Bill Marvin
The Restaurant Doctor

In 1991, one of General Norman Schwarzkopf's standing orders during Operation Desert Storm was "Bring me the bad news fast."

The idea was that, unlike fine wine, bad news only gets worse with age. The faster he knew about the "bad" stuff, the sooner he could get started on correcting it. In essence, he relished the bad news and made his staff feel good when they brought it to him.

How do you regard bad news? Do you ignore it? Pretend it isn't there? Do you get angry at people who tell you what you do not want to hear? If so, you can guarantee that you will never hear about the ugly stuff until it is too late to do anything about it ... or until it has done deep damage to your operation.

The news is only the news. What makes it good or bad is the way you think about it. For my money, any information about a weakness in the armor is essential to have.

Especially in difficult times like these, you cannot let any bleeding go unattended. Ask for the bad news fast. Insist on it ... and reward the folks who bring it to you. Only when you have the whole story in real time can you truly become the captain of your fate.

Jack Welch, co-owner of Growth Restaurants in New Jersey, sent this along. I love the thinking behind it and may expand it into a tip for our Year of the Guest program. He writes ...

While we were in London two weeks ago we were wandering around the Theatre District looking for a restaurant for dinner before going to the show. We were on the sidewalk looking at a menu in the window of a Middle Eastern restaurant.

This fellow pops out the door with a bottle of wine and five glasses (there were 5 in our group). He poured each of us a small taste and asked if we had any questions on the menu. Needless to say he got our dinner business. It was a delightful meal and a cuisine with which I had very little experience.

A Note From the Doc:
My guess is that without the personal intervention, Jack and his party would have passed the restaurant by. After all, it was an unfamiliar cuisine in an unfamiliar city. But the personal touch saved the day for the restaurant ... and gave Jack and his crew a wonderful memory of London.

"If we build it they will come" only works in the movies. What are you doing to actively earn the patronage of YOUR guests?t.

 

I was shoveling out my mailing room and discovered a full case of "Restaurant Newsletters That Pay Off" buried in the back of a storage shelf.

The book reveals one of the best-kept secrets of successful restaurateurs -- regularly talking with their customers and would-be customers outside the restaurant through newsletters. This is an essential survival tactic, especially during times of economic distress ... like right now!

You'll find 50 examples of newsletters now being sent regularly by a wide variety of restaurant types -- chain, independent, family, ethnic, health-food, and many more. Best of all, the newsletters are reproduced in near-actual size so that you can read what your peers are telling their readers!

These books are now out of print, but I found new copies online for $80-214 (and a single used copy for $39). As a paying subscriber, you can have a new copy for the price of a used one ... just $39 (plus shipping, of course).

Click here to take me up on this deal NOW. Once the box is empty, there can be no more. This is the last week you will have the first call on these. I will extend the offer to my non-paying subscribers next week.

Of course you have my 100% "You-Gotta-Love-It" Guarantee on this one, too. If it is not all you hoped for, send it back for a full refund. No questions. No hassles. No kidding!

The Rising Cost of Food

You don't need me to tell you that the cost of food is increasing at a rate never before seen in our industry. This places increased pressure on operators to raise prices ... at a time when diners are being squeezed by layoffs, rising gas prices, a falling housing market and general economic uncertainly.

The increases are past the point where most operators can afford to absorb the additional costs but raising prices seems to be a recipe for disaster as well. What to do?

Independent operators are nothing if not creative, so this month we look what you are doing to stay afloat in the midst of this perfect storm.

As usual, I will send copies of the survey results to everyone who participates. In the meantime, you can download copies of all past EHC surveys -- including the massive WOW Ideas collections.

Click here to add your thoughts to this month's survey.

No report this week. I am away from a scale (and I can surely use an extra week to regain some of the ground I surely lost socializing with the group at the CEO sessions!)