ELECTRONIC HOUSE CALL - June 4, 2004

Tomorrow morning it is back on the road again, this time to Buffalo to visit family and give two seminars. Then I go to Alexandria Bay, north of Syracuse, to speak at a distributor food show. We get back on Wednesday night.

Cash in on Carryout
In a recent article, the Richmond Times-Dispatch had a story that Applebee's, Ruby Tuesday, Chili's and Outback are among the casual dining chains that have responded to growing consumer demand for restaurant-quality food they can take home. Restaurant consulting firm Technomic says it expects the rise in carryout to be a long-term trend, not a "short-term fad," and the National Restaurant Association says carryout meals represent a larger portion of sales at casual chains than they did two years ago.

I plan to interview Dennis Lombardi of Technomic for the July Management Insight Series and I will explore this idea a little deeper. In the meantime, if you are not already promoting take-out business, you might want to give it some serious consideration.

Bear in mind that not all your menu items will travel well, so your take-out menu should include only those items that will represent you well when the guest finally gets them home. You also need to be sure that your packaging works with the items you offer. You will not build repeat patronage if your fettuccini ala puttenesca is dripping all over the back seat of the Volvo when they get home!

Do the Work
I have long advocated my Principle of Creative Laziness which says, "Never do any more work than necessary to get the results you want." That being said, you will never own your market by taking shortcuts or doing as little work as possible. (Note that my definition talks about getting the desired results, not just doing less work."

When you are willing to do the work that your competitors are not willing to do, you can own the market ... but you have to do the work. What work? Do you know (and use?) your guests names ... and the names of their kids? Do you know what they like and don't like? Does your staff know all this as well? Do the work.

Do you have a database of your regulars? Do you contact them regularly? Do you give guests an unexpected extra when they come in? Do you monitor the guest experience and find ways to make continual incremental improvements in menu, service and timing? Do you know how often guests return ... and are you implementing programs to increase frequency? Do the work.

Do you consistently invest time and money in your own education and the development of your key staff? Are you contacting the new arrivals in your market and making them an offer they can't refuse? Are you finding a balance between your work life and your personal life? Are you the kind of boss that you would want to work for? Does this list seem like a lot of work? It can be ... until you discover that doing the work actually makes your life easier. Have the courage. Do the work.

Mark Your Calendar
Make a note of some events we are working on: Joel Cohen and I are planning two more restaurant marketing workshops in the fall, October 4 in Seattle and October 11 in Raleigh.

The theme for Super Summit 2005 is "Creating the Effortless Organization" featuring Robert Kausen. It will be held in New Orleans on March 7-8. I will have information soon on the application process.

In the planning stages: I was also talking with a client who said, "I have to get my managers to a level of understanding where I can talk with them and have them grasp what I am getting at. It's just that I do not have the time or the inclination to do this myself." Do you have a similar situation? I am thinking of developing an extended management development program to do exactly this sort of thing for a small group of managers. Let me know if you might be interested in having your folks participate.

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