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A combination of sales, promotion, marketing and public relations are required to achieve long-term success with any small business. As far as a restaurant is concerned, in order to fill your tables frequently you will need to make sure that your current customers return, and that you can attract new ones. Customers are the cornerstone of your business. Make sure that your atmosphere, value for money, quality of food and highly trained, attentive staff are ready.
When you think of ways to develop relationships with your clients, consider implementing a restaurant newsletter. This can be compiled electronically and sent out as an e-mail. You can also print this out and mail it in the regular mail, or you can consider posting on your restaurants website.
Style your restaurant newsletter appropriately to the image of your restaurant. A fine dining restaurant should be reflected in an upscale, sophisticated newsletter. A casual, family restaurant should be reflected with a friendly looking newsletter, written in an upbeat manner.
In any type of printed or online materials about your restaurant, relevant information should be provided somewhere, whether in a box off to the side, as part of the title box, or as an informational line at the bottom. Pertinent information includes name of restaurant, street address, phone and fax numbers, hours of operation, website address and email address.
The content of your restaurant newsletter should be less self promoting and more customer-focused. Inform customers about specials of the month, charitable events you are hosting, the new seasonal menu, changes in chefs, a story behind a recipe, new features in the restaurant and industry trends.
Much has been written about the correct frequency for a restaurant newsletter. Do not overdo the communication as customers will view it as advertising rather than important information. Monthly is probably best, but if you only change your menu seasonally and don\’t really hold any fundraisers and special events, then quarterly might work for you.
Design your restaurant newsletters so that they can be easily read by your customers. Short articles with brief sentences, catchy headlines and appropriate use of white space. Put in a couple of small images, which could be of staff, food or something else appropriate, but be careful not to clog up their mailbox.
With any restaurant newsletter, be sure to provide links. If youre doing a printed publication, include the links so customers can visit when they have available computer access. And remember to include instructions on how to subscribe to your newsletter list, as well as a forward to a friend link. You might want to consider offering an incentive to new subscribers and to current subscribers for referrals. Encouraging feedback by asking a question or taking a poll is also a great feature to include in a newsletter.
Why is the third dragon the most important?
Well, the first two dragons you cannot defeat. The Dragon of Taxes and the Dragon of Inflation are immortal!
You see, the Dragon of Taxes represents the government´s capability to levy taxes on your revenues and wealth. You may elect someone who will cut back your taxes, but you will always pay some sort of taxes.
The Dragon of Inflation represents the demand of the marketplace for money and the interest policy of governments. Inflation may be high in some years and low in others, but it will always erode your spending power and your wealth. You cannot slay the Dragon of Inflation.
The great news is if you manage to tame the third dragon, The Dragon of Poor Performance, it\’ll help you fight the other two dragons.
Defeating the Dragons
Let\’s pretend that you could be a brave knight and you set out to conquer the Dragon of Poor Performance. You invest, get burned, and decide that it\’s best of lay low and lick your wounds.
The problem is that while you are resting the other two dragons come along and gobble you up. Not so wise in actual fact!
The problem is that the returns you get are going to be chewed on by taxes and inflation. When you get poor performance in your investments either by not picking right or too conservatively, whatever returns you do get could be completely eaten up. Yikes!
If you invest your money into something that is certain to generate five percent a year, you have just made sure that you aren\’t making the cash you might have. There are investments out there that have solidly earned 8% a year and though they could be riskier, they shouldn\’t be evaded.
Should you take increased risk for just a 3 point difference in the return? Yes! A 3 point difference does not seem like much, but when you factor in the magical effect of compounding returns, it is critical to get the better return.
Let us pretend you needed to invest $1,000 for your new kid for him / her to have as a graduating present when they turn eighteen. You select an investment that gives you a return of five percent.
Scenario 1 @ 5%
Starting amount – $1,000
Years – 18
Additional contributions – $0 per month
Rate of return – 5.00% compounded daily
Total amount you will have contributed – $1,000
Total at end of investment – $2,459
Not too shabby, but we still have not figured in inflation and taxes. Before we talk about those two, let us compare the result if you had picked an investment that generated 8% a year.
Scenario 2 @ 8%
Bio:
Jose L Riesco brought top proven marketing practices to the restaurant industry, making a unique contribution to this business by creating a unique client-focused Strategy. You can find more by visiting his web site: Restaurant Marketing Strategies
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