Monday, June 7, 2010

When Your Clients Are Not Your Number One Priority...

randall-att-ceo
If you have been reading the news lately, you are probably familiar with the AT&T mistreatment of one of its customers. If not, you can read the article here: http://www.examiner.com/x-39728-Tech-Buzz-Examiner~y2010m6d3-Cease-and-desist-threatened-over-emails-to-ATT-CEO.

Of course, after the damage was done, the company responded trying to mitigate all the bad press, but it was already too late. The reputation of a company already vilified by many of its customers because of network failures suffered a terrible blow.

If you read my book or just many of my articles or blogs, you'll realize the importance that I give to putting your clients as your number one priority. No other part of your business is as important as having and keeping your clients happy. Nothing else matters, if there are not clients, there is no business. Period.

In this times where bad news spread at the speed of light, there is incomprehensible to me that a large corporation such as AT&T (which, by the way is my phone carrier, but only because of the iPod) still affords to make these mistakes. One disgrunted customer is all it takes to have the blogosphere fuming with negative comments that only help to tarnish the company's reputation.

Your business is not as visible or large as AT&T's but the same principles apply to you. Treat your customers ALWAYS as your number one priority and you will create a loyal base of fans who will promote your business, giving you the best possible advertising (and free on top of everything).

If you forget this simple rule, you will pay the price by having your place trashed in blogs, social media networks and forums all over the place. It is not a good investment and it is not, definitely, a good philosophy to run any business.

Have a great day,

Jose

Friday, May 21, 2010

Social Media

A friend sent me this video today and I want to share it with you.

If you are still questioning if you should use Social Media to market and/or promote your restaurant, I'm sure that this video will be a big eye opener.

Enjoy it...




PS: By the way, speaking of Social Media, please don't forget to follow me in Twitter at www.twitter.com/jlriesco and my Restaurant Marketing Strategies Facebook page

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

The Trouble with Yelp

yelp.jpgThe food service industry as a whole has had decidedly mixed feelings about Yelp, the San Francisco-based internet company that provides user-generated reviews about a variety of businesses, including restaurants.

As I wrote last year, Yelp had many owners suspicious because it seemed like the only way to get good reviews to display at the top of a restaurant’s profile was to shell out a monthly “advertising” fee. The fee has been pushed hard by Yelp sales reps and can run anywhere from $300 to $1,000 a month.

Paying the fee allowed owners to choose the top five reviews for their restaurant to display. It seemed most restaurant owners had one of two reactions: resignation at having to pay the fee to avoid bad reviews or outraged, stubborn resistance to being forced to pay to make bad reviews go away.

Over and over again Yelp has denied manipulating bad reviews in order to generate sales of their advertising packages to small businesses. And still to this day the suspicion remains among many inside the restaurant industry and out that Yelp just isn’t squaring with the subjects of their reviews on how the process really works.

Yelp’s decision to walk away from a $550 million dollar offer from Google late last year didn’t help the company’s image any either. The inherent trust most people place in the Google brand could have gone a long way towards clearing the air with Yelp’s small business customers.

The public relations problems that continue to dog Yelp seem to be a fix of their own making. This is what you get for tangling with the strongest tradition on the internet: fostering the free flow of ideas a
nd information. Companies like Google, Wikipedia, and Facebook have succeeded because they opened up access to information and placed few filters on how that access was used and digested.
Yelp’s business model seems brilliant, even revolutionary on paper: collect user-generated reviews about local small businesses and then sell the opportunity to manage those reviews back to the businesses being reviewed. But the approach flies in the face of what the internet has been all about since its inception. It would be like Google selling celebrities “advertising” memberships to have bad stories about them pushed down in the rankings on search results pages.

Yelp’s leadership probably thought they were just following a Google-esque model: get businesses to pay for top search results. After all, Google’s pay-per-click advertising is what has transformed that company into a multi-billion dollar operation.

But there is a key distinction here: Google’s paid listings come from a positive motivation – businesses wanting to sell products or be seen for specific keywords. Yelp’s model comes from an inherently negative motivation: get people to stop saying bad things about you on Yelp. No wonder they have an image problem.

The class action lawsuit against Yelp everyone’s buzzing about these days seems to be the natural culmination of a long-term problem the company has had dealing with its customers. Regardless of how the suit turns out, the basic flaws of the Yelp model will remain. And that is a lesson any business can benefit from.

