Archive for July, 2006
July 31, 2006 at 11:14 am
· Filed under Article, Customer Service, Manager, Waitstaff
excerpt:
“When plotting service strategy and delivery, too many operators, managers and trainers focus on what they should “do” for their guests. I think it’s just as instructive and illuminating to define first what not to do. In other words, do you know what you don’t know that you don’t know?
So let’s take a closer look at what not to do to the guest and examine the fatal flaws of service-giving as seen through the customer’s lens. Eliminate these service blunders, and you may no longer have the need to “teach” service at all, because your customers will have a consistent experience characterized by the absence of complaints…”
source: “Key to great service is avoiding the 12 fatal flaws” by Jim Sullivan (Nation’s Restaurant News, Jul.31,2006) [free registration req.]
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July 28, 2006 at 10:30 am
· Filed under Advertising, Advice, Article, Free, Marketing, Newsletter, Resource Site, Web Site
excerpt:
“Delivering measurable increases in food and beverage revenues can be achieved with simple restaurant promotional techniques available to big budgets and shoestring marketers alike. There are thousands of possible tactics you can employ to drive revenues without any reliance on mass media advertising.
Here are 10 of the best restaurant promotion ideas to get your own creative marketing wheels turning:
Restaurant Promotions Tactic 1. Publicity stunts – Stunt is a word with negative connotations for restaurant owners, but I wanted to use a word that conjured up images that are different than traditional press relations efforts…”
source: “10 Tactics for Driving F&B Sales” (Quantified Marketing Group)
Quantified Marketing Group has an archive of restaurant marketing articles, here are some sample topics:
Restaurant Marketing Plan
Best Practices in Email Marketing
Restaurant Positioning
link: Quantified Marketing Group’s Restaurant Marketing Articles
QMG also offers a free newsletter which offers advice about restaurant marketing.
Click here for the July 06 newsletter.
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July 25, 2006 at 10:51 am
· Filed under Advice, Free, International, Internet, Reference, Resource Site
As a restaurant owner, you can never tell where you might find useful advice. Here are some resources provided by restaurant associations around the world:
Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association
sample article titles:
Top 20 factors for success in the restaurant business
Choosing an effective accounting or cost management software for your restaurant
Estimating the value or worth of your business
Controlling alcohol spillage and shrinkage
link: Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association
Restaurant & Catering Australia
sample article summaries:
March/April 2005 – SALE AWAY – A POS system is a valuable tool to keep orders charged, stock counted and customers satisfied
May/June 2005 – CALL TO ORDER – The must have accessory by the wait staff is electronic order pads but are these handheld units as functional as mounted terminals?
May/June 2005 – UPDATE YOUR WEBSITE – An Auckland restaurant has found that an out-of-date website can be very expensive.
link: Restaurant & Catering Australia’s Technology Update
related link: Restaurant.org’s list of international restaurant associations
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July 24, 2006 at 3:48 pm
· Filed under Advice, Energy, Free
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July 22, 2006 at 9:45 am
· Filed under Free, Internet, Manager, Reference, Resource Site, Web Site
AllFoodBusiness.com has an incredible list of links to free restaurant checklists, forms, and posters for owners and managers. This site is a wonderful resource for anyone in the restaurant business and deserves further exploring. They have collected links from all over the internet and made it easy to find information.
sample titles:
Restaurant Market Analysis
Guidelines for Storing Frozen Foods
Manual Dishwashing Procedures Poster
Employee dismissal form
link: AllFoodBusiness.com’s Restaurant Forms and Checklists
You may need a free Adobe Acrobat PDF reader to view some of the documents.
The site is filled with free articles, resources, and advice. It is a site that is using the internet to help all restaurant owners improve their operations and share knowledge.
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July 21, 2006 at 9:58 am
· Filed under Advice, Customer Service, Free, Marketing, Resource Site, Tools, Waitstaff, Web Site
“FHG International Inc., is a Canadian based boutique consulting firm specializing in the foodservice, franchise and hospitality industries.
…FHG has worked with clients to developed successful restaurant, franchise and hospitality businesses, conduct operational reviews, feasibility studies, market research, corporate restructuring, strategic planning, master planning, valuations and litigation support.”
link: FHG International’s Article Archive
sample titles:
Menu Planning: A Systematic Methodology
Marketing By Design
Service Timetable – A practical guide to efficient service
also available for free:
Book – “Restaurant Staff Service Tips”
Software – “MENUMANAGER©”
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July 20, 2006 at 1:17 pm
· Filed under Advice, Blog, Internet, Marketing, Newsletter, Tools
excerpt:
‘Recently I was in a seminar styled meeting and the topic was the art of the email. When I went in I thought I was aware of most of the email tricks. The guy who was leading the email discussion was a magician. He knew how to design an email so people respond.
He spoke of the psychology of the email and we discussed what gets people to respond. And, he had minimalized the science so non-tech people, like us, could get behind our key boards and accomplish something without the fear of failure staring us in the face. It’s a great, quick, easy, smple, rapid, yada, yada, yada, way to promote.
Here are a few tips:”
source: “The Art of the Email” by John Foley (The Restaurant Blog,Jul.19,2006)
related links:
Marketers still ignoring e-mail best practices (thewisemarketer.com)
Article: “Jump Start Your On-line Marketing With An E-mail Newsletter” (techwaiterbell)
Tool: Restaurant Newsletter/Email Marketing Services (techwaiterbell)
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July 19, 2006 at 9:24 am
· Filed under Advice, Article, Competition, Free, Internet
excerpt:
“Are your competitors marketing more effectively than you? What is their pricing strategy, and how are they changing their menu? Why do people visit them instead of your place?
Here are 8 sure-fire methods to keep you up with what’s happening in the marketplace.
1. Visit their business, of course. If you’re well known, arrange for someone you trust to visit. Keep it friendly, and let’s not pretend they haven’t done plenty of ‘market research’ on your business…”
source: “8 legal ways to spy on your competition” (ProfitableHospitality.com, Jul.2006) [public access til Aug.3]
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July 18, 2006 at 9:22 am
· Filed under Advice, Internet, Resource Site, Training, Web Site
“Tip20!com is the internet’s number one resource for service industry information, tipping practices and industry standards. Please select the category below that suits your needs. Please feel free to browse all categories and give yourself an education in all of the different pieces that make up restaurant and bar industry.”
link: Tip20!com
Article archive includes the folliowing titles:
Scheduling Basics for Restaurant Managers
Scheduling for Slackers
Office Romance
link: Tip20.com Article Archive
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July 17, 2006 at 9:16 am
· Filed under Blog, Competition, Free, Internet, Resource Site, Web Site
excerpt:
“Springwise scans the globe for the most promising business ventures, ideas and concepts ready for regional or international adaptation, expansion, partnering, investments or cooperation. Ferociously tracking more than 400 global offline and online business resources, as well as taking to the streets of world cities, digital cameras at hand.”
link: Springwise – Food & Beverage ideas
sample posts:
Happy Healthy Meals
Dessert-only Restaurants
Indian Fast Food
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