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EFFORTLESS, INC.
PO Box 280
Gig Harbor, WA 98335 USA
(800) 767-1055
(253) 858-9255
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| EHC #555 Insights for the Professionally Curious | September 19, 2008 |
Good Morning!
I finish up my short consulting project in Detroit today and head back home to unpack ... and quickly repack. We leave on Sunday for two weeks in Europe -- first to a small town in Provence (Southern France) and then to the Chianti region of Tuscany where we have rented a house for a week with some friends.
As usual, I will be posting a daily diary of the trip on my website. I won't promise that I can upload the story every day. Internet access in Europe is getting better and easier, but I never know what it will take to get connected. Check it out if you have a chance.
This also means that after tomorrow (Saturday), I will not be able to fill any orders for books and materials until I October 6th. I'm sorry if that creates a problem for anyone, but life is like that sometime.
If you said you were interested in knowing about special events, you should have received the details on the Last Annual Birthday Bash coming up on November 17-18 in New Orleans.
Marketing guru Joel Cohen and I have been sharing our latest ideas on restaurant marketing like this every year since 2004 (we both have November birthdays) but we call the 2008 edition our Last Bash because next year everything will be
different.
Starting in mid-2009, Joel and I will be applying our marketing
approaches to restaurants certified under the Six Star Hospitality Program
and public events like the Birthday Bash may well become a thing of the past. (Personally, if I never had to fill another seminar seat, I would be thrilled beyond measure!)
If you are not on the list for special events and would like to be (or if you are and prefer to be off it), just click on the Update Profile link at the bottom of the page. That's also the place to update your email address.
Bill Marvin
The Restaurant Doctor |
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 Six Star Hospitality(tm)
Rethinking Restaurants
What is Killing Hospitality? (continued)
Most failed restaurant owners attribute their downfall at least partly to competing family demands, including divorce, ill health, and retirement. Some owners voluntarily close when the family sacrifices became too much, like one owner who said she didn't want to miss seeing her children grow up.
So if the competitive edge in the hospitality business comes from the ability to run an efficient business and actually deliver the experience of hospitality as Danny Meyer demonstrates, and if the owner is in a constantly scrambled state of mind due to lack of time, conflicting interests, poor organization and lack of understanding, its no wonder so many restaurants fail to gain the traction necessary to grow.
Just as love cannot flourish in a climate of indifference, the spirit of hospitality cannot exist in a climate of fear ... and many operators are running scared. Not all restaurant owners are quite this stressed, but to one degree or another, the feeling is common in most independent operations.
This leads to a high burn-out rate among single unit owners, dissatisfaction and cynicism among restaurant staff and a general absence of true hospitality for restaurant patrons.
Couple this with a typical chain restaurant's focus on process and profitability over creativity and personal service, and it is easy to see why the overall dining experience in the country is becoming increasingly impersonal and unremarkable.
Finding a workable answer to this dilemma is critical. The National Restaurant Association estimates that the restaurant industry's share of the food dollar has increased from 25% in 1955 to an estimated 48% today. Fully 53% of adults said restaurants are an essential part of their lifestyle. A vibrant - and viable - restaurant industry is critical to the well-being of the country.
Independent restaurants may not be an endangered species, but the spirit of hospitality - the true lifeblood of the industry - may well be.
(more next week)
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 I Go There Because ...
Priming the Pump
This is not meant as an indictment, but the fact is that most people are relatively unsure of themselves.
To counter this insecurity, or perhaps just because our minds seem to work this way, people need reasons to justify their decisions ("The reason I do this is because..."). Think about it. If someone asked why you drive the particular car you do, your response would likely begin, "I drive a _____ because ..." You are not likely to say, "Gee, I never thought about it!"
If you want guests to patronize your operation more often -- and remember that the safe route to the big bucks is just to get current guests back just one additional time each month -- then they need reasons to justify their increased patronage. In other words, you have to educate your guests so that they will know why they dine with you. The rationale is still "I go there because ..."
The mission, if you want to profit from this tendency, is to fill in the blank for your guests -- to be sure they know why they come to you so they will have the justification they need to continue to do it!
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 I Go There on Tuesdays Because ...
Get Specific, Get Rich. Get Busy!
OK, let's take this idea one step farther. Now that you know what you have to do to get guests to patronize you, we need to talk about how to use that knowledge to generate sales when you need them and ... surprise! ... it is a simple answer:
If you want to build business on Tuesday night, you have to give people a reason to come on Tuesday night. Not Monday. Not Wednesday. Tuesday!
What can they get on Tuesday night that they can't get any other time of the week? What can they do on a Tuesday that doesn't happen on any other day? What can would compel them to pass up Dancing With the Stars in favor of Dining With their Homies at your place?
