuttgart
and it was too good an offer to refuse!
The Database Imperative
If your place burned down today, what would happen? I suspect that
many of you would take the insurance money and run, but if you decide to rebuild
and re-open, how are you going to regain your regulars? Assuming that you were
out of commission for several months, everyone who used to eat with you has
found new restaurants. If your competitors are smart -- and they are not all
as dumb as you may think! -- they will have done everything they could to earn
the loyalty of your former customers. Isn't that what you would do if the positions
were reversed?
If you do not have a database with the contact information for your regular
patrons, when you re-open it will be a lot like starting up from scratch as
an unknown. However, if you have cultivated that database, you can be feeding
updates to your guests throughout the re-building process, invite them to a
special preview evening and keep them engaged with you, even as they dine with
the competition.
Gold Group member Alex Haff went through this recently. In his case, the fire
was so extensive that he had to close for a year and rebuild the restaurant
from the foundation up. However, he had a good database, sent our regular progress
reports and re-opened to more business than he had before the fire! If he ever
decides to sell the place, his database may turn out to have as much value to
a potential purchaser as the restaurant itself!
If you haven't started building your database, get busy. It is not an option.
The easiest way to do it is to start a Birthday Club where members get a free
meal during their birthday month. Birthdays are the most frequent family events
that people celebrate in restaurants ... and they always bring others with them.
Talking to Groups
When addressing a group of people, remember that you cannot talk to
the whole group at once. When you try to speak to everyone, you end up disconnecting
from everyone and you appear scattered.
You can really only talk to one person at a time. Make eye contact (or attempt
to) with one person at the table and speak directly to them. When you complete
your thought, shift your gaze to another person and complete another thought
or make another point. Continue in this manner until you have said what you
came to say. If you make eye contact with each diner, however briefly, they
will feel more personally served.
It's that simple. If you are always speaking TO someone, it will keep the whole
group engaged. If you speak to a spot somewhere over their heads, you will lose
them all ... and probably a good percentage of your tip as well.
A note from the Doc: This is the sort of tip that could easily be developed
into a tip in the Year of the Guest program. If you would like to receive a
tip a week like this, complete with suggested questions for your staff meeting,
you owe it to yourself to take a look at the Year of the Guest program. Not
only will you help your own sales to grow, but half of your modest subscription
fee goes to charity.
Click here for the full story on The Year of the Guest program.
The Restaurant Doctor Forums
You do not have to be a paid subscriber to access the Restaurant Doctor
Forums. Here you can post your questions or share your experience with others.
I think the new format will make it even easier for you to find just the sort
of help you are looking for. Why go it alone? None of us are as smart as all
of us.
Click here to find the Restaurant Doctor Forums.
The Perpetual Question
What did you learn from your staff today?
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