SPOOKY: Five Restaurant Horror Stories to Make Your Skin Crawl
Working in a restaurant is tough enough without the weird and gross stuff guests do from time to time. Just in time for Halloween comes a collection of “whispers.” You’ll be grateful didn’t happen to you, but they still might give you nightmares.
DID YOU KNOWS…
Pairing Booze with Halloween Candy
If you think Halloween is just for kids or frat-parties, we feel bad for you. Halloween is amazing, and it gets even more amazing if you know how to pair booze with the right Halloween candy. In fact, this infographic might give you some Halloween event/promotional ideas.
500 Years in The Ocean
According to the European Parliament, the products that will be banned account for over 70% of maritime litter. MEPs also agreed that measures need to be taken to reduce pollution from tobacco products, particularly cigarette filters that contain plastic. They are the second most littered single-use plastic item and one butt can pollute between 500 and 1,000 liters of water, taking up to a decade to bio-degrade. Under the directive, waste from cigarette filters containing plastic will have to be reduced by 50% by 2025 and 80% by 2030. The following infographic uses data from NOAA and Woods Hole Sea Grant to show just how long it takes for a range of other plastic items to bio-degrade in a marine environment.
Should Brands Take a Stand?
According to a recent report published by Edelman, it is more important (and sensitive) than ever for brands to take a stand. Based on a survey of 8,000 consumers across eight markets, Edelman found that more and more people are what they define as belief-driven buyers, i.e. consumers whose buying behavior is influenced by their beliefs to a certain degree. Across all markets, 64% of the respondents were identified as belief-driven buyers in 2018, up from just 51% in 2017. Interestingly, the share of belief-driven buyers is highest in China at 78%, while it’s surprisingly low at 59% in the U.S.
ACCORDING TO THOSE SURVEYED…
Why it matters to you: Honest guest feedback is invaluable to improving your restaurant’s performance.
Can we all agree that guest feedback is an invaluable tool to improving your performance? With that said, how are you getting yours? Yes, that’s the problem, isn’t it? You aren’t. Sure, you visit tables or chat with guests as they wait or leave, but that’s anecdotal and you can’t count on its relevance to your real performance. That’s is why soliciting feedback is crucial to learning how to improve your operations. The good news is that if you have a functioning email list you can ask your guests questions that will clarify what they truly think about your restaurant.
To create a customer survey, you have to start by knowing what you want to learn. Is it about your menu, service, promotions or pricing? The key is to keep it simple. Start with your email marketing service (presuming you have chosen one). Most of the major providers also have a survey component built into their platform. This will ensure you can use modern survey structures along with getting the statistics. To really get insight you can use, ask hard questions and ignore how terrible bad feedback can feel. Instead, focus on now knowing how you can do to improve your business and your guests’ satisfaction.
[Source: BevSpot]
GET TUNED UP
Why it matters to you: Your online reputation is a key to marketing your business.
If you are looking for a data point that convinces you of the influence of online reviews, here’s one: 84% of customers value online reviews at least as much as they do a personal recommendation. There is a minimum amount you can do to ensure you have control over your online reputation.
This article on three ways to use Yelp for marketing your restaurant is a great place to start. Some of what is covered are the free services offered. These include claiming your page. This means you are verifying your location and ensuring the info on you is correctly reflected on the site. You can also read and respond to your reviews. This step has been shown to improve your ratings and better connect you to your guests. The other two ways include check-in offers and pay-as-you-use services.
It’s always a good idea to review your online presence, but how much effort should you apply? Given that online reviews have been shown to influence 67.7% of purchasing decisions, according to Moz, the answer is more than what you are likely doing.
[Source: FSRMagazine]
