Get An Instant 20-30% Increase In Restaurant Sales By Following These Year-End Tips

The New Year is almost here. I can smell sweet ham cooking in the kitchen, and at the same time I’m writing down the ways I figured to make 2010 the most profitable year for your restaurant.

But let’s get one thing straight. Looking forward to a prospective new year doesn’t mean you won’t learn anything from the one you’re leaving behind. New opportunities are a result of careful observation of your experiences.

Here are some of my tips for 2010.

1. Where’s your profit coming from
Where’s your money coming from? Do most of your customers order take-out? Do you have delivery? Is it booming?

What you should do is list down on a spreadsheet which of your services generate how many dollars as well as the percentage of your total sales. This is how you’re going to plan what you’re going to do in the coming months. If 65% of your earnings come from lunch, then you’d do well to allocate 60% of your budget to advertise your lunchtime offers.

2. Establish a marketing calendar
One of the most painful mistakes you could make as a restaurant owner is to bite into every single marketing gimmick your ad rep throws your way. That is—and believe me on this—a complete waste of money.

But like I said earlier, it pays to look back once in a while. Which is why you should put up a marketing calendar. Make notes on your calendar which advertising gimmicks worked and which ones blew. The idea is to weed out the gimmicks that failed and keep the ones that succeeded.

3. Talk with your customers
So okay. This one doesn’t really apply to a specific year, and it is pretty much self-explanatory. Talking to your customers allows you to build a relationship with your most important resource. I wonder how most restaurant owners would react if I tell them that it’s six times easier to sell to a long-time patron than it is to find a new customer.

4. Explore niche restaurant marketing
Niche marketing is the future of restaurant advertising. Period.

Fact is many restaurants are already doing it. Why not attend a local bridal show to promote your Asian dishes and diet-friendly cuisines? Take note of Valentine’s Day and advertise your dinner specials as early as January. Before summer vacation, why not promote an event where graduating high school students get as much as 20% discount if they bring in their parents?

Niche marketing will really boost your sales, if done right.

My last piece of advice: stick to your plan, put it into action. A new year is an opportunity to begin with a clean slate. In your case, take what you can from the previous year, turn it into a learning experience, and then use that as leverage to bring your restaurant to new heights.

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Six Simple Ways To Improve Your Restaurant’s Publicity

Ask yourself, “Will I eat in my own restaurant?”

The easy answer is “Yes,” but then again that’s an easy question, too. If you really want to understand how the customer’s mind works, you need to put yourself in his or her shoes, and ask yourself the real painful question, “Why should I eat in my own place when there are dozens of restaurants in the area?”

How do you solve this age-old business dilemma? Simple. Work on your restaurant’s publicity. The more you put your restaurant’s name out there, the more people you’ll see coming in.

That’s why, in this article, I’m going to talk about the six most effective ways to raise your restaurant’s publicity. Here goes.

1.    Web and interactive marketing
These days restaurant marketing begins and ends on the Internet. Period. Raise your restaurant’s publicity through blogs, podcasts, YouTube videos, etc. Online viral marketing also comes to mind.

Burger King’s Subservient Chicken website is perhaps one of the first successful online campaigns that demonstrated the power of advertising on the Internet. Online marketing is an effective way to increase restaurant publicity, and the practice is definitely here to stay.

2.    More viral campaigns
Viral marketing isn’t limited to the Internet. Think Starbucks and learn by example. Some years ago the coffee giant sent a car around Washington DC with a coffee cup affixed to the roof. It handed out coupons to good Samaritans who notified the driver. The campaign went viral faster than Dominos could deliver pizzas. It created a buzz around town, and Starbucks received plenty of media attention, locally and nationally.

3.    Larger than life PR events
Creating controversial PR events would eventually stir viral news about your restaurant business, which in turn would prompt bloggers to talk about you, and your new place, on the Internet. It’s a vicious yet healthy cycle for a restaurant operator.

Senor Frog celebrated its first location’s opening in Myrtle Beach by creating the world’s largest pair of underpants. It got some restaurant publicity alright, and a spot in the Guinness Book of Records to boot. KFC did something similar by being the first business to erect a logo visible from outer space.

4.    Environmental marketing
Environment-friendly marketing as a way to raise restaurant publicity is always a good thing. Not only are you generating awareness towards your restaurant business, but you’ll be doing the environment a big favor, too.

Refer to this article for tips on how to go green in your restaurant. Then use any of the marketing tactics I mentioned above to tell the world about it.

5.    Niche marketing
It helps to know that Hispanics are the fastest-growing demographic in the country. So expect to see more Spanish-language ads, family-oriented promotions, and authentic Hispanic dishes in restaurants over the next couple years or so. As a restaurant operator, what ideas do you have in mind that takes advantages of this growing Hispanic audience?

6.    Brands with more personality
Eating out isn’t all about eating. It’s about the experience too. As customers continue to look to restaurant dining as a form of entertainment, you need to be ready to offer exemplary dining experience to your patrons, not just the meal.

Simply put, the restaurant’s personality plays a big part in the overall dining experience. It helps establish your brand name as well.

I think I hit the nail on the head when I said eating out is as much about experience as it is the taste of the food. While good food and great value is still the knockout combination that would send your competitors out cold, it doesn’t hurt to work on other things such as PR events and personalizing your restaurant brand.

I’ll say it again. Improve your public relations, and everything else will follow. Generate sales by going all out on your restaurant’s publicity.