Pre-opening Manual
Creating a winning Restaurant Concept
 What makes a Good Restaurant? Some times it is hard to put a definable finger on the precise element.
There is no “one” thing, but many attributes, that make a good restaurant.
If we asked any individual to pick their favourite restaurant and asked what where the factors that made them choose their restaurant, we would have a cavalcade of different expectations… so how do we fathom through this selection and hone onto the crucial criteria?
Well we don’t. How many times have we picked up the paper and read the praises of businesses that appear to be overnight success stories?, on further investigation we find that this overnight sensation has in actual fact taken twenty years to develop their skills, knowledge, and experience. Sure some do “Luck” it out and are overnight success stories but these are few and far between.
In all the successful business enterprises that I have read about (not just those pertaining to restaurants) the two common aspects that success is based on their ability in communicating and getting to know and understand their customer.
It’s still a People Business …..
Hospitality is communicating with your staff, your customers, your friends and family. Lose the plot with any of these main players and all of a sudden your career just becomes a job and now, it’s a hard job at that.
Communication is a two way street, offer and acceptance and a win win result. This doesn’t happen overnight it is molded every day, every month, and every year. Management and Staff bring Skills and Knowledge to the positions they hold, but they still want to be challenged and they want to develop future skills so that they can progress. There are opportunities within the structure of a restaurant whereby we can keep staff interested and motivated. A winning concept works on the formula of PEOPLE PLUS PRODUCT = PROFIT . Select, train, and Retain Key People. This philosophy has to come from the top down, and this means that the core of the philosophy is investment in people.
Understanding the customer…….
If you were to ask any Restaurateur what CRM stands for I would be very surprised if they could translate the acronym, and yet the Restaurant industry was one of the first to invent the process. CRM stems from the old “Mein Host” management practice whereby every owner, manager, and Maitre D’ recognized their customer, knew their business, their family, their friends and their political and religious leanings.
Due to the privacy laws we need to manage information about our customers in a more structured and professional way. Today any restaurateur that doesn’t have a Customer Relationship Management Program (CRM) is immediately behind the eight ball in the marketing efforts and the profitability stakes.
Customer Relationship Management should record;
- Who your Customers are
- Where they come from
- Why do they come
- When do they come.
CRM systems can be simply developed through excel or access, which come imbedded in any Microsoft business/ Professional packages. They are easy to set up and can tell you volumes about your customer base, but more importantly it can also tell you, who is not in your customer relation ship base.
I have seen many operators confuse CRM programs with Loyalty programs and discount offers trying to entice new entrants to their market base. Why do we reward the newest entrant? why don’t we introduce rewards to the longest eligible member to reinforce the loyalty concept? Why do we join discount programs to devalue our product, why don’t we value add to our product and increase our profit margin.
I don’t object to giving a meal away or buying a drink for a customer, the emphasis is that I (the owner, manager,) will participate in the offer and explain why I value the customer and explain the reward that I’m sharing. This has far more impact on the relationship with the customer as opposed to a frequent Diner Card, which represents a transaction and eliminates all personnel contact.
CONSISTANCY
Consistency is another factor in defining a winning Restaurant Concept. We need consistency in Service and in Product That are backed up by systems, policies and procedures. Restaurants are a zero sum game plan, in that you are only as good as the last service period. Each day must be as successful as the last, every service period must be supported and supervised, anything worth doing is worth doing right, again and again and again.
Restaurant Business Plans provide more than a justification of sales projections and cash flow budgets; they have to tell a story of concept development, professional management principles, commitment to service, and most importantly how the concept will differentiate itself from the competitors and “win” in a crowded segmented industry. A winning restaurant concept will provide these detail in the Business Plan.
An example of a Winning Restaurant Concept will reflect consistency in design, menu, and the execution of daily operations. This is what a successful guest experience is all about, and this is what creates customer loyalty. Creating and maintaining customer loyalty becomes the daily mission of every winning concept and requires personal contact from a sincere manager and well trained staff. |
