Restaurant Survival – The First Step

There’s Only One Way For Restaurants

To Prosper In Today’s Economy…….

Get More Customers!

I just read the article, “How to Prosper in Changing America,” in the February, 2010 edition of Michigan Restaurateur and I found it interesting and thought provoking.  However, it lacked the biggest element of how to prosper in this new    economy…Marketing!

Evidently, Lawrence Smith, the author, believes you can build a better mouse trap and the mouse will just show up.  In my 12 years of working with restaurants across the United States, I’ve seen many of them go out of business by following the trends.  They had the greatest food, the best     locations, excellent wait-staff and gorgeous décor…all the elements of a really great restaurant.

But all of that wasn’t enough.  With all their planning and training they still made one colossal mistake!  They neglected the single most important aspect of keeping their restaurants open for business…Marketing!

After all, No Marketing, No Business!

In this changing economy, the American people must be marketed to differently. It’s not good enough to use the same old style of marketing and the same old sources.

Bill Glazer, author of “Outrageous Advertising that’s Outrageously Successful,” says that “Diversity leads to stability,” meaning several methods of marketing (provided they produce a worthy ROI) are   essential to the success of a restaurant. By the way, ALL marketing must be brutally and honestly measured!

The article I read was very good and it talked about trends, flavors, nutrition, 7 ways for quick service, ways for restaurants to stand out, workforce and beverage trends.

All of that is important but nowhere did it talk about determining who your “Best Guest” is or who you are trying to serve.  And most importantly it left out what media must be used and how to reach those guests.

How can a restaurant owner decide on what changes to implement if they don’t know their customers and how to market to them?

This is just my personal opinion but frankly he missed the mark on how to  prosper in today’s new economy

Have a Great Marketing Day!

Dean Killingbeck is a Master Marketer, understanding a restaurant’s needs and knowing that “Cash Flow is King”.  For his FREE REPORT, “How To Get New Guests In These Tough Times Automatically”, go to www.NewCustomersNowMarketing.com