FOOD AND BEVERAGE has always been of most interest to me over the years I have spent in the hospitality industry; over the career span I have had great experiences in starting, launching and improving the restaurant business and overall food and beverage business of my hotels. Here I put forward my take on most effective ways to increase restaurant sales
Now let’s understand it is not a days job to uplift the sales of the restaurant, the overall plan has to be
So I am sure we don’t need to define these three magical commandments for successful campaign and yield results from our efforts, no we list down the important steps to be taken
#1. GET THE BASIC RIGHT
First and foremost is get the basic right in terms of quality, consistency, presentation and customer services. This is the most important and long driving factor of any restaurant or food and beverage outlet; if your quality is not consistent you may end up losing customer every transaction. Make sure those who step in are attended well even if they aren’t satisfied with your product and services value their feedback and establish reach..This would definitely encourage customer to give you one more chance. Few golden rules are FIRST TIME RIGHT SERVICE | RIGHT TEMPERATURES –HOT FOOD HOT AND COLD FOOD COLD | RIGHT ACCOMPANIMENTS TO COMPLIMENT THE DISH.
#2.MENU
BALANCED: here it refers to balanced in perspective of the target clientele, customer need oriented, in case you find your customers are of take away nature or mid day quick meals, the menu need to be designed in such a manner which is easy to carry and consume retaining its taste texture and quality. It should also be balanced in perspective of nutrition, fiber, vegan and non vegan, main course, short course and deserts.
OPTIMISED: no one likes to dig into lot of options, offer moderate options and should not be too lengthy as it ends up in confusing the buyer. Make sure you have some low priced items as well like small portions of tongue twister starters or low priced beverages, deserts etc as it should promote the customer to buy more or should encourage up selling. Different combos like we see in BURGER KING or MAC DONALDS are the perfect examples of encourage selling.
INNOVATIVE: innovations in recipes are always a big attraction to the food connoisseurs, make sure your menu has a place for them too and have a plan in place to market these innovations frequently to reach your target clientele. Artificial intelligence AI can be low cost medium for maximum reach to your clientele based on their preference habits, geographical proximity and vicinity.
TRENDING: Yes most important, now a days in the world of social media platforms things trend in very fast , you cannot sell old fashion cakes enough to compete sales of trending photo cakes. So follow trends, keep checking in competitions and what celebrity chefs are talking about …[they are initial trend setters ] people are looking in for high fiber low protein options or high protein low card options are all in trends and should find some space in the menu.
#3.EXPAND YOUR SERVICES
Expand your services beyond the shop floor level , try to establish reach to your clientele with assistance of the market drivers , service extension here refers to reaching out customers on tele orders or ordering using smart apps
DOOR STEP DELIVERY SERVICES WITH IN VINCINITY
PICK UP SERVICES –DRIVE IN DRIVE OUT
FOOD DELIVERY APPS
USING THRID PARTY SERVICES LIKE THAT OF UBER EATS, ZOMATO OR SWIGGY
This will not only introduce you to new customers but will also facilitate your loyal connoisseurs
#4. LOYALTY PROGRAMS
Yes loyalty reward programs do work , our customers indeed get excited when they get some rewards for every purchase they make , smart restaurateurs’ ensure the discounts on next purchase or next visit this ensures one more purchase every time ,other than this loyalty programs can be clubbed with other retail brands also ,if you are under one umbrella reward system
-Accumulated points can be redeemed with other retail brands –this also increases your own brand value as it sets you on PAR with recognized brands
-joint and cross branding on the rewards program enhance visibility of your brand
-introduction to new clientele to your outlet in common reward program
#5.SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
Everyone knows now a days , the impact of social media platforms , so stay updated and time a post everyday on the social media platforms –consistency always win more subscribers and enhance your reach to masses
Start learning streams on food and recipes ,beverages , health foods etc to attract more followers
Generate coupons to redeem and thus guiding the subscribers from screen to your outlets.
#6.IMPROVE BRAND STREAM
Small souvenirs like BELTS /WALLETS/T SHIRTS /GLASSWARE etc improve the brand recall and is one of the proven techniques of brand strengthening. This could be jointly done with similar vendor brands to share the costs.
#7.EMPLOYEE PARTICIPATION IN GROWTH –REWARDS
Make your employees your shareholders, share the profit margins with them and see the magic , restaurant services is all to do with personalization and positive attitude towards the guest services , it comes form the heart and its warmth can be felt by the clients , it cannot be measured by any parameters but can only be felt. Satisfied employees make satisfied customers.
FOCUS CLV –THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT TERM , CLV IS AMOUNT OF MONEY SPENT BY YOUR CUSTOMER OVER A COURSE OF RELATIONSHIP WITH YOU ..IT COULD BE SINGLE VISIT OR MULTIPLE .More the visits more revenue for you so enhance CLV value and focus customer relationship.
WELL there are more points to be covered , we need to discuss in next article about impact of BEVERAGE APPRECIATION PROGRAMS , FOOD PROMOTIONS ,FOOD FESTIVALS , COMMUNITY APPROACH ETC …KEEP WATCHING THE SPACE CHEERS!!
5 Comments
Nice Complete in all Respect Only one question.As digital media has picked up How important is location n branding on the location.
Dear Mr Ahuja
thank you for the feedback, digital media is good medium to spread the word faster an brand recognition with meticulous efforts, location assist you on target business clientele -if located within corporate area location gives you advantage of corporate clients more than the families or vice a versa and similar brand approves your quality, service orientation like whether you are a fine dine , take away or quick meal concept. thats a good question and may need to elaborate on future writings. thanks once again
Well Compiled and Nicely Summed Up.
THANK YOU Mr Kasal for appreciating words
many thanks
THANK YOU, for appreciation we are committed towards meaningful writings, incase you want us to write on certain topics you are always welcome to let us know and we would try to incorporate it