 In May, I had the opportunity to travel to the National Alcohol Beverage Control Association Conference with Paul and learn about the different laws and procedures in the Control States.
We attended various seminars and Paul was on the panel in the Selling Your System seminar.
Each person on the panel talked about the value of their system and how they get that message out to the public.
Paul's presentation was about on how we promote Community Value and get our message out within our own municipal liquor system.
When I returned to work after the trip, I got to thinking about how I was going to better sell my system to my city and get my message out.
Yes, we participate in the Community Value Programs, I have the message "Our Profits Go Back to the Community" on our receipts, and my staff is educated on why we are important and are encouraged to educate customers.
But something still seemed to be missing.
At my annual review with the city council, we discussed changing the name of our facility to promote more of a friendly atmosphere for people of all ages to be able to come in and eat and socialize.
That process was already in motion, but I still didn't think that was enough to increase our customer base and get our message out.
After some discussion with my staff and customers, it was decided our message and purpose was being missed by many city residents.
We have so much more to offer now with our full menu being added and we have worked so hard at trying to re-brand our store with the name change.
It was decided to create an "Every Door Direct Mailer" (EDDM) to get our message out to city residents.
The EDDM contained the following information - Our new name & logo
- Contact information
- States how our city residents benefit from us
- Our reason for the name change
- A copy of our full menu with our NEW Kids Menu option
- Nightly On Sale Food & Beverage Specials
- Promotions that we offer
- Off Sale Quantity Discounts
- Included 2 coupons to get people in the door
All of our city residents should have the mailer in their mailboxes by Monday.
As I am sure there is going to be some negative feedback, I hoping there will a lot of positive feedback too.
In addition to creating the EDDM, we have new signage being installed.
We have a 3'x8' sign along the highway in the city park to attract highway traffic to stop in, and our Miller Distributor printed a new sign for the front of our building with our new logo and name.
We all need to "Sell our Systems" better because we have a pretty unique situation many people do not understand or know about.
At the end of the day, it is all about educating your customers and city residents why you are important in your community and trying to make as much money as you can to put back into your city budget. Cheers! Karissa Kurth The Buffalo Range Formally Buffalo Lake Liquors |