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Restaurant Industry News
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Wednesday January 7th, 2009 |
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Food & Beverage - Ways to Find & Spread Good News About Your Place - By Ken Burgin
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You may not be in the event or entertainment industry, but there are many ways to show your business is alive, not in a coma (like the competitors). |
I remember a customer saying to me: "I like your cafe - there's always something new happening..." She wanted fresh, not stale.
In a gloomy world, there's actually an extra responsibility to generate good news, and it's all around you. Is this just putting on the happy face? You betcha - that's the business we're in.
So what's the news this week?
• What would you like to see in next season's menu? Here's how to vote.
• Our favourite local events coming up over the next few months
• A walk in our neighbourhood - this month's 'local secret'
• Our best selling menu item last week...
• Photos from a recent community meeting or staff event
• What the chef found at the markets yesterday...
• Customer bloopers - our recent favourites (be nice!)
• Meet the local wine supplier/butcher/vegetable supplier etc
• Staff Profile of the month - Peter Tran/Danni Smith etc
• Our fourth annual YOU awards - list of prizes for 'customer with best smile', 'customer with most food knowledge', 'customer most passionate about food', 'customer who most loves their Blackberry' etc
• Green is our favourite colour - how we're saving money and energy
• How to get the most busy staff: tip of the week from the people who work here
• Strange kitchen equipment item of the month: the stick blender
• Birthday of the business - don't know when that is? Make it up!
• Celebrity birthdays this week
• Interesting hobbies and sporting activities of a staff member
• Our chef's favourite cookbooks
• The chef's favourite knives - brand and type
• The bar manager's favourite cocktail ingredients and why
• What the staff really think about Gordon Ramsay
• Two words on the menu that no-one knows how to pronounce
• Information about where our coffee beans come from
• Make friends with us on Facebook - here's how
• Fun Fact of the Week: if you stacked up all the burger buns we serve in a month, it would reach...etc
• Lots more examples here - a great project for your 4-hour Marketing Manager.
How to spread the news?
• Start simple today - on the noticeboard or blackboard
• In a newsletter - print or using email
• A small news slip with the account
• Letterbox drop in your neighbourhood (this is usually surprisingly cheap)
• On a free or local online event site
• In the window - who says the only thing you can display is the menu?
Remember: Perfection can be the Enemy of Progress. If you've been agonising for months about how to do a newsletter, stop! Just get it up on the blackboard. Constipation does not create sales, but customer interest and chit-chat does...
Profitable Hospitality offers management and cost-control systems (Manuals & CD-ROMs) for restaurants, cafes, hotels, bars and clubs. The systems are based on the extensive consulting and operating experience of CEO Ken Burgin, and enable busy owners and managers to set up complete operating and cost-control systems in minutes, not months. Profitable Hospitality also runs regular management training workshops in the areas of kitchen profit & efficiency, restaurant marketing and functions management. A free monthly e-newsletter keeps you up to date on the latest industry management issues. www.profitablehospitality.com.
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