- April 16, 2018 -
With so much of my time spent driving to and from appointments, it's always interesting to see which restaurants consistently have crowded parking lots.
Even more interesting...finding out which ones never seem to have empty tables.
Which ones don't have empty bar stools.
Is it because their food is exceptional?
If that was the case...how does McDonald's continue to serve garbage yet make a profit year after year after year?
If you've never watched, listened to or read anything by Jon Taffer - he's an interesting guy.
An entrepreneur whose background is in the bar and night club industry, he's known for his reality TV show Bar Rescue...
But it's his spin on getting people in the door of restaurants that's interesting.
Jon says, "You don't get to wow it until you have the eye and the body first."
....meaning the exterior of the restaurant has to grab their attention before they'll walk in the door.
Keep in mind, Jon is of a certain age who is going to gravitate to good old multi-channel direct marketing (my kinda guy) as a default before defaulting to an online or social media campaign.
So if you're a startup restaurant whose signature food item is gourmet burgers, he'll tell you to start with eight or ten picket signs posted in front of the building for five consecutive days reading...
+ World's Best Hamburgers!
+ Prices Unfair to Competition!
+ Buns Softest in Town!
+ Best Burger Or It's Free!
Most likely a newspaper will pick it up and post pictures of it. Or the local news gives it some airplay. You get exposure.
Now if you're a Gary Vee "social media's not a fad, this sh*t's real" fan...he'll tell you to see what photos are trending on Instagram and Twitter for the local area and engage digitally hard for three months and drum up exposure there.
The old(er) regime and the younger millennial regime...
Pick your poison.
You've heard me say time and time again that you have to intimately know your audience first.
The crowd going to McDonald's isn't the same crowd going to a gourmet burger joint...or a high-end steakhouse.
You don't take your husband or wife to McDonald's for their birthday...and live to see another day. Lol
You choose a nice place with atmosphere. You find a good place, you go back.
And you're more likely to take friends if they offer you something for doing so.
Dan Kennedy (GKIC) says that competing on price is the fastest way to the bottom - so is competing on "fast."
Give me something I can't get anywhere else and make it an event for me to go.
You're not just competing against other restaurants. You're competing against me choosing not to go out at all...and cooking dinner at home instead.
Texas De Brazil, a Brazilian steakhouse that originated in Texas is a chain with solid marketing and up-sell practices.
At the end of your meal they don't ask if you want to see the dessert menu.
They don't even ask if you WANT dessert at all.
Instead, they bring out the tray and place all the desserts on the table in front of you...THEN tell you all of the exotic ingredients in each item.
By the time they are done, your mouth is watering and you inevitably order one....even if you're stuffed.
Excellent practice.
That's the kind of marketing that excites me!
Building your list of customers is the easy/easier part...getting your customers to buy more, buy more often, refer more people is the challenge.
When was the last time a restaurant you ate at called you to ask how your meal was and to invite you back?
Do something UNEXPECTED with your business...and you will have customer loyalty all day, every day!
Yes, food and service should be good - but that's expected! Do what is NOT expected!
Need some quick idea on how to do the unexpected for your customers? Grab 50 of the best below.
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Talk soon,
