The 3rd Key For Restaurant Success: Sales

Your success depends on the 3 S’s Of Restaurant Success.

1. Systems (training, financial, operations, staffing, marketing, etc.)
2. Staff (well-trained people you can count on.)
3. Sales (a steady stream of customers coming in the door)

We’ve discussed the first key to restaurant success, Systems, and finding and keeping a superstar Staff. Today, we’ll talk about the final of these three, creating predictable sales.

One of the biggest frustrations for restaurant owners is fluctuating sales. Busy some days or months, low meager sales at other times. Ideally, you want to see consistent sales that grow each period.

Since restaurants have low-profit transactions, you need lots of sales to be profitable. You cannot rely on simply opening the doors; you need a system to get new customers, turn them into regulars, get your loyal customers back more frequently, and spend more.

“Sales lift sinking ships.”-Michael Thibault.

The key to predictable sales growth is having an effective marketing plan before sales slump and sticking to the plan.

Marketing stress is a familiar feeling. You put off marketing until you’re frustrated with low sales, then frantically try to come up with ideas and scramble to get everything done to fill the slow period. Or you hear a new idea, see other’s marketing, find new technology, and get excited to implement it – but going back and forth between exciting ideas only creates stress and panic. Or a big event comes along that would have been ideal for building a marketing strategy around, and you missed it completely, along with a big influx of sales had you planned properly.

Building a plan for sales will make your marketing process more streamlined, so you can focus on running a successful business day to day. It allows for more preparation time, time to delegate and take things off your plate, train staff, and create strategies that will run without you having to micro-manage.

How To Strategize To Increase Sales

1.) Set aside the time to create a system that works. Panic marketing and last-minute decisions don’t get you where you want to go – instead, focus on building a plan that will allow you to create excitement and stand out from all your competitors.

2.) Select team members to be part of your marketing team; this helps spread the workload, creates the opportunity for more ideas and creativity, and empowers staff members.

3.) At its most basic level – planning a marketing calendar will give you a simple road map to follow and allows you to avoid last-minute panic and stress. A simple format is to build it so you can see what is happening each week and month, noting key events and holidays and adding the marketing campaigns that connect with those events. Looking ahead in three-month chunks is a manageable amount of time; trying to do the entire year is daunting and doesn’t allow room for new ideas.

Taking the proper steps in advance eliminates future stress to ensure your marketing campaigns have real results that create more sales for your restaurant.

Know Your Target Audience

Knowing your target customers and how to reach them is key for any successful business. Understanding your market’s demographics, lifestyles, and problems is just as important as figuring out what they want from you.

You can group your customers into categories. Each group will respond to different marketing offers – you want your message and market to match.

• Existing customers?
• Rewards members or non-members?
• Audience segments? (wine lovers, families, seniors)
• New customers?
• A specific demographic of people? (students, couples, women/men, geographic area.)

This will require research on your part. If you have a customer list, you’ll be able to analyze it. You can start by paying closer attention to who you are serving and finding out what you can about them. Once you know who you are trying to reach, creating marketing that stands out, resonates with them, and solves their problem will show results.

You Need To Be The Loudest

Creating content that stands out from the crowd isn’t easy – but with a little bit of creativity, it can be done. We like tying in with something in the customers’ minds – a seasonal change, a holiday, or a special event. It proves to them that you know them. It’s called slipstreaming in marketing.

Ask yourself:

• What kind of bold headline would stop my audience dead in their tracks?
• Can I craft compelling copy that will keep them engaged?
• Is there a strong offer I can include to cause them to take action?

Creating a specific call-to-action, telling them exactly what to do to get your offer makes these marketing messages even more persuasive. Following these steps will ensure your content is engaging and will reach your target audience, boosting sales and eliminating stress.

If You Don’t Have Written Goals, Then You Only Have A Dream

Setting specific, attainable goals is key. Start by being specific about what you want and when you want it – this way, success metrics are on the table, giving you something tangible to work towards.

What are you trying to achieve?

An example might be to get all the people visiting in June to return in July (we have a solution for that, be on the lookout at the end of this month). Or it might be to book a specific number of new rewards members. Or you want to host a special event and have 100 people attend. Or you want to sell X number of specials each week. Determine how the goal will be measured – will it be based on sales, campaign redemptions, or new additions to your customer list? How will you measure success? Be specific.

After that, delegate marketing projects and activities accordingly, and don’t forget to monitor progress along the way. You are delegating tasks, but not responsibility. Set deadlines so that nothing is left to the last minute.

Test, Test, Test (Or Find Someone Who Does)

Every idea can (and should) be tested. You can’t rely on what you “think” might work or won’t. You will only know by doing. A client of ours was fearful of our DFY Christmas No Peeking campaign. She was afraid to try new things and scared of taking the first step of getting out of her comfort zone.

She asked herself, “Why should I try something new? It’s easier and less work to keep doing what I am doing.” But she took a leap and, as a result, had their best January ever, with the DFY No Peeking promo adding $52,000 to the bottom line.

We can customize No Peeking for any time, event, special celebration, or season of the year for your restaurant. It’s the #1 Sales Generating Promotion of all time! Click the link and check out some of the results restaurant owners have experienced over the past 18 years with our DFY No Peeking Promotion.

Experiment with different marketing strategies and tactics and monitor the results closely. When you find a winner, look for ways to repeat it. If something doesn’t meet expectations, decide if it can be improved or stop doing it. Compare results to your goals, and don’t let emotion influence your decisions – go with facts, not feelings!

Zig and Zag

Each time you revisit your marketing plan, review and revise it on an ongoing basis to maximize the potential of your sales efforts. Track your changes over time so you can keep tweaking things as needed – sometimes, even minor alterations can have a significant impact. Consistently revisiting and revising your approach ensures you remain ahead of the curve in getting the most out of your efforts. It allows room for new ideas to be implemented with proper preparation.

The Third “S” Is The Home Run!

A plan, a system, an awesome staff, and marketing that generates sales for your business is the only surefire way to grow your income. As a team who understands the importance of an effective marketing workflow, we can help you create a plan and develop unique marketing promotions that are done for you.

If you’re looking for a plan and a system to consistently generate new customers and get your existing customers to come back more often, spending more, then do something good for your business, your staff, your customers, and most importantly YOU! Click the button below and schedule a FREE DFY Sales Strategy Session for your business with a DFY Marketing Expert.