A MEMORABLE EXPERIENCE IN YOUR RESTAURANT

While in Chicago for the NRA Show , my friend and I traveled by cab about 4 times per day - whoever stopped for us we got in, until we got into Charles' cab.  He stopped for us, we scooted across the backseat and as we looked about we were immediately amused. Tired as we were, we felt a little rejuvenated. We smiled and delighted in this cab that was decorated with tiny Christmas lights, tinsel garlands, little cups attached to the back of the front seats filled with penny candies and more lights and tinsel. New Orleans jazz was playing softly. Our driver was smiling and cheerful. He asked where we were going and took off headed to our destination.

We got to talking with him about his delightful and interesting cab and during the conversation he asked why we were in town and how long we would be staying. When he knew we would be around for a few days he handed us his business card and told us we could avoid the lines at the show by calling him. He worked mornings, took the early afternoon off and worked dinnertime until late in the evening. He said to just call him and let him know when and where we wanted to be picked up and he would be there for us. (The card did have a little line drawing with lights and tinsel-visual reminder of what the card represented among a stack of others you might have).  It was a fun, festive, and totally different cab ride with a more-than-personable driver who seemed to love his job, even the traffic, and he cared about the people he chauffeured about. What cab do you think we took almost every time thereafter? You got it - we called Charles. No matter how tired we were it was a little shot of fresh energy every time we got into that cab. We felt better when we got out.

He did the same thing everyone else did and then took it one or two steps further - decorations, fun music, a little sugar pick-me-up, and warm personal care all with the addition of a business card to give you the opportunity to repeat the experience. He added the value of not having to wait in line for a cab, and you did wait in line when the show let out each day - a long line.

I'd venture to say that your restaurant may be no different than most. You serve good food - maybe great food, you have four walls, tables and chairs, servers, and you are clean.

SO ARE HUNDRED OF OTHER COMPETING RESTAURANTS IN YOUR AREA!

What would you say sets you apartfrom all the others, from the chains?  What makes people come back again and again? Do you have customers that request a specific server? Standing reservations? Guest Loyalty programs that really work?  

Charles' Taxi was totally differentiated from every other Taxi in Chicago. He went above and beyond to see to it that his first-time guests returned as second-, third-, and more-time guests. Charles recognized that it costs far less to cultivate and please guests already in his taxi, than to earn new ones all day long.  

How can you make the experience of dining in your restaurant so memorable that it keeps them     coming back?  

How long has it been since you re-designed your menus. Changed the table settings? Created a new mood in the dining room? Formally trained your servers? Collected contact information from all of your guests? Reinvented who you are?

Things like this are what allow some restaurateurs to "opt out" of the recession. Have you noticed some places seem to be doing just great? Why do you suppose that happens? Let me tell you... 

IT'S NOT AN ACCIDENT.

Success in business also equates to more personal time for you, and the real opportunity to work ON your business instead of putting in 100 hours a week IN your business.

National Restaurant Consultants has helped hundreds of operations around the world to improve their performance.  Contact us at (303) 757-3663 so we can help you see better results and profit from the current operating environment.