INFOGRAPHIC: How to Gamify Sales for Your Restaurant’s Staff
This infographic demonstrates both the realities of our industry’s performance in suggestive selling and the incredible opportunities we are running right by. As much as 80% of our readers acknowledge they aren’t doing enough to suggestive sell to their guests. This translates into an enormous upside for operators that put effort into improving their sales execution.
DID YOU KNOWS…
99 Problems & a Beer Ain’t One
PBR has been getting some sweet press recently for its 99-Pack of Beer promotion, but were they first one to do it? Does it even matter? Austin Beerworks thinks so. They did the exact same promo back in 2014 and got a tad “pissed off” that PBR copied them years later and without credit. This isn’t the first time PBR has been accused of copying another company’s ideas. But this time PBR announced they’re going to donate $9999.99 of proceeds to the Central Texas Food Bank, one of Austin Beerworks’ favorite local charities.
The Hunt for Black Friday Deals
While Black Friday still is the biggest day of the year for brick-and-mortar retailers in the United States, the rise of e-commerce has helped the concept of Black Friday discounts become a global phenomenon over the past decade. As the following chart, based on Google Search trends, shows, Black Friday is getting bigger every year in terms of consumer interest. In November 2018, Google saw roughly twice as many searches for Black Friday as it did in November 2014 and more than five times as many as it did in 2007.
Red Robin Closed After Chemical Mishap
‘Tis the season, we guess. Another restaurant has run into a cleaning chemical accident, this time a Red Robin just outside Boston. A cleaning chemical reaction forced the evacuation of eight employees and the entire restaurant’s guests. The location remains closed while an investigation takes place. It appears no one was harmed in this one, thankfully. Take this time to re-train all your staff on how to properly handle your cleaning chems.
MARKETING SPEND
Why it matters to you: Budgeting your marketing ensures you actually do marketing.
How much do you spend on marketing annually at your restaurant? If you can’t provide a number of a budgeted percentage, then you are committing a classic error of omission. Most independent operators don’t even write a budget for their operation for any aspect. With marketing it’s especially important to ensure you have set aside the resources you need to run successful programs that will drive traffic and keep your restaurant top of mind. According to the National Restaurant Association, only about 3% of the average restaurant's monthly sales is spent on marketing. This typically isn’t enough. Think in terms of the big national players that might dedicate as much as 6-8% of their top lines sales to marketing.
Let’s view this in terms of real numbers. If your restaurant’s revenue is $1,500,000 then 3% is $45,000. That’s a decent budget to put against social media spending, in-house marketing programs, and traditional advertising. The key here is knowing that budget number and pushing yourself to spend it wisely. For those of you that serve beer, wine & spirits, you have an additional advantage because your wholesalers are happy to amplify your marketing by providing printing for POP materials or prizes for a contest you might be running. But the key takeaway here is that you have to know what you are willing to spend to actually spend it. As the year closes, now is the time to determine your budgets for all of your departments, but for sure your marketing needs to be funded if your goal is to grow in 2019.
[Source: Modern Restaurant Management]
NO MORE GAS
Why it matters to you: Berkeley California’s natural gas ban gets challenged.
There are few commercial kitchens in the North American (really the world) that operate without natural gas for cooking. In fact, flame has a long and storied history in cooking from the first time our ancestors harnessed fire to season and flavor their meats. Yes, that may be a bit melodramatic, but a proposed ban on natural gas in Berkeley, CA might be a step in the direction of disrupting that narrative. Berkeley is a progressive bastion and were the first to implement ideas like curb side recycling pick up and the banning of Styrofoam. They point to data that claims the use and transportation of natural gas makes up 27% of the city’s greenhouse gas emissions and 73% of its building sector emissions. They passed an ordinance in July that would ban the use of gas in future construction throughout the city of 122,000, and the California Restaurant Association (CRA) is fighting back with a law suit.
The CRA counter claims that the science is faulty and the disruption to businesses like our industry would be catastrophic. They point to how many restaurants and their guests rely on gas cooking for speed and quality and the choices that individuals should be given to determine how they organize their operation. We are not espousing any position here, but this won’t be the last time we hear about natural gas being vilified as a massive contributor to CO2 production and climate change. One can’t deny that gas is a fossil fuel, albeit cleaner burning that petroleum-based products. For those of you that burn it to cook, use it to heat hot water, and even run your generator, this will be a serious issue. The questions are can you move to all electric? Is electric actually a better solution for the environment? What will be the other consequences of a push to go green nationally? We don’t have those answers, but clearly the process is beginning to play out in places like Berkeley. Now, we have to wait and see.
[Source: Nation’s Restaurant News]