Greg McGuire blogs about the foodservice industry at The Back Burner, which is written by the employees of Tundra Specialties, a company specializing in restaurant equipment and food service supplies.

Please send me the byline you'd like me to use with your article and I will post it today.

Monday, March 15, 2010

Restaurant Marketing: Do you trust your employees? Do they trust you?

trust.jpg

Trust is one of these difficult concepts that takes forever to build and just a second to destroy. So what's trust? In simple words, trust is confidence. The opposite of trust is, therefore, suspicion.

When you trust your employees, you feel confident that they will do the right thing, even if you are not there all the time to supervise them or monitor them. On the other hand, if you don't trust them, you are always suspicious that they will slack, or even worse, steal from you, so you need to watch them all the time.

Trust has therefore many advantages, not only you will sleep better if you trust your employees (or if you employ trusted people), but your business will run smoother and you'll feel happier knowing that you can leave on vacation or just get sick and relax at home versus having to spend all your waking hours in your restaurant double-checking every single step that your employees take.

When you trust your employees, you have confidence in them, in their abilities and in their integrity. You can rely on them and be confident that even if you are not present in your restaurant, they will have your best interests in mind and run the business as if it was theirs.

Now, I've been in the business myself so I can tell you that total trust is almost utopia. Unfortunately, in the restaurant industry, trust is often lacking. Employee turnaround is common and this means that people don't have time to build the necessary trust that long time relationships bring to the table.

The other side of the coin is that also the employees distrust the restaurant owners (and/or managers) and they take any opportunity to get back to them; either by slacking when they should be working (cleaning, organizing or just taking care of their customers), or even worse, by blatantly stealing cash and/or food or beverages.

This is a lose-lose situation where employers and employees must watch one another and nobody wins. The time and effort that takes to mistrust people could be put to a better use by improving the business and taking care of the customers.

So what can you do to create trust?

To start with, you must hire reliable employees. Having mediocre employees is not an excuse, specially in these times of abundant supply of skillful and experienced employees. If this economic crisis is good for anything, it is to find great people to work for you. Honesty should be at the to of your list for hiring employees and lack of it, should be an immediate reason for letting people go.

You must empower your employees with your trust, but you also must let them know that trust is your most valuable asset and if they break it, they lose their jobs immediately. Honesty is not negotiable.

Only by creating a working environment where trust is placed at the highest level you will be able to relax and improve your business exponentially.

I will now leave you with a quote from Jim Burke, a former Chairman and CEO of Johnson & Johnson that talks about trust:

You can't have success without trust. The word trust embodies almost everything you can strive for that will help you to succeed. You tell me any human relationship that works without trust, whether it is a marriage or a friendship or a social interaction; in the long run, the same thing is true about business, especially businesses that deal with the public.

Jim Burke

Johnson & Johnson Former CEO




Happy meals,
Jose L Riesco

Monday, February 15, 2010

Think of Different Ways to Promote Your Restaurant

WaitressWithBusinesscard.jpgThere are so many different ways to promote your restaurant, what are you waiting for? Engaging in a public relations campaign, an advertising campaign or a direct marketing campaign can all be fun if you remember that the concept of eating out is supposed to be a great social occasion. Don't look at this as a chore, but rather as one of the most pleasant jobs associated with running your business.

If you have a good reputation and some loyal customers who you may also be on rather friendly terms with, why not engage them to help you promote your restaurant? Recruit customers to write reviews, contribute blog posts, "tweet" or place posts on their Facebook pages from time to time. This is a very effective way of getting the word out on the street and can be cost effective for you - just give them free appetizers or desserts.

You should go out of your way to get the e-mail address of your customer. This may mean that you have to give away something valuable, a two for one or something to entice them to give you the address. E-mail marketing is surely one of the best ways to promote your restaurant as once they have agreed to receive information from you this opens up a whole world of possibilities.

When you are in the possession of e-mail addresses for your clients, remember to find out their birth dates or any other special occasions. Set up a system to automatically fire out an e-mail a few days before these occasions and offer a freebie to get them to come in on the special day. The chances are they will be celebrating with friends and this could represent a nice little party for you.

Think about themes. Do a little research online and you will find out that there are special occasions, holidays, "gimmick" days, religious days - some special occasion every week. If you are creative, you will come up with ideas to link your restaurant, a menu item or some co-promotion to create interest in the neighborhood.

Promote your restaurant with a PR campaign, especially if you are launching a new menu, welcoming a new master chef or engaging in a charitable affair of some kind. Press release distribution is relatively straightforward and cost effective these days and will invariably result in exposure for you if well presented.

Consider how many local newspapers, radio stations or other media outlets you have in your location. Pick up a copy of the publication or tune into the radio station as appropriate. If you cannot see any evidence of a food critic or a restaurant expert, it is time for you to really promote your restaurant by getting in touch with the editor and offering your services for free. Take time to show him or her that you are an expert in your field and they will turn to you for any food related questions or news items that they have.

Social media is the buzzword these days and anyone who has a business should be involved. Promote your restaurant by creating a Facebook page in the name of your business. Start a blog and keep it maintained with regular menu items ideas, articles about types of food and so on. The secret here is to make sure the program is maintained regularly.

Happy Meals,
Jose L Riesco
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Friday, February 5, 2010

Your Restaurant Struggles Are Not Unique!







Dear restaurateur,

Do you sometimes feel like you have unique problems running your restaurant?

Do you see other restaurants fuller than yours and you are wondering what are you doing wrong or what are they doing right that you could do as well?

Do you feel like your restaurant is unique and you have unique problems that nobody else in the industry has?

You'll be surprised if I tell you that your problems, desires, wishes, aspirations, setbacks, losses and issues are not unique.

Most restaurateurs share the same problems and issues; this is what it makes us, makes you special and, at the same time, part of a larger community. Sometimes the issues that seem or feel more personal, are the ones that are the most generic.

You see? Running a successful restaurant is not easy. You struggle every day with a million things that could (and would) get wrong: machines break, your employees get sick... or leave you when you need them the most, sometimes they slack or are not nice to your customers, some days are almost empty and some totally full for no reason, you work hard and then receive criticism from ungrateful customers, you spend money in marketing but it doesn't seem to bring you many people...

You see? Running a successful restaurant is not easy. You struggle every day with a million things that could (and would) get wrong: machines break, your employees get sick... or leave you when you need them the most, sometimes they slack or are not nice to your customers, some days are almost empty and some totally full for no reason, you work hard and then receive criticism from ungrateful customers, you spend money in marketing but it doesn't seem to bring you many people...

Do you recognize any of these issues? You should, because they are common to most restaurants. Yes, it is true that there are some very successful restaurants that people love and are always full, but these are a minority in the general dinning landscape, and their fortunes are sometimes volatile since often their success brings complacency... Customers are very picky and soon they will look for something better (or more fashionable) to try.

So what can you do to be more profitable? To be more successful? To have your restaurant full of happy customers?

Actually the answer is very simple:

YOU MUST INCREASE YOUR EMPATHY FOR YOUR CLIENTS



Greater Empathy = Greater Profits!



There is a direct correlation between empathy and profits. But before I get to this again, let me clarify for you the difference between marketing and sales. Although this may be obvious for many of you, I know that sometimes both concepts get mixed.

Marketing is the activity aimed to bring people to your restaurant. Sales is the act of bringing your food and drinks to your costumers so they can consume them and pay for them. It is that simple.

Remember always that the goal of marketing is to make selling superfluous, or at least as easy as it can. Marketing always precedes selling. If your marketing if effective, your sales are easier and more profitable since your customers are already in the mood to consume your food and drinks.

On the other hand, if your marketing is ineffective, not matter how good your food and service is, nobody will go to your place to try it out. This is where many restaurateurs fail. They offer excellent sales, but they don't have the appropriate marketing vehicles to bring people to their place.

So what do marketing and sales have to do with empathy? Actually a lot! You need to use empathy in your marketing and in your sales.

Your marketing must appeal to your prospects emotions. They must feel like going to your place is special, and you and your employees will make them have a great time.

Your sales must also try to make your customers experience at your restaurant a unique and emotional journey.

I know that many of you are thinking that I am being too metaphysical and food is just food, but most of the people going to a restaurant are looking forward to have a great time, not just to satisfy their bellies.

Always try to be empathic with your customers and anticipate their needs and uniqueness. You will make them feel special and in return, they will come back to your place and will tell everybody how wonderful your restaurant is.

It is that simple.

Happy meals,
Jose L Riesco
www.myrestaurantmarketing.com

Follow me in Twitter: www.twitter.com/jlriesco

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Ways To Increase Restaurant Sales In a Down Economy

Just a quick note to announce that WeeklyInterview has posted an interview with me that they made a few days ago. The title of the Interview is "Ways To Increase Restaurant Sales In a Down Economy"

You can read it here: http://weeklyinterview.com/?p=145

By the way, the price of the Restaurant Birthday Cub will go up from $49.99 to $69.99 in January 15th. so if you didn't take advantage of this opportunity you are missing a GREAT marketing investment. It works like charm.

I would suggest that you read the article "Make Your Customers Feel Special on Their Birthdays" that I published in my site. You can find it here: http://myrestaurantmarketing.com/articles/restaurant_birthday_marketing.html

Also, you can get more information about the Restaurant Birthday Club and MVP program here: http://myrestaurantmarketing.com/products/restaurant_birthday.html

Happy Meals,
Jose L Riesco

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

New Year's Restaurant Marketing Resolutions

Resolutions.pngFirst of all, Happy 2010 to all of you.

As the new year starts, many of you are making resolutions. Perhaps your restaurant is not very full, business is slow and you could do with many more customers, or perhaps you just want to improve your business: streamline operations, reduce expenses and improve your marketing.

Here are some ideas for your new year's resolutions:

√ Do you have a restaurant website? If not, this is the time to create one. More than 70% of your potential customers are looking for restaurants online and they will miss yours if you are not there.

√ If you have a website, this is a good time to check that all your information is updated. Do all your links work? (You'll be surprised how many times I wanted to get in touch with a restaurant via the Contact Us menu just to find that it does't work.) Do you accept online reservations? Do you capture your client's email to follow up with your list? Is your site easy to navigate and without annoying music and flash animations? Are your menus and prices up to date? Are you still promoting last year's events?

√ Are you using Social Media to promote your business? Facebook, Twitter and MySpace are free to use and can keep your place fresh in your customer's and potential customer's minds.

√ Do you have a way to capture your customers birthdays and anniversaries? If you don't, you should. Birthdays are very special for most people and they usually never celebrate them alone. If you do, are you doing your homework and sending them a special invitation to celebrate these special occasions with their friends and families at your restaurant?

√ Are you tracking the results of all your marketing investments? If not, this is a great time to start doing this. If you can't track the result of a marketing investment, then cancel it. You don't want to be wasting money in something that you don't know even if it works. Typical examples of wasted marketing investments are ads in newspapers and magazines (at least that you can track how many customers do they bring to your place), Yellow Pages (who uses the Yellow Pages anymore?, and specially who uses them to decide the restaurants where they should go?, Yes, that's right, nobody. People are searching online nonadays), radio ads, etc.

√ Do you have a Unique Selling Proposition (USP)? Something that identifies your restaurant and differentiates it from any other restaurant. If you don't, you should think about creating one. If you do, are you using it in all your marketing materials? Is your staff aware of your USP?

√ Are you training your staff to be client-centric? Your clients are your most important asset. Not you, not your place, not even your delicious food. If you don't have clients coming to your place, nothing else matters. Make sure that your staff is fully trained to deal with all kinds of customers so that they become clients, love your place and write rave reviews about your restaurant in all the restaurant directories and social media places. Happy clients are the best marketing that you can have. Unhappy clients will be very willing to talk bad about your place and will have an impact on hundreds, perhaps thousands of people reading their reviews. Never argue with your clients and think of any complementary food to make them happy as a marketing investment, not a loss.

√ Are you reading what people say about your restaurant in directories like Yelp.com, UrbanSpoon.com, CitySearch.com, etc.? Even if sometimes it is difficult to swallow all the negative reviews (and most people only bother to write when they are angry or they had a bad experience), they can help you identify areas for improvement. For example, if you have many people complaining about your service, then obviously you have a problem with your servers; same thing with your food, ambience, music, etc. Try to be positive and use the feedback as a way to improve your restaurant business. A continuos improvement process will gradually eliminate the bad reviews and bring the good ones. This will bring more people to your place.

There are many other resolutions that you can set for this year, but the most important resolution of all is to take some action. Many times, restaurateurs know that they need to change or improve things but they are so caught up in the daily operations that they don't have the time to change anything.

Remember, if you keep on working the same way, you will get the same results. Only changing and improving your marketing and operations will bring more customers to your place. Complaining about the economy could make you feel better but, believe me, even in this poor market conditions many restaurants are thriving. Is yours one of them?

You can find many free ideas and information about marketing restaurant in my website.

Happy 2010.

Jose L Riesco

www.myrestaurantmarketing.com