Large Header




Pizza Insight
CEO Project

Sure-Fire Staff Selection System
Contact Us
EFFORTLESS, INC.
PO Box 280
Gig Harbor, WA 98335 USA
(800) 767-1055
(253) 858-9255
Quick Links
 EHC #555
 Insights for the Professionally Curious
 September 19, 2008 
One of my more difficult weekly tasks is to decide what information I am going to leave OUT of the Complimentary Edition of the EHC. It's not that I don't love you all, just that the folks who are paying for my weekly rants deserve to get their money's worth ... even if that money only averages out to 75 cents an issue. So I apologize for the necessary surgery ... and hope you may eventually decide your business is worth another forty bucks a year!
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

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!
The Six Star project is taking on a life of its own. I appreciate the nearly 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 Staffing

A 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.

Here's What You're Passing Up To Save 75 Cents!
In This Week's EHC Special Edition ...
  • What Is Killing Hospitality? - the second installment of a discussion on what brings down independent operators
  • I Go There On Tuesday Because ... - how to build business on the days when you need it
  • Speed Sells - a surprisingly simple insight that will make more money for you ... and your service staff
  • What Did You Learn From Your Staff Today? - how a simple skill that you can learn ... helps you learn!
  • Special Offers on Management Resources - while I am still in that business
Solve the problem of what to talk about in your next staff meeting. Upgrade to the EHC Special Edition and get it all!
Copyright ©2008 William Marvin. All rights reserved.

This e-mail is sent by William Marvin, Effortless, Inc., PO Box 280, Gig Harbor, WA 98335 USA, e-mail:bill@restaurantdoctor.com, website at www.restaurantdoctor.com. Past editions of EHC are archived on the website.

The Electronic House Call is sent only to subscribers who have requested it. If a copy of this was forwarded to you by a friend and you would like to receive it directly, you can subscribe on the website. You can take your name off the subscription list by clicking on the "SafeUnsubscribe" link at the bottom of the page. You can update your e-mail address, name, spelling and interest categories by clicking on the "Update Profile/Email Address" link at the bottom of the page.

Copyright Notice: The EHC may be copied and re-transmitted by electronic mail, and individual copies of a particular EHC e-mail transcript may be printed, provided that such copying, re-transmission, printing, or other use is not for profit or other commercial purpose.

Material from EHC may NOT be reproduced on the World Wide Web or in broadcast media, print media, or other media without express written permission. Please contact Effortless, Inc. at 253-858-9255 or bill@restaurantdoctor.com to submit a request. Any copying, re-transmission, distribution, printing, or other use of EHC material must set forth the following credit line, in full, at the conclusion of the portion of EHC that is used: "Copyright ©2007 William Marvin. Reprinted with permission." William Marvin and Effortless, Inc. may withdraw or modify this grant of permission at any time.

Privacy Statement: The e-mail addresses that make up the EHC distribution list are confidential; Effortless, Inc. does not furnish these addresses to any other entity in any form or for any purpose. Effortless, Inc. directly distributes the EHC only to users who have subscribed either by e-mail, or via our home page. Once you remove your address from the distribution list, no record of your address remains in the database. Addresses that are returned three times as undeliverable will be dropped from the list.