Ask The Experts

This is a members area

“where the only bad question is the one that you don’t ask.”

~ Jonathan Munsell

We recently launched this section, April 15th, based on members requests and will begin to input the questions we have backlogged and will gladly answer any new questions posed.

Please feel free to throw out there any topic whatsoever you have a question about.

Our team of experts on Restaurant Start-up, Restaurant Systems & Operations, Restaurant Promotions & Marketing, Restaurant Finance and Catering will chime in and guide you and assist you any way we can.

Please enter your question in the box below:

1. Rating: +14

   

   How can I build a profitable catering business in a slow economy?

   The short answer - It's all about marketing! I think catering is where it is at these days. It was the big buzz in 2008, but I still think it one of the fastest ways to grow your sales.

   I believe in a system of street marketing, name capture, sequential mailings and regular follow-up. It is all outlined in full detail in the Catering 101 Manual which is part of our system (It is couple hundred pages of exactly how to build your catering business from the ground up including the real life marketing items we use in my business today, which is a rock solid growing everyday catering business.

   Here are couple low cost no cost ideas you can start right away... Use the newest social media devices to spread the word about your catering business. If you are marketing to a certain niche, you may find them on Facebook so creating a Facebook Fan page may be ideal. You can also purchase Facebook ads for a fraction of the price vs. print advertising. Targets these add in your geographical area and see what response you get.

2. Rating: +1

   

   Can I use Twitter to market my restaurant business?

   Most definitely! Many restaurants and coffee establishments such as Starbucks are using Twitter to increase their brand awareness. check out my Twitter Blog Post

3. Rating: +1

   

   How can I use video to market my restaurant?

   Good question! First, make sure you have a website, every business establishment, whether large or small, needs to have a website. Then take a quick tour of your restaurant highlighting the benefits to the customers, unique cuisine or a fantastic location for example. Make it a short 2 minute video and add the address and location to the bottom of the video.

   Then interview your patrons for quick 10 second testimonials; nothing says excellence than word-of-mouth advertising.

   Add these videos to your website for future customers to view!

4. Rating: +0

   

   What are the 10 Most Important Measurements when it comes to ways to improve your restaurant under the headings of Food, Service, & People?

   Answered by Jonathan Munsell

   Systems for each is the place to start - Food, Service and your people.
   Recipes and procedures for the food. (then track waste or mistakes)
   Service standards and adhearance to them for service and people
   You didn't mention marketing so I will. Marketing can apply to wealth of things. (marketing should be a system as well)

   example of how staff market and should be systematized: Staff - are they engaging the guests, are they hitting the sales points as part of service, are they getting the guests to come back - do you know who your guests are? Are you capturing their information?

   Your people have all sorts of systems and standards that apply also - Appearance, job duties, professionalism, efficiency.

   Here are some measurements to use:

   Food - contribution - how many dollars is the item contributing to the bottom line (more important than a food cost %, I am sure if you are like me you take dollars to the bank not percents)

   Menu Mix - what is selling and what is not (then ask yourself is your #1 sales tool "the Menu" as effective and designed well enough to the heavy lifting.

   Labor - specifically sales by hour and what your dollars your labor model supports. example: fast food might be at $75 in sales per person per man hour, fine dining might be $300. Figure this out and it ill tell you your minimum staffing to do the sales you need or desire.

   Service - Time to get to the table, Ticket time, Sales per server, alcohol sales per server.
   People -

   Marketing - Number of names captured per number of covers, redemption rate of offers and more importantly results in dollars - if you made an offer and you brought in someone with say a BOGO. How many diners came in with the single offer and how many dollars over that offer to you get from the table.

   We can also dive into the P&L -
   ~what is your current ratio - assets over liabilities?
   ~Days sales in inventory - ending inventory over your average daily food cost (same for beverage and paper)
   ~Prime cost ratio is also a big indicator - cost of sales + Payroll costs divided by sales
   ~Occupancy cost total occupancy cost over total sales

   Wow I could go on but I think this is too much already. Take a step back and see what makes sense for your business. When anything is tracked it improves, when it is also reported/posted it improves exponentially.

