SYSCO iCare
www.syscoicare.com March 2010
IN THIS ISSUE
How to Out Market The Big Guys
Ask and You Shall Succeed
How to Create Motivated Employees
Why Employees Don't Get Much From Training
 
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Small Restaurant
How to Out Market the Big Guys
 

As an independent restaurant owner, you probably feel like David versus Goliath when it comes to competing with chain restaurants. You're both trying to attract patrons to your establishments, but they seem to spend a lot of money on advertising while you're working on a shoestring budget. However, there are ways to out smart the big guys by playing to your unique advantages as a local restaurant. Marketing doesn't have to be hard. You just need to be aware of a few key marketing principles. Once you understand them, you can compete against anyone, big or small.
 
Think As A Customer. This rule is at the top of the list because it's one of the most fundamental, yet often most neglected principle of all. It is easy to market to your own tastes and preferences, but you have to consider your audience when developing any campaign. When you promote your business, whether in the newspaper, on your signage or in a direct mail piece, lead with what's in it for the customer - not for you. Rather than saying "Buy two entrees, get a free appetizer"; you should say "Free appetizer when you buy two entrees." People are motivated by what benefits them. Make sure your offers reflect that reality.
Ask and You Shall Succeed

As winter gives way to spring, your customers' dining interests and palates may begin to shift with the seasons. Do you know what dining trends are developing among your customers? Are you prepared to serve up a new menu in keeping with your customers' changing tastes? Would you be interested in learning their attitudes and opinions of your establishment's atmosphere, staff, or value? Most business owners would be interested in this type of insight. To get this information, survey your customers on a regular basis to find out what they're thinking, stay in the know, and be one step ahead of your competition.
 
A little drip can make a big splash 
 
Hearty comfort food or light spring greens? Kobe beef or baked sole? What are your customers looking for? Don't wait to do one survey per year. You need to know what's on your customers' minds now and you need to be able to check back with them frequently. A comprehensive annual survey is great for determining overall satisfaction and customer sentiment, but when you need to know what customers are thinking right now, your best bet is to implement brief, but frequent, and regular surveys. In marketing, this is called "drip intelligence" and it yields smaller bites of customer feedback on a more regular basis.

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How to Create Motivated Employees
 
An organization is only as successful as the people who work there and today organizations throughout the hospitality industry understand this return of investment. Organizations know the importance of retaining employees and the added benefit of making them better regardless of position. Communication is the key to connecting to staff at all levels which is critical to employee retention and growth. A performance review creates the opportunity to:
  • Identify areas for improvement
  • Reward good performance
  • Identify opportunity for growth
  • Address overall concerns effectively
Typically, managers conduct performance reviews in person on an annual or semiannual basis. An employee evaluation form is the foundation for the review and it should be filled out by both the employee and the manager prior to the meeting. This form should outline the employee's job responsibilities, skill requirements and goals and objectives. It is important to note that although all evaluation forms should have the same rating scale to ensure consistency, each form should be different to reflect each distinct job position to ensure accuracy and fairness.

How to Create Motivated Employees
Many organizations within the hospitality industry suffer from psychological turnover. This occurs when employees abandon productivity and become unmotivated. This can be caused by many things such as:

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Why Employees Don't Get Much
 From "Training" and What to do About It
 
The autocratic design of the modern classroom (teacher in front lecturing dutiful pupils aligned in symmetrical rows) traces its roots back to 14th Century Heidelberg. This same format was adopted throughout Europe and then presented to America's 19th Century factory barons who resented losing their cheap child labor to education reform. The industrialists reluctantly agreed only after reformers sold them on the fact that the "teaching" would actually be training, readying these young huddled masses for future roles as factory workers. The classroom hierarchy and layout was carefully designed to both foster obedience to authority and mimic a factory orgchart. Note the layout: "foreman" (teacher) up front and dutiful "workers" (students) seated in neat rows of box-shaped desks. Educators sealed the deal by promising that school would be relegated exclusively to the colder months,
thereby freeing the kids up to labor during crunch time: planting and harvest season. Today's US educational system follows an identical structure. Business and the military imitated the public school system and so the "modern" training hierarchy was born.
 
So much for the history lesson, now for the bigger question: is this 600 year-old format really the most effective way to educate and "train" the post-modern Nintendo Generation of foodservice employees? Maybe its time to better train the trainer and let the learners lead.
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At Sysco iCare , we've done our homework, so you don't have to. iCare partners are Sysco approved and uphold the highest service levels, quality standards and performance guarantees of anyone in the industry.