ELECTRONIC HOUSE CALL - January 5, 2007

Did you survive the holidays? This is the time when it is tempting to kick back and catch your breath ... but it is a parallel situation to getting through the daily rush. When the rush is over, the amateurs take a break. The pros re-stock, make sure they are ready for the next rush, THEN kick back.

HAPPY NEW YEAR
OK, the holidays are over ... so what now? Will you just sit there and wait for some business to come in? Why not use this downtime to set yourself up for greater success in the new year? Here are my 10 picks, but you don't have to do them all. Even doing just one will get you another rung higher on your business ladder.

1. Evaluate your staff and make changes if necessary.
If you haven’t done performance appraisals for your crew, now is a good time to get it done. If you have staff members who should be pursuing an alternate career path, do everyone a favor and free up their futures. Margins are too thin to carry dead wood ... particularly with the likelihood of wage increases.

2. Get your business act together.
To succeed, you have to be a good restaurant AND you have to be a good business. Most operators are strong on the former and weak on the latter, so now is the time to get organized. Are administrative tasks taking up most of your time and keeping you from working ON your business? Then hire an assistant. Are you paying too much in taxes? Meet with your accountant to talk about getting more aggressive with write-offs, or make appointments to interview new accountants. Same goes for your lawyer -- do you love him/her? If not, take this time to ask around for referrals.

3. Clean out your inbox.
Unanswered e-mails, people to follow up with, information not recorded or filed in the proper places - -- need I say more? Delete e-mails that are more than a few months old. Set up folders to help you stay more organized in the future. And if your program allows, set "rules" to automatically sort incoming e-mails into those folders.

4. Clean out your filing cabinet, bookshelf, desk, etc.
Is your office a fire hazard? Do you have to rustle through giant stacks of paper like a large rodent to find anything? Start digging and make piles. Make sure to have plenty of trash bags and cardboard file boxes on hand. (And a glass of good wine always helps!)

5. Upgrade or clean up your computer.
Your computer probably holds most of the information that's crucial to your business, so take care of it! Now's a great time to do an overhaul. Upgrade your operating system (do you STILL have Windows 95?), get rid of unnecessary files, archive old files to CDs, add more memory for speed and more disk space for all those downloads, and do system maintenance -- including a full back-up. Not sure how to go about this? Ask your staff.

6. Start your newsletter.
You have been collecting names and e-mail addresses forever, haven’t you? Haven’t you? What good is the list unless you use it? A monthly newsletter gives you the potential for more sales on a regular basis and for the LONG-TERM. The beginning of the new year is the *perfect time* to release your first issue! That means you need to get busy now. If you are not blessed with the gift of Flowery BS, you may have a journalism major on your staff or the local college may have writing students who need a term project.

7. Have a New Year’s special or sale.
A tried and true way to kick up sales when things are slow is to run a special promotion or sale. Give people a bonus if they patronize you in January. Make sure there's a time limit on the offer and promote it more than once. Many people need more than one nudge before they will respond.

8. Write down your 25 best accomplishments of 2006.
This simple exercise is extremely powerful. Time goes by so quickly that we forget to celebrate the good things that happen. First light a candle and write down your 25 accomplishments. Then, taking each one in, read them aloud. After the last one, blow the candle out, then IMMEDIATELY make a list of 10 goals for the new year. (After truly acknowledging all the amazing things you did this year, you'll feel incredibly powerful and set even higher goals!)

Take a step back and appreciate what you have, enjoy your family and friends, give to others, and be good to yourself. Take that walk in the snow, do something cool with your kids, get that massage, and plan a leisurely day away with your significant other with nothing to do but pamper each other.

Life is too short. Enjoy it while you have it. Happy New Year.

A DEAL FROM THE DOC
Long-time subscriber Carl Hixon from Pensacola, Florida dropped me a note over the holidays. His parting comment had this PS attached: "Will you have your tips for tips on sale again? My supply needs replinishing."

