What's your beliefs?

Life sometimes dictates what we do and what we have to prepare ourselves for. With that being said, many restauranteurs allow the daily grind of running their businesses run how they run their lives. You must wake up with positive thoughts daily and assimilate them into your daily operating procedure. Allow theses positive thoughts of being aware of your surroundings, be the guideline. Make certain that this feeling is carried over to your employees and that they carry it on to your customers. Everything starts with you! How you project your thoughts makes everyone else do the same. If you're just going through the motions, not caring if your business is operating efficiently, making decisions based on what you think and not making these decisions based on the customers perspective than you may as well lock the door and close up. 

Make your beliefs system into a positive one, always think of ways to improve your life and business will generally follow the course. Visualize how your customer sees your business, Is it a a view of disorganization or is it a view of success? Only you can make that decision, only you can change how you'll view the glass, is it half empty or is it half full?

Do you have a Plan?

If you build it, they will come. Don’t jump to conclusions! Good service and food are essential, but a sound promotional plan should be the base on which to establish your restaurant. If your business is already running, you may want to make sure you are promoting to the best of your ability. If you’re a new business, putting together a smart promotional plan should be the start. Remember, food and service doesn’t always mean success.

Analyze Your Situation

Your restaurant is unique, take a step back and try to break it down. You can do this by performing something called The SWOT Analysis. This stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. What does your restaurant do well? What can you improve on? What opportunities can you take advantage of? Finally, what outside threats is your business facing? Identifying these four aspects is a great start towards your plan.

Research Other Restaurants

Look at other businesses in the area. What have they done to be successful? Even more importantly, try to learn from their mistakes. This is a great opportunity to learn from others so you don’t make the same mistakes they did. Look at your potential competitors as well. If you can be one step ahead of the game, you can take customers right from under them.

Determine Target Customers

You’ll want to be able to deploy your marketing strategies while hitting all your demographics. The type of restaurant you are running will determine which type of customers to expect. Therefore, it is important to identify your typical customer before proceeding with your promotional plan.

Set Your Budget

You want your plan to be successful but you don’t want to deplete your resources at the same time. Decide how much money can be used to carry out your plan. Once you have learned which strategies work best for you, you will be able to budget even better in the future. This is the next step to help identify your marketing strategies.

Pick Your Marketing Strategies

Now that your demographics are identified and your budget it laid out, you can decide which ways to market your restaurant. Remember, it is important to take your target customers into consideration when deciding how to market. Classier restaurants will have a more laid-back approach while sports bars will probably use a louder and more direct method.

Determine the Objectives and Goals

What do you strive to achieve from this plan? How much do you want this plan to better your business? Objectives are more qualitative such as an increase in revenue, while goals are more quantitative such as a 10% revenue increase. Setting objectives and goals are important for looking back and evaluating the success of a promotional plan.

Evaluate the Success of Your Plan

After implementing and letting your plan run its’ course, it’s important to evaluate whether you achieved what you wanted to achieve. Identify whether your goals and objectives were met or not. Being able to look back at your plan is essential especially if it does not go the way as planned.

Write Down and Record

In the future you may have to draw up another game plan or revise your current plan. Write down, record and take notes on everything. You’ll want to be able to look back and see what has been successful and what hasn’t. You can’t be perfect so it’s important to learn every step of the way.

Don’t just wing it! Sit down and draw it out. Have you put time into your promotional plan?

Second Chances!

Interesting that second chances are rarely obtainable in life and also in the restaurant business. First impression are so sacred and should be dealt with in a responsible way.

Recently my wife and myself stopped by a potential clients business, my wife is always hesitant about going in with me and trying a restaurant that she knows is under my scrutiny. As I suggested that she accompany me she was resistant as we sat in the car in front of the business, I coaxed her to come in as an artist she has a keen eye and can quickly determine what's wrong. As we walked in she had a look on her face that she wasn't really on board of going in and just trying this businesses food. Once we entered the business I immediately noticed the this place was in crisis mode, the floors were not clean, the windows were not clean, the counter are was disheveled and not organized. There were no menus available to review and the specials looked as if someone had just did them to have something on special, simply put they were just going through the motions of operating a business without taking into consideration of the customers perspective. And as a result my wife decided that she will never eat there or visit again. How many times a week does this happen in this business? 

The atmosphere, staff behavior, appeal, food quality, cleanliness and general first impressions typically reflect the quality of ownership or management for the restaurant. The restaurant business is a breeding ground for the unexpected such as incomplete deliveries, staff no-shows, cash crunches, unruly guests, equipment failures and the list goes on. All too often owners and managers take on the reactive role of a fireman putting out fires and are unable to - or become oblivious to -their guests' impression of their restaurant. The stain on the ceiling tile becomes increasingly bigger, the onion rings lose some of their crispiness and their staff gradually becomes apathetic to customer service.

