I get asked this question all the time... "How do I get people to come in early in the evening?" There are lots of sales techniques and segments used to address this questions, but for this blog I will focus on one.... "Natural" Happy Hour.
Natural Happy Hour
Natural Happy Hour, also known as the “After Work” Happy Hour, is that time in the early evening when businessmen and women go out to have a few drinks after work. This is usually a segment of the day prior to “PRIMETIME” but after lunch rush. (i.e. between 3pm and 8pm).
Drink specials should be offered during this time and if applicable food specials as well. Typical Happy Hour would look something like this….
• 3pm-7pm, Monday-Friday
• 2-4-1 Drafts, $3 Well Drinks, ½ Price Appetizers
Promotion for this segment has to be aggressive and done weekly without fail…
Focus in on the closest major businesses in the area (i.e. Businesses that have more than 20 employees that are within 5 blocks of your business).
• Every week drop off invitations (see “When Does a Flyer Become an Invitation”) every week with the receptionist or the person closest to the front door. Drop them off every week with the same person, this will build a relationship and loyalty. Give him or her something extra… a $10 Gift Certificate or a Free Dinner Coupon. They will become your best friend and in return bring people to your establishment. Do the exact thing with concierges for all surrounding hotels. Make sure the concierge knows you by name every single time you walk through the door.
• Gather information through business cards and/or word of mouth. Do not be afraid to ask for an email address or phone number…. Also, ask key questions like “Who plans your office parties?” or “Who goes out a lot?” or “Who is the most fun person in the office?”
• Use the information to build a database for just these businesses. Use this database once a month to send out an email with Specials and Discounts for ONLY THESE BUSINESSES. When I say only these businesses, I mean those businesses that you are planning to use to build your “Natural Happy Hour”. Make these people feel SPECIAL. MAKE A PERSONAL CONNECTION.
Natural Happy Hour is usually most successful later in the week. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have this segment early in the week, it just means that your success Wednesday thru Friday will historically be better than it will be on Monday and Tuesday(different cities/areas/neighborhoods will have different results).
For this reason, weekly promotions of this segment should take place early in the week when business people are planning the week. For example, every Tuesday at 2pm visit each business. Never take a week off. HIT UP THESE BUSINESSES EVERY SINGLE WEEK with something in your hand. No excuse for laziness.
You should add no fewer than 3 new businesses a week to your database(I would suggest 5-10). This means you must take control and visit 3 new businesses every week, while continuing to hit all of the ones you hit the previous week.
RELATIONSHIPS=$$$$
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Profit Tip of the Week from Restaurantowner.com
This article was emailed to me today from one of the many email lists I am a part of.... Now, normally this stuff is trash, but I really like this article and I find it to be a good Profit Tip.
From RestaurantOwner.com.....
How Wrong Assumptions Hurt Your Restaurant
Most of your employees are clueless about what it costs to operate
your restaurant. In fact, most of them will "assume" you're making a
killing unless you've made an effort to enlighten them about basic
restaurant economics.
When I work with operators, I always bring this point to light by
asking three or four employees, individually, one at a time, how
well much money they think the restaurant is making. I take a
dollar bill out of my pocket and ask, "Out of every dollar in sales
that comes in this place, how much do you think the owner gets to
keep?" Typical answers range from 30 to 60 cents. The lowest I ever
recall hearing was 25 cents.
When employees think your restaurant is a high margin, extremely
lucrative business, it can affect their attitudes, behavior and
work habits. Employees that assume the boss is pocketing 50 cents
out of every dollar in sales (when in reality it's probably less
than a nickel), may find it easier to rationalize carelessness,
waste and even theft.
It's important to show your employee "where the money goes." Call a
meeting and give each employee 100 pennies. Explain to them it
represents a dollar of sales that comes into your restaurant and
you're going to show them where this money goes to pay all of your
costs and expenses.
Out of the 100 pennies each of them has, ask them give you back
their portion of expenses you pay each month. For example, you
might start out asking for 30 pennies from everyone for food, 32
pennies for payroll, 5 for payroll taxes, 4 for the utility bill, 6
for the rent and so on until there are four or five pennies or
whatever approximates your net income % remaining. Explain that
this is how much out of every dollar you get to keep.
At minimum, your employees will now know that your restaurant is
not the "cash cow" they had probably imagined and they might
understand better why you make such a big deal out of portion
control, counting products, scheduling and other cost control
activities.
Let your employees know, in terms they can relate to, that this is
a "low margin" business. Educate them and let them know what's
going on in your restaurant and they will usually do the right
thing.
The problem is that when you don't educate or withhold information,
people make assumptions and as you can expect, those assumptions
are usually wrong.
From RestaurantOwner.com.....
How Wrong Assumptions Hurt Your Restaurant
Most of your employees are clueless about what it costs to operate
your restaurant. In fact, most of them will "assume" you're making a
killing unless you've made an effort to enlighten them about basic
restaurant economics.
When I work with operators, I always bring this point to light by
asking three or four employees, individually, one at a time, how
well much money they think the restaurant is making. I take a
dollar bill out of my pocket and ask, "Out of every dollar in sales
that comes in this place, how much do you think the owner gets to
keep?" Typical answers range from 30 to 60 cents. The lowest I ever
recall hearing was 25 cents.
When employees think your restaurant is a high margin, extremely
lucrative business, it can affect their attitudes, behavior and
work habits. Employees that assume the boss is pocketing 50 cents
out of every dollar in sales (when in reality it's probably less
than a nickel), may find it easier to rationalize carelessness,
waste and even theft.
It's important to show your employee "where the money goes." Call a
meeting and give each employee 100 pennies. Explain to them it
represents a dollar of sales that comes into your restaurant and
you're going to show them where this money goes to pay all of your
costs and expenses.
Out of the 100 pennies each of them has, ask them give you back
their portion of expenses you pay each month. For example, you
might start out asking for 30 pennies from everyone for food, 32
pennies for payroll, 5 for payroll taxes, 4 for the utility bill, 6
for the rent and so on until there are four or five pennies or
whatever approximates your net income % remaining. Explain that
this is how much out of every dollar you get to keep.
At minimum, your employees will now know that your restaurant is
not the "cash cow" they had probably imagined and they might
understand better why you make such a big deal out of portion
control, counting products, scheduling and other cost control
activities.
Let your employees know, in terms they can relate to, that this is
a "low margin" business. Educate them and let them know what's
going on in your restaurant and they will usually do the right
thing.
The problem is that when you don't educate or withhold information,
people make assumptions and as you can expect, those assumptions
are usually wrong.
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