Posts Tagged ‘restaurant’

Marketing is about drawing customers into your business. What will they find when they get there? And what will they tell their friends?

Just about a year ago, I was retained by a local franchisee for a popular national restaurant company to boost catering sales in his operation.

One of the first recommendations I made to the client was that he beef up his on-premise dining and kitchen operations – as a long-term restaurant professional, it didn’t take more than a visit or two to his flagship operation to see that there were some glaring deficiencies in service, cleanliness, food consistency and level of customer service. I offered the client a comprehensive list of recommendations on how I thought he needed to tighten up his operation in preparation for dealing with increased catering sales. He implemented exactly none of my suggestions.

Our marketing strategy was well-organized, and the initial catering push was moderately successful…with an effect that was entirely predictable: catering deliveries were disorganized and late or  incomplete; billing mistakes were common; on-premise service and food quality suffered because staff spent mornings running around trying to figure out how to get catering orders together instead of preparing for the lunch rush; and the operation came across as unprofessional and inept to nearly everyone.

So the initial push worked just well enough to upset not just present catering and on-premise customers but new ones as well, and the franchisee very quickly saw his numbers start falling off again. And, needless to say, our relationship didn’t end on the best of terms; I was frustrated with him, and he thought I hadn’t done my job.

The moral of the story?

Even the best-executed marketing strategy will bite you in the butt if your operation isn’t ready for its impact.

If your operation isn’t running in showcase mode, with every facet sparkling and prepared to impress every customer, all the time and energy you’ve invested in your marketing efforts will simply yield a greater number of customers who will be unimpressed with your operation – and will go out and tell the world what they found.

Step one of your strategic marketing plan has to be internal: look at your operation – from your customers’ point of view - and make some cold, harsh, honest judgments on where it’s lacking and what needs to change for it to be ready to sell itself and create customers who are your best advertisers. And if you can’t trust yourself to look at your business objectively, ask your customers. They’ll be grateful that you thought enough of them to ask, and they will give you their honest input.