Wednesday, April 19, 2017
Today's Specials:
STAFF: How to Pour Beer
Training your staff to pour beer properly is key to keeping draft beer waste low because overpour and sloppy oversights are costly habits that add up quickly.
MARKETING: Sports Bar Marketing Fail: Not Speaking the Language of the Sports Fan
We know it's obvious, but sports bars need to talk sports with their guests and social media followers. Sadly, too many locations fail at this obvious sports bar marketing tactic.
DID YOU KNOWs…
Instagram-Worthy Trends
Restaurant Business Magazine counted down seven new Instagram-worthy tableside service options that are gaining a new life on Instagram. Take a look at how some restaurants are generating new revenue with old-fashioned service.
An Epic Frat Race
On April 1, a Notre Dame Senior set out to run a half marathon (13.1 miles) while shotgunning a beer at every mile. He completed the race in a staggering one hour, 43 minutes, and 42 seconds in addition to his 13 beers. Check out the full video here.
Favorite Seinfeld Food Moments
Over nine seasons Elaine, George, Jerry, and Kramer found themselves in too many ridiculous dining situations to count. Eater found their 25 favorite food moments in Seinfeld and ranked them based on their influence on pop culture, accuracy at mirroring real life, and overall hilarity.
HOW TO PISS OFF YOUR STAFF
Why it matters to you: These are the most common things that frustrate a restaurant staff.
Keeping everyone on your staff happy can be a major challenge. In restaurants, there are multiple common policies that have tendencies to cause added frustration among the staff. In Toast’s article, 6 Ways to Piss Off Your Restaurant Staff, a former restaurant worker talks about their experience with what has made staff collectively angry. Many of these involve being inflexible with scheduling, aka when you’re on the schedule for multiple ‘clopenings’ as well as honoring requested time off. Other hot topics that bother a restaurant staff involve inconsistency management and guest requests.
Everyone can agree that communication skills are essential while working in any restaurant, and when management lacks communication skills, the staff notices almost instantly. When expectations change depending on who is opening or closing, it creates unnecessary confusion. This is also the reason many restaurants have weekly, or even nightly, manager meetings to ensure everyone is on the same page. There are always restaurant operators that are easier to work with than others, but when a server gets conflicting information and feedback depending on who is managing that day, it can be extremely frustrating for your staff, therefore, we must ensure all management’s leadership skills are up to par.
KEY THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT MILLENNIALS
Why it matters to you: do you know what your loyal customers expect?
The large majority of the guests in your restaurant are most likely millennials. Millennials' expectations and demands are very different from any generation that has come before therefore there are multiple aspects to take note as they dine in your restaurant. These digital-savvy diners have multiple patterns found throughout the generation that is influencing the restaurant industry. Most millennials claim that they are willing to pay more if they know a product or company’s values match their own. This dedication has caused many companies to take an extra strong approach to social responsibility and philanthropy as a tool to attract a younger crowd.
As restaurant leaders, it is extremely important to understand our customers, therefore, we can better cater to their needs. According to Forbes, millennials spend over 44% of their eating dollars at restaurants. This has helped spark the trend in fast-casual restaurants and delivery services because they are deemed “more convenient” to most loyal dining customers. Whatever the reason, the number of food dollars spent on restaurants and take-out options h as steadily increased over the years, from 34 percent in 1974 to 50 percent in 2014, a large reason is because of millennials. It is important to notice the industry shifts as the generational patterns begin to evolve.
