Restaurant Masterminds

In case you have not noticed the “Big Chains” have finally figured it out…Marketing 101. For years I have had a huge advantage by being able to market to my guests on a one on one level. While the “Chains” were so busy building their brand through image advertising, I was building my data base of loyal guests. I was building relationships with my guests and staying in constant contact with my guests on a weekly basis. Now all that has changed.  Take a look around and you’ll see the chain restaurants doing what I have been doing for years….the chain restaurants are now creating loyalty programs, creating fan clubs on facebook, email marketing, text messaging, gift card sales, scratch card contests, giveaways, direct mail marketing (they still fail miserably in this aspect, but at least they are moving forward) and much more to create foot traffic through their restaurants.

The scary part of being an Independent Restaurant of today is, chain restaurants are actually starting to execute some of their marketing ideas. Just the other day we stopped in our local TGI Fridays for some late night snacks and low and behold our server actually executed to perfection the explanation of their loyalty program, word for word she sounded like one of my managers training, a new employee, her pitch was absolutely perfect, noting every benefit and reason of why we should sign up for their loyalty program. Now keep in mind TGI Friday’s rolled out their loyalty program over a year and a half ago and this is the first time I have ever had a server pitch it like ours did that evening.

Ok, so they figured out that getting guest information was crucial, they understand and maybe they have developed systems to insure their staff is collecting guests information. That’s the easy part!  Now, what are the chains going to do with all this information? A great example of collecting guests information goes out to Kentucky Fried Chicken and Chick-fil-a restaurants. Each restaurant has given away tens of thousands of chicken dinners and chicken sandwiches over the course of the last year…all you had to do in exchange for the free meal was give them your personal information (mailing address, email address, date of birth). Of course I did right away, and proceeded to collect my free meal…one year later, same address, and not one direct contact from either company! So, what was the point of collecting all my information if you’re not going to do anything with it?  Wasted marketing dollars at its best! Plus, they gave me a FREE meal and I have not returned.

As Independents we have a HUGE advantage when it comes to DIRECT RESPONSE MARKETING. We can change on a dime and contact our guests immediately. We don’t have all the “corporate red tape” that the big chains are required to follow. Independent restaurant owners see something that’s not working or could be improved on, and can change within days if not within hours. So fear not my compadres of the big chain restaurants and all their creative marketing ideas, instead of focusing on what all the chains are doing, I hope you’re concentrating on what you are doing within your four walls, because the chains are making a push and it’s only a matter of time before someone in corporate finally realizes the value the independent restaurant owners are marketing.  (Well, maybe not, but you better make sure you’re doing what your supposed to do!)

Are you:

• Training your staff to collect guests information?
• Measure and recording your progress?
• Setting up systems to automate your marketing?
• Building systems to provide a great dining experience?
• Rewarding your top guests?
• Staying in contact with your guests?
• Educating yourself to stay ahead of the competition?
• Planning on attending our next Seminar in Minneapolis?

Take a look at all the marketing that your guests have to filter through on a daily basis, is your restaurant standing out? If not, you better take a long look at what you’re doing and figure out how you are going to stay ahead of the competition…if you need help, Restaurant Masterminds is headed to downtown Minnesota for our next two day event to help Independent Restaurants beat the competition! Sign up today and see you on August 23rd &24th!

Ben Martinez
Restaurant Masterminds

As a restaurateur, we are programmed and conditioned to always try and find the best price when we are purchasing for our restaurants. This is a tried and true formula, one that has been passed on for generations. The less we pay for an item, the more we save and the more we bring to the bottom line. It makes sense, it sounds very simple, even an amateur could execute this. The problem is that the formula is flawed. There are times that different variables come in to play that can skew the results and end up costing you money.

At my prime steakhouse, we cut our own beef. It is important that our Chef shops around with our preferred vendors in search of the best price each week. These are vendors that we have specked out and chosen, based on consistent quality and pricing, along with reliable deliveries. Once our Chef receives his bids for our different cuts of meats, he then decides who to place his orders with. It actually seems very straightforward. Here’s where it gets a little tricky. We have a special broiler that heats up to sixteen hundred and fifty degrees. If you throw a steak under our broiler and it’s cut too thin, it will curl and end up looking very unappealing on the plate. We speck our rib-eyes or NY strips around ten to twelve pounds. The reason for this, is that at this weight, the steaks we cut will be at least an inch thick. Currently, most of the meat coming to the market are trending fourteen to seventeen pounds. Now the eye is large and the steaks are too thin. The price is right, the product is wrong.

We have a vendor that carries an all natural product that is currently weighing in at ten to twelve pounds. The cost is a dollar and fifty cents a pound more than what we typically pay. Here’s where you have to do the math. The waste on a strip or rib-eye in the ten to twelve pound range can be up to sixty percent less than the waste on a heavier piece of meat. The cost of your cut steak might be fifty or sixty cents more per portion. The key here is that some times you have to pay a little more to keep your quality consistent. If a regular customer comes in and purchases a steak dinner with a large eye, and the steak is a half inch thick and it’s all curled on the plate. He’s probably going to send it back. You now have to cook another steak and try and appease him. The lost steak just cost you your savings over the natural beef. You factor in the waste and cutting loss, add in an unhappy customer or two and you see how it actually costs the same to buy the natural beef in this instance.

It’s the exact same philosophy if you buy portion control eight ounce tenderloins. It can be a pricey proposition. If you cut your own whole tenderloins, you