Proactive operators are able to spend less time fighting fires and more time creating positive impressions by implementing systems and controls to keep their restaurant running smoothly, clean and in good repair. To minimize the unexpected, they place heavy emphasis on staff training, have a "Steps of Service" policy to insure adherence to service standards and use quality control and readiness checklists daily.
When the restaurant is running like a well-oiled machine, managers and owners have more time to focus on seeing their restaurant through their customer's eyes - and then make adjustments accordingly. Lighting and music are always at the perfect level; if a table is dirty it gets bussed; when something breaks it gets fixed; and when a guest walks in they are warmly greeted.By making a great first impression, you increase your chances for an opportunity to make a second.

The Customer Comes Second?

The Customer Comes Second

In their search for excellent customer service, many restaurant owners often invoke the old adage, "the customer comes first". Yet many operators are left scratching their head, when the more they repeat this mantra, the less their staff seems to put it into practice.

Effective leadership requires more than a recital of famous quotes, adages or proverbs. To be an effective leader - getting others to buy into a particular objective - you must first be a good servant. In other words, learn to lead by example by treating your staff the way you want them to treat your guests. If you want to motivate your staff to do something then you need to walk the talk. As human beings we crave recognition, respect, kindness, courtesy, dignity and appreciation. How many loyal customers do you think you'd have right now if each one of them were to experience these each time they visited your restaurant? Now ask yourself, how much respect, appreciation and recognition do you actually give to your staff? Do you praise them for a job well done - even if it's routine? When you find them doing something wrong do you pull them aside privately or do you find yourself calling them out in front of others? How often do you remind them of their importance? Does your staff feel dignified in their jobs, or do they only do it for the money? As an owner or manager you have great influence over the work environment. Here are some tips for making your staff feel appreciated and respected:

Smile - it's often been said that a smile requires much fewer muscles than a frown; besides, a smile given is more likely to get a smile in return.

 Listen more and talk less - take time to communicate more effectively by asking your staff how you can better help them do their jobs - and then listen to their responses with genuine empathy.

Call them by name - Dale Carnegie once wrote there is no sweeter sound than hearing one's own name. Name recognition is one of the most effective forms of flattery and makes the recipient feel valued.

Respect their time - you don't want your customers to wait, so why make your employees wait when they need your help, advice or direction?

Give them your undivided attention - have you ever been telling someone something and noticed they are constantly looking away or are distracted? Don't allow interruptions or distractions to take your eyes or attention away from the one you are talking with.

Say please and thank you - simple courtesy and manners produces amazing results. Chic-fil-A and Marriot are well known for teaching their staff to respond with, "My pleasure" whenever a guest tells them thank you. Is it any wonder they are recognized leaders in customer service?

 Apologize - when you make a mistake with an employee, admit it, apologize for it and then correct it. Showing humility conveys respect and sincerity.

Criticize in private - managing employees oftentimes requires that disciplinary action be taken when rules or policy are not followed. When corrective action becomes necessary, do so in a private setting. This shows respect and dignity and will be recognized by the entire staff - not just the one being disciplined.

When you treat your staff in a manner that makes them feel like #1 in your eyes, they'll almost certainly treat your guests as #1 in their eyes.

What do customers think of?

Have you ever gone into a restaurant and immediately formed an impression, good or bad, simply by walking in the front door?

No matter what reviews you have had or what ratings you may receive on any Social Media sites the very fact that you want customers to connect with you and then they walk in and it's a disaster, well listen up!

Upon entering an establishment, your first impression was formed by a scene of dirty floors, stained ceiling tiles, no greeting and in his words, "an overall bad vibe". The manager or owner was seemingly oblivious to their customer's true perception of the restaurant. As a result, this guest made the decision to never return - before ever sitting down.

The atmosphere, staff behavior, appeal, food quality, cleanliness and general first impressions typically reflect the quality of ownership or management for the restaurant. The restaurant business is a breeding ground for the unexpected such as incomplete deliveries, staff no-shows, cash crunches, unruly guests, equipment failures and the list goes on. All too often owners and managers take on the reactive role of a fireman putting out fires and are unable to - or become oblivious to "their guests" impression of their restaurant. The stain on the ceiling tile becomes increasingly bigger, the onion rings lose some of their crispiness and their staff gradually becomes apathetic to customer service. In other words the business is running you, not you running the business. 

Successful operators are able to spend less time fighting fires and more time creating positive impressions by implementing systems and controls to keep their restaurant running smoothly, clean and in good repair. To minimize the unexpected, they place heavy emphasis on staff training, have a "Steps of Service" policy to insure adherence to service standards and use quality control and readiness checklists daily.

When the restaurant is running like a well-oiled machine, managers and owners have more time to focus on seeing their restaurant through their customer's eyes - and then make adjustments accordingly. Lighting and music are always at the perfect level; if a table is dirty it gets bussed; when something breaks it gets fixed; and when a guest walks in they are warmly greeted. By making a great first impression, you increase your chances for an opportunity to make a second.

This is a checklist item that needs to be reviewed weekly by yourself. Appoint a staff member to make certain that everything has a feel of a successful operation. From the windows being kept clean to the bathrooms being spotless every hour of every day. This is your house and customers are your guest, would you treat your guest at your home the way your treating your customers that come into your business the same way?