Marketing
Marketing Your Restaurant: First Impressions
 Have you ever seen the TV reality shows where the Restaurant is visited by a celebrity Chef and he takes the place apart – exposing all the flaws in the operation, particularly in the kitchen? Or the English Hotel Inspector who is ruthless in auditing every aspect of the restaurant and bar in the hotel? In nearly all circumstances their opinion is based on simple external observations, and when they find a problem they then pursue it – lock, stock and smoking barrels.
The same observations can be made by every single customer who approaches our restaurant. Every observation they make will affect their buying and their perception of our operation and it begins with their first impression – which can start in the car park.
Have you ever hopped out of a car in the car park and there are no signs directing you to the entrance? Do you have any photos of the restaurant interior that can be displayed in the car park to reinforce the ambience of the destination? Marketing begins with planning the first impression for your customers. We need something or someone to greet us – perhaps a sign “please ring this bell for the experience of a lifetime”, or even better still a personal welcome. The most powerful message is a personal acknowledgement on arrival and then showing them to a part of the restaurant that they now “own”.
Let’s pause to think about what we are selling. Is it a meal, ambience, atmosphere, an occasion, or are we selling ourselves as a host/hostess? We are actually selling all of these things and to our customers some are tangible, while some are intangible.
At the very least we can be aware of the tangible aspects and can prepare to present those to the highest standard. The tangible items include the menus, our wine and beverage list, the décor, the uniforms, signage, music and the service itself.
The purpose of marketing is to increase customer count, increase our spend per person and service our market share so that our venue will be the first choice of our market demographic. Let’s examine some of our marketing tools and strategies.
Our greatest marketing tool, the Menu and Wine List are often the least promoted. In trying to impress your customers be careful not to outsmart them by describing dishes with terms they don’t understand or are embarrassed to ask about. One restaurant I visited had a glossary of terms on the rear of the menu and a bit of a history of the terms.
If you have a signature dish, promote it on the menu. Encourage customers to try new wines and promote new varieties by offering a free tasting to clarify an evaluation. Make decisions easy for guests and educate and entertain them at the same time.
Have you considered providing a mini menu as a giveaway, maybe with a description of menu terms on the back, or a secret recipe? Or what about giving away a premium spirit on the next visit?
The table layout provides a marketing environment itself. For fully serviced restaurants with linen settings, avoid spoiling the ambience with tent cards outlining promotions as these encourage guests to select a discounted alternative. Instead, have a tasting display in the room and ask the wine companies to supply tasting stock and tasting notes in wallet size booklets.
For family style restaurants, use the table to publicise future events or cross marketing of a complementary environment. Only display items that you need to move.
Other promotions that we need to communicate with our customers are
- Upcoming sporting events or Holiday menus
- Information on catering facilities, banquets, or event management
- Your restaurant as a wedding venue
- CRM - Customer Relationship Management Program
Current holiday and sporting events are the best time to promote future events, especially if you have a full house! Try to have a calendar of events as a wallet size promotional gift (which may include a special offer with it) that you can attach to the guest receipt.
Why not provide a Catering pack as a giveaway?
Offer Wedding packages and accept bookings to ensure premium capacity. Remember to ensure that you are never closed to the general public during any events; you are simply ‘Fully Booked’.
So many other industries have become experts in developing demand from a customer base through CRM. (Customer Relationship Management). Restaurants are a natural conduit for CRM but lag behind usually because of the technology involved, and the perceived cost, however the information can easily be managed and maintained via an excel spreadsheet. It is not the complexity of the technology that makes a useful CRM, it is the consistency with which we update and work the data to our advantage. |