5. Rating: +0

   

   Introducing your catering business to the community? posted by Mohammed L

   Answer by Jonathan Munsell

   Once you are set up for success then market the heck out of it. Make sure you are set up first. What type of catering? Is it coupled with a restaurant? What are your current marketing plans?

   Make sure you focus on Direct Response Marketing and make sure it is all tracked - track results that is.

   My Restaurant Success System covers all this and catering. Catering and restaurants are similar in the sense that you have to have strong systems, marketing is similar in the sense that you have to do it, you must understand the basics of effective ad creation, and it has to be tracked. You just do it in different places i.e. Wedding shows, on the street, corporate offices, doctor offices, car dealerships, yellow pages, online etc.

   Make sure your message compels them to take action!

   Capture names any way you can (wedding show, website opt in)
   Buy lists of businesses or brides.
   Mail them an offer or some type of appointment request to bring them free food
   follow up, follow up, follow up

   All the details and all my sales letters, promotions and advertising can be found in my catering 101, which is part of the complete Restaurant Success System (all levels include the catering component).

6. Rating: +0

   

   Do you have any ideas on how to increase my corporate hams sales for the holidays? How about ideas on advertising my hams for the holidays?

   I think that advertising for Ham Sales, in your case, or Gift Cards or even specialty meals packed to go for the holidays all have a similar approach.

   The low cost / no cost restaurant marketing tactic is always "4 Walls Marketing". Make sure the 4 walls of your place are communicating the message you would most like to push. This includes a multitude of ways and media to communicate the message.
   4 walls:

   Signage

   Bathrooms Signage (one of my favorites) on the mirror or the back of the stall. Think about the captured audience potential.

   Entrance Signage - Hit them before they even get in the door. You program them to be thinking about anything you want before they even open the door. I like to use a question "How Can You Get A Free Ham This Holiday?". It plants the question and they will want to figure it out and will most likely ask.

   Interior Signage - Wherever appropriate, get a sign conveying your message. You can even play off the door signage and either answer the question or ask more questions and make it a game.

   Table tent or flyer on every table in the place.

   Bag stuffer in every bag that goes out the door - whether it's To Go food or delivery. Get one on every plate or tray served or with every check you present. Don't just bury it in the check presenter; put it right on top. Put the bag stuffer with every catering order and in every box lunch.

   Email your list - craft a series of emails that keeps your message in front of your guests and intrigues them.

   Website - Post it on your website. Have a link from the promotion in your email to more details available online. Online you can spell out all the details and benefits and exactly who the offer is perfect for or applies best.

   Contest - Have a contest to give away a FREE item that you are promoting then have a big sign and a business card drop or little form to be filled out. The people that "Opt-in" the contest must want the prize so even if they don't win send them a runner up prize for a special discount or offer that works with what you are promoting.

   Mail your list - A direct response mail piece targeted to your existing guests, that already know you will cut through the mail clutter and can draw a huge response. It doesn't have to be fancy or expensive. It could even be part of a regular mail cycle like a newsletter. Something you may want to try is drop out piece/insert that takes them out of the newsletter and is obvious when they open it.

   Buy a list of the top 50 employers in your area and mail them. This message needs to be a little different because they may not know who you are. In this case you want to use direct response tactics like we teach in the Restaurant Success System, i.e. Headline, compelling copy, offer, expiration to just mention a few.

   At the end of the day there is no magic bullet that is going to sell a million products but when you combine a bunch of methods you will reap results from all of them and your overall response will be tremendous.

   Just like with everything else you have to take action. Start with the items that you like from above and that are easy for you. Then work to add one a day until at the end of a week or so you have a tremendous amount of communication and marketing all working to sell your product.

   For details and examples of everything mentioned above check out RestaurantSuccessSystem.com/noriskoffer/

   In the Restaurant Success System you not only get examples, tactics and strategies you also get done for you downloadable pieces. Yes the actual pieces that all you have to do is change your restaurant name and print. It is worth a minute to check it out. RestaurantSuccessSystem.com/noriskoffer/

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