I am a sucker for begging ... and since I was ready to offer a deal to Carl, I figured I might as well open it up to everyone. These books are normally $5.95 each but the sale offers them at 20 for $70, over a 40% savings off the single copy price and $20 less than you would normally pay for 20 copies.

(Actually, I meant to offer you this deal in December so you could give them as gifts to your service staff ... but they probably wouldn't have had time to read them anyway!)

So now is your chance to stock up. I will only keep this offer around for a couple of weeks, after which Carl will be reloaded for another year and I will have to turn my attention to the Super Summit, my new Mastermind Group and the Best Free Offer Ever. So take advantage of me while you can.

If you are unfamiliar with 50 Tips to Improve Your Tips, click here to find out more. But be sure to take me up on the 50 Tips Sale.

SUPER SUMMIT 2007
What Does It Take To Keep a Car On The Road Three Times Longer?

Experts say that the key is strong initial construction, good gas, regular maintenance and the willingness to invest in keeping the car tuned up ... even when it seems to be running fine.

Keeping A Restaurant Performing at Its Peak Is No Different

Just as your car needs a regular tune-up, your restaurant periodically needs some detailed diagnostic attention to continue to perform to its full potential. When a restaurant has enjoyed success in the market over time, it is easy to start taking it for granted. The concept gradually – almost invisibly – gets stale ... and stale concepts are poor competitors.

Super Summit 2007 will provide you with specific skills, ideas and plans to make your operation more competitive and allow you to appeal to newer, larger markets.

The Super Summit will be held on February 27-March 1 in Charleston, SC. Space is limited and the $250 Early Registration Scholarship expires on January 14th ... so now is the time to check it out.

Find out more about the Super Summit.

THE JANUARY SURVEY
Everybody is always looking for the next great idea to jump-start their sales, particularly during the first few months of the year. This month I would like to find out about the most unusual -- and unusually effective -- restaurant promotion you have run across. It may be something that you came up with or something you saw in your travels, but it would be a promotion that made you stop and think, "Wow, I never thought about an idea like that."

As usual I will send a compilation of the responses to all who participate. I look forward to your comments and ideas.

In the meantime, you can download copies of all past EHC surveys -- including the massive WOW Ideas collection.

Add your thoughts to the January survey.

THE PERPETUAL QUESTION
What did you learn from your staff today?

It is rare to find people who will intently listen, even to very important personal information. Comments from my staff at an important-to-them meeting reminded me that verbal information transfer is marginal at best ... and totally useless if not presented in short clear sentences (sound bites).

If the sentence describing the news or issue is too long, the listener's mind will wander or they will finish the sentence in their own mind and therefore not hear what you actually said. Even in a group setting, it is wise to say "repeat after me," "tell me what I just said," "What course of action are we now taking?" -- Chuck Clarke, Chef Daniel's Seafood Cafe, Kamuela, HI

Chuck brings up a good point. In the communication game, you must always take responsibility for how your message is received, not just how you deliver it. By listening and paying attention to non-verbal clues, you can see if your ideas are getting through and make adjustments as necessary. One big clue is whether your audience is focused on you or on something else.

When you let your thoughts wander while you are speaking, the listener will have a tendency to start fidgeting, looking around and generally wandering as well. Take that as a yellow warning flag and bring your attention back to the topic at hand.

Chuck's idea of asking a few questions to assure that everyone is on the same page will also help you improve your communications skills. Remember that less is often more. The more clearly and succinctly you can present your thoughts, the more likely you are to get your points across.

Never doubt that the most critical -- and perhaps profitable -- management skill you can develop is your ability to truly listen.

So what did YOU learn from YOUR staff today?

I will continue to collect your answers to this important question ... and you can add comments as often as you want. Just click on the link below and contribute your insights for the common good (and your own as well!)

© 2007 Restaurant Doctor