Many restaurants have a hard enough time just keeping up, let alone spending quality time thinking about the “little things” that we have, over the years, highlighted as a key driver of repeat business.
On a recent flight on Virgin America http://www.virgin.com, the little things were everywhere: mood lighting; great music; entertaining safety videos; specialty food and snacks.
As you, as a restaurant operator or manager, deal with P&L, look at some unexpected ways to create buzz, Read more [...]
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Recent research from the National Restaurant Association found that 47% of American’s food budget is spent at restaurants as reported by MSN Money.
This is great news for restaurant operators and anyone looking to jump into the industry. While supermarkets and specialty food retailers like Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s continue to gobble up the retail food spend, restaurants are well positioned to show value to a growing market segment.
What’s important as you drive business to your brand, Read more [...]
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Over the last 30 years the US has been in its renaissance period in regards to the food service industry. Artisan's have been researching, thinking and working passionately to forge products that are truly there own and taste like they have a history behind them.
Farmers Markets across the country continue to sprout up offering some of the best seasonal ingredients available. Getting out there and connecting with these craftsmen are what todays successful chefs have been doing. This directly translates Read more [...]
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It is truly unsettling to see so many restaurant operators in thriving demographic markets resort to heavy discounting and coupons, all the while, knowingly or unknowingly, doing severe damage to their hard work and investments building a brand – let alone the signal it sends to the community and to hard working employees.
With so many creative and cost effective ways to market in today’s digital age, the fallback to trying to rescue slow sales with an “easy fix,” of half-off, two-for-one, Read more [...]
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We hear story after story about organizations trying to reinvent themselves or wondering why they have lost market share or stakeholder support. Often times they are so close to the root challenge that they overlook it and try to advertise or promote their way out of slumping sales. A better approach: look deep to examine and refine your true brand essence and never lose sight of the essential emotional connection your brand must make to each guest, customer or stakeholder.
Over the years we have Read more [...]
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The word “restaurant” comes from the Latin word for “restore”, and indeed a restaurant provides a restorative experience, a chance to enjoy good food and wine and company, to relax and forget about the outside world, to refresh, indulge, and rejuvenate whether the restaurant is a small counter service deli or a fine dining place with a 12 course tasting menu.
From the moment a guest calls a restaurant to reserve a table, they should feel welcome and important and that feeling should continue Read more [...]
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Year after year many suppliers to specific industries spend thousands of dollars and even hundreds of thousands of dollars paying for traditional advertising, exhibiting their products and services as well as bringing their sales forces to trade shows for weeks at a time. Could they have done a better job? You bet!
While there are a good handful of longtime suppliers to the industry that do some of the things I am about to talk about, most exhibitors at trade shows don’t set up a strategic industry Read more [...]
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Have you ever gone out to dinner and had the server from Hell!
I mean, you go to a relatively nice place to eat, maybe with your spouse or on a date. You know you’re going to drop at least $200 or more for dinner. (While that may not seem like a lot of money to you, for most of us, it is.)
You go to the restaurant, get seated, and you sit. You sit. And you sit. Finally, after a while, you have a server approach you only to say, I’ll be with you in a moment! Finally, your server comes back Read more [...]
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Restaurants, retailers and other small businesses constantly receive tons of solicitations from all kinds of ad agencies, marketing and PR firms, design firms, and consultants. Unfortunately, not everyone is ready for a full brand make over, PR, or publicity roll out. Don’t sell yourself short and sign up for what appears, on the surface, to be an appealing offer of getting some quick media mentions. The “quick fix” they promote may not provide you with the long-term benefits you really need!
What’s Read more [...]
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Hospitality industry pros AccessPoint Group uniquely qualified to help major restaurants recruit chefs and executives
AccessPoint Group assists restaurants with the challenging task of finding the best talent to fill open positions. With the hospitality industry continuing to grow, AccessPoint Group responds to restaurants’ increasing need to find ambitious culinary talent.
The challenge is not only to find top-ranking chefs and employees, but also to make sure they are perfectly matched Read more [...]
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