The common wisdom says that the way to build sales is to be all things to all people and give them anything they want anytime they want to buy it. What if that was all wet ... as common knowledge usually is? Review the "Marketing Secrets of the Soup Nazi" DVD and you will understand why the way to build sales is often to offer less and make it harder to buy.
If you only run the crab feed on Tuesday and I want the crab feed ... well, you get the idea. It's your business -- take charge of it!
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 Speed Sells
A Simple Way to Sell More
I have had some very pleasant meals on the road ... but perhaps because I
am often eating alone, I notice something that I hadn't really don't pay that much
attention to otherwise.
On two different evenings at two different
restaurants recently, the servers seemed to lose track of me, resulting in a long delay
before they took my order. In both cases I was ready to order at least two
glasses of wine, an appetizer and an entree when I sat down.
Because of
the delay, however, the first night I ended up ordering only one glass of wine
and the entree. The second night I got by with two glasses of wine and the
appetizer. (Probably better for me and my waistline, but definitely worse for
the restaurants ... and the servers ... involved.)
Am I typical? I really
don't know ... but I can tell you that if the servers were more attentive, if
they made more suggestions to help me decide sooner rather than later, it would
have meant about twice the money to the house ... and likely three times the tip
for them.
How are you doing in this area?
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The Six Star project
is taking on a life of its own. I appreciate the 270+ operators who
have helped the cause by responding to the general survey. Have I heard from you yet? If not, it's not too late to share your thoughts.
The program designers will need to invent ways to do things that have always seemed impossible ... so what would you like to see invented while they are at it? The next few EHC surveys will take each element of the Six Star program and ask you to go WAY outside the box of what you think is possible.
Essentially we want you to complete this sentence: "Wouldn't it be cool if ______" Go crazy! Be unreasonable! We want to know the resources you wish you had at hand if your wildest dreams could come true. Then we'll see how close we can come to giving them to you.
 The September Survey
All-Star StaffingA common complaint of independent operators is the amount of time they spend trying to keep their shifts filled with quality workers. At the same time, you need an all-star staff to deliver Six Star Hospitality ... so the program will include a proven process to find, select, develop and retain the best of the best.
Without a plan you are just making things up. When you make things up, you risk making mistakes, either by hiring the wrong person or by violating employment laws. Making it up takes more time, is less effective and produces more stress. When you make it up, most of the work falls to the manager ... who already has too much to do. Worst of all, without a plan you don't get the best people and that is the greatest loss of all -- for you, your staff and especially for your guests.
This month's survey outlines what we already intend to create ... and asks for your ideas to help us see even more radical applications. The program designers will need to invent ways to do things that have always seemed impossible ... so we want a "wish list" of the resources you would like to have at hand if your wildest dreams could come true ... then let's see how close we can come to giving it to you.
If you said you wanted to be part of the development process, this is the way to do it right now. I can't ask you to field test something until we have created it!
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. |
 The Perpetual Question
"What did you learn from your staff today?"
I learned that it is very difficult for my staff to sweep the carpets with a broom. So they are apt to forgo sweeping the floor. We have bought carpet sweepers in the past but they break very easliy (about a month into owning them) and they cost around $50 bucks to replace. I did some research and found a sweeper you can replace the roller (the part that breaks). My floors have been noticeably cleaner ... and my staff noticeably happier. -- Phil, Rockville, MD
Listening is a skill that you can learn and develop ... that will help you learn and develop. Not everything you learn will necessarily be earth-shaking, but just the fact that you are listening will make a huge difference. If your crew sees that you take action on what you learn, they will bring you even more ... and they won't bring you half-baked ideas.
Never doubt that the most valuable management skill you can develop is your ability to listen.
You may see that in a moment of personal insight ... and, to your eternal detriment, you may never get it at all. It all depends on how serious you are about finding out what you and your company are really capable of becoming and how willing you are to open yourself up to possibilities that are beyond your present experience.
What did you learn from YOUR staff today?
To share your insights on this important question for the common good (and your own as well), just click on the link above.
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  Lighten Up!
The Noble Experiment Continues
The weekly weigh-in is suspended until October. I will be on the road for the next three weeks and will not have access to my scale.
If you can't handle withdrawal from my incredibly inspiring project, try losing some weight yourself ... or stop smoking ... or start exercising ... or start doing any of those other tasks that you know would help you personally or professionally if you did them but that you have been putting off for reasons that would sound silly if you dared to say them out loud!
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Copyright ©2008 William Marvin. All rights reserved.
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e-mail is sent by William Marvin, Effortless, Inc., PO Box 280, Gig
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