Every week for the past year or so I’ve read the dismal news of restaurant closings across the country. It doesn’t appear that hardship was partial as the closings run the gamut from small cafes to large fine dining establishments, from small towns to large cities, and in both blue and red states.

The bottom line is that it’s becoming more and more difficult to successfully operate a restaurant today. Yet, many restaurant operators hang on, and for a multitude of reasons. I’m certainly not going to debate a person’s reasons, especially emotional reasons driven by passion, commitment and pride.

Instead, I’d like to focus on ways to make things better, to whatever extent that may be possible. I am of the mindset for these operators that failure is not an option. So, let’s give it the old college try to help. Well, it’s more than a college try as there are effective strategies being implemented by quite a few restaurant operators across the country.

With restaurants surviving, and with some actually thriving, there is hope. However, standing still, and continuing to do the same things over and over again, day after day with the same results is absolutely insane. There’s even a famous quote, albeit mistakenly giving credit to Albert Einstein for saying it, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” Nevertheless, it is a true statement!

Last week I revisited a strategy that helped a number of restaurant clients as lockdowns had been mandated. If you missed the article, Revisiting the ‘New Normal’ for Restaurants, you can read it HERE. As I wrapped up the article, I indicated I would soon be sharing my recommendations for driving business and repeat business to restaurants (as well as any consumer-facing business). Well, today is that day!

Please note: At the end of this article, I will share links to my recent series, Preparing for War: You vs. Recession that provides supporting details to some of the tips listed below. I highly recommend reviewing the same for full understanding.

6 Ways to Drive Restaurant Sales and Repeat Sales in Bad Times (and in Good Times)

First things first. The ultimate goal must be on striving to deliver positively memorable experiences, at all times, and to customers and employees alike. As the restaurant operator, owner, or whatever the title, the commitment must start with that person. Positivity, regardless of what is happening that particular day is paramount to the delivery of positively memorable experiences. It must be a proactive approach and one that is contagious.

1. Utilize loyalty programs to keep your brand in front of customers. Loyalty programs should not be looked at as just for the purpose of promoting specials and celebrating birthdays & anniversaries. Complement typical efforts with frequent messages showcasing a new menu item created by an employee or as suggested by a customer, recognizing long-term employees as well as long-time customers, and even spotlighting vendors and their efforts. As much as possible, make it personal. Use names. Make it real. Think… Loyalty & Family. Create a family-type environment to develop family-type relationships!
2. Look at social media as the integrated platform that it is. View it as communication central. All efforts pertaining to driving positively memorable experiences should be shared across the brand’s social media platforms. Yet, not just replicated from one to another. Similar messages, but not exactly the same is key. Use a different photo with the same message. Utilize photos AND videos to allow customers a glimpse into the restaurant, front of the house and back. In addition to plates of food, let them see smiles, cleanliness and organization. Pay attention to detail as social media is highly representative of the brand in customers’ minds.
3. Speaking of attention to detail, it’s also imperative in the restaurant itself. Think Disney or Apple. Some may question how attention to detail would drive business. Well, it drives repeat business, positive reviews, recommendations to friends & family, etc. Be proactive in creating attention to detail as an initiative to be looked at from the customer’s perspective including ALL things that may be viewed by the customer. From the parking lot to the restroom, look up and down as if on a virtual tour. Make sure everything is perfect just as would be the case if family were coming to your home for a special dinner or event.
4. Many believe communicating with customers means talking to customers, blasting out messages, etc. but it’s also about listening. However, listening to understand as opposed to listening to speak is key. Following up AND following through with customers should be considered as a single step with parts A and B necessary to complete the action. One without the other could create issues. Ensure that customers truly believe they are being listened to and are being understood. The best way to do so is to be proactive in responses not only to their complaints and requests, but also to their kind words.
5. Communicating after an experience may be the icing on the cake to making a customer feel loved, to feel wanted. Using a simple version of the Net Promoter System (see articles linked below) is a great way to do so. To whatever extent that may work in a particular restaurant, asking a customer to grade their experience is quite effective in ensuring repeat business, or at the very least in keeping negatives off the review sites. Sure, there are customer surveys that come along with the check but personally, I believe they’re too long and vague. Simply, two questions should be asked. On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being best, how would you rate your experience? And what could we have done to have earned a higher score, even if just by a single point? Asking these questions as close to the timing of the experience does wonders to letting a customer knows that they are truly valued. Share the results with staff for added value to the business. A side thought: ask employees the same questions of them with respect to their experience working at the restaurant?
6. Just one more. I’m a firm believer in, just one more. Just one more item ordered. Just one more visit by a customer each week, month, etc. Just one more positive review. Just one more referral or recommendation. Just one more time to consider the restaurant. When enhancing the experience with a personal touch, just one more becomes a reality. People trust a brand but desire to do business with people. They especially want to do business with people who care, who are kind, who listen, and who go the extra mile.

If I had listed various advertising and marketing suggestions with significant expense, I would be hearing that they’re unaffordable during tough times. However, although the above is tied to labor, which is an expense, they are affordable and especially as sales increase. I think an important question to ask (and answer) is more about the commitment to follow through.

Have a great day. Make it happen. Make it count!

Links to the articles from the Preparing for War: You vs. Recession series:

Preparing for War: You vs. Recession

Recession Prep Question: Are you planning to win, or are you planning not to lose?

Recession Prep Question: How important is the WOW factor?

Recession Prep Question: Is the employee experience a factor in the customer experience?

Recession Prep Question: How important is the right culture to business survival?

Recession Prep Question: Should the ‘Experience Factor’ be treated like a line item?

Recession Prep Question: Do you have an unbeatable strategy of loving customers… and employees?

Recapping the Series: “Preparing for War: You vs. Recession”

Recession Prep Question: How will your mental health hold up during challenging times?

Assistance & Resources

The future may be a bit bumpy for some, more so for others. Knowing who to turn to and when to turn to for guidance and help is important. Having resources at your disposal is also important. So, if you hit a wall, for whatever reason, please feel free to reach out to me for assistance or even if you just need someone to talk to. Please do not hesitate. You can reach me via a LinkedIn message, by email to Paul@Acceler8Success.com, and by phone or text at (832) 797-9851. Learn more about Acceler8Success Group at Acceler8Success.com.

Bring the Series to Your Organization

If you’re interested in having this series presented to your organization, either as a webinar, workshop or conference break-out session, please click HERE for more information. The program can be tailored to your business model, product, service offering and industry segment. It has been resonating quite well with franchise and restaurant brands.

Surviving through difficult economic times, it’s essential to keep the sales pipelines full, to keep customers coming back for more, to keep employees happy, to keep strong relationships with vendors & suppliers, and to keep moving forward. But how likely are these scenarios (goals) considering the current state of uncertainty compounded by rising costs, fragile supply chains, and a somewhat undependable or unreliable workforce?

As we continue the series on the war against recession, over the next few days we’ll focus on delivering positively memorable experiences as the third cornerstone in the action plan to survive and remain standing after the dust settles. As we wrap up the week, we’ll turn our focus to developing the right culture throughout your organization as well as for all who touch the organization.

Creating and delivering positively memorable experiences is more than just customer-focused efforts. Certainly, the customer experience is key to business survival and growth but so are the experiences shared by staff, partners, vendors and all who “participate” in the daily activities of your business.

Magical experiences and the WOW factor!

Walt Disney focused on creating a magical experience for all who visited Disneyland and Disney World. When conducting customer experience training sessions, I ask the question, what is excellent customer service? Most of the answers are somewhat on track, except the focus is more on meeting customer expectation, not exceeding them. Essentially, it also means that if everything went right, the customer would be getting exactly what they paid for. Nothing more – leaving no room for error if the customer is expected to return.

I then ask the question, when have you been on the receiving end of a positively memorable experience? This exercise typically lasts an hour or so as the class realizes that the experiences they’re sharing are just examples of good or average customer service, but not positively memorable experiences. That is until someone mentions their family’s experience at a Disney destination.

Magical is often a word used to describe the experience but it’s most likely a word driven by Disney’s outstanding marketing campaigns. WOW is a word that often follows and is typically repeated multiple times in the description of the experience – a positively memorable experience. It’s at this time that the class comes alive with everyone chiming in, sharing their own Disney experiences. It truly is a WOW moment listening to them sharing their WOW experiences.

What is the definition of a positively memorable experience?

A recent Google search for the phrase, “positively memorable experience” revealed results that were exclusive to customer experiences, and TripAdvisor.com garnered one-half of all results with the phrase. So, what causes customers to be so emphatic about their experience that they deem them “positively memorable?” Further, what implores them to share their thoughts so openly within a public forum?

To answer these questions, we must first examine the definitions of the words that make up this phrase as shown on Google:

Positively: In a positive way, in particular; with certainty, so as to leave no room for doubt; used to emphasize that something is the case, even though it may seem surprising or unlikely.

Memorable: Worth remembering or easily remembered, especially because of being special or unusual.

Experience: Practical contact with and observation of facts or events.

Is it more expensive to attract a customer or to keep a customer?

If every customer experienced a positively memorable experience with a business, what are the potential scenarios that could come of that experience? Repeat visits and visiting more frequently? Sharing the experience with others and referring some directly to the business? Choosing the business over another business when a particular need or desire arises? As you see, positively memorable experiences compound positive actions and drives loyalty.

The icing on the cake, or the cherry on the top is that a loyal customer does not have to be attracted again and again. Meaning, marketing dollars have already been spent as opposed to repeatedly spending marketing dollars as is necessary to attract new customers. The investment in developing and keeping loyal customers is in the delivery of products and services at an extremely high level of satisfaction – positively memorable experiences.

So, when looking to increase business, management should focus on its current customer base with the goal of delivering positively memorable experiences to them at all times. Easier said than done, right? Yes, that is correct, which is why positively memorable experiences must also extend to all who are responsible for serving customers. Not only in how they deliver on the goal, but about what’s in it for them. Tomorrow we will focus on their WOW factor!

Have a great day. Make it happen. Make it count!

Help is just a message, call, email or text away!

The future may be a bit bumpy for some, more so for others. Knowing who to turn to and when to turn to for guidance and help is important. Having resources at your disposal is also important. So, if you hit a wall, for whatever reason, please feel free to reach out to us for assistance or even if you just need someone to talk to. Please do not hesitate. You can reach us by email to Paul@Acceler8Success.com, and by phone or text at (832) 797-9851. Learn more about Acceler8Success Group at Acceler8Success.com and also at Entrepreneurship411.com.

Such a powerful quote consisting of only eleven words. “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” as quoted by Peter Drucker pops up often, and most likely more so if you’re a small business owner, franchisee, restaurateur or entrepreneur.

It’s a take charge, take control quote that can be interpreted as being both inspirational and motivational. But from a practical standpoint, is it easier said than done? Is it possible? Feasible? Realistic? And during a period of economic uncertainty? Dare I mention, recession?

In order to come out alive on the back end of these challenging times, an action plan must be developed and deployed as quickly as possible. Essentially, if we’re to create the future, we must determine the vison for the desired outcome, along with the timeframe needed to get there.

What will it take? Who will be instrumental in executing the plan? What benchmarks will be established to gauge whether on the right path, or not? Will there be a contingency plan in place to shift as may be necessary? At what point will it be time to make hard decisions? Very difficult decisions? What will determine when drastic action must be taken, and potentially, what will that look like? What can be anticipated? What can be projected? What is practical, and what is not?

Yes, definitely a lot of questions to be answered. It’s going to take a great deal of effort, a lot of work, long hours, diligence, and honest evaluation. Of course, if we choose to do so. It is about making the choice whether to change, or to sit idle and ride out the storm. Choices. Such a simple concept, yet so much riding on whether the right choices are made, or not. At times, just making a choice, right or wrong is better than remaining undecided.

Nevertheless, change can only be implemented if the choice is made to do so. Choices. It has me reflecting on a story that has been bouncing around Facebook for quite some time. I don’t know the author, but the message is quite clear. As you’re faced with making the choice to take the action necessary to survive these challenging times, maybe even thrive, remember this very inspiring story. Refer to it often. I hope it motivates you to create your future!

I was waiting in line for a ride at the airport. When a cab pulled up, the first thing I noticed was the taxi was polished to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door for me.

He handed me a laminated card and said, ‘I’m Wasu, your driver. While I’m loading your bags in the trunk, I’d like you to read my mission statement.’

Taken aback, I read the card. It said, ‘Wasu’s Mission Statement: To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest, and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment.’ This blew me away. Especially when I noticed the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean!

As he slid behind the wheel, Wasu said, ‘Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf.’

I said jokingly, ‘No, I’d prefer a soft drink.’

Wasu smiled and said, ‘No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, lassi, water, and orange juice.’

Almost stuttering, I said, ‘I’ll take a lassi since I’ve never had one before.’

Handing me my drink, Wasu said, ‘If you’d like something to read, I have Good Housekeeping magazine, Reader’s Digest, The Bible, and a Travel + Leisure magazine.’

As we were pulling away, Wasu handed me another laminated card, ‘These are the stations I get and the music they play, if you’d like to listen to the radio.’

And as if that weren’t enough, Wasu told me he had the heater on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for me.

Then he advised me of the best route to my destination for that time of day. He also let me know he’d be happy to chat and tell me about some of the sights or, if I preferred, to leave me with my own thoughts.

‘Tell me, Wasu,’ I was amazed and asked him, ‘have you always served customers like this?’ Wasu smiled into the rear-view mirror. ‘No, not always. In fact, it’s only been in the last two years. My first five years driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do. Then I heard about power of choice one day.’

‘Power of choice is that you can be a duck or an eagle. If you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you’ll rarely disappoint yourself. Stop complaining! Don’t be a duck. Be an eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd.’

‘That hit me right,’ said Wasu. He continued and said, ‘It is about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers. The cabs were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly, and the customers were unhappy. So, I decided to make some changes. I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more.’

‘I take it that has paid off for you,’ I said.

‘It sure has,’ Wasu replied. ‘My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year, I’ll probably quadruple it. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on it.’

Wasu made a different choice. He decided to stop quacking like ducks and start soaring like eagles. I hope we all decide to soar like an eagle and not quack like a duck.

At this point, I’m reflecting upon our mantra at Acceler8Success Group. One that we must do better at doing within our own organization. Yes, a change is necessary and I’m making the firm choice to do so beginning today, the first business day of Q3 2022.

“Act swiftly. Act decisively. Make it happen. Make it count.”

It is the way to survive AND accelerate success. Have a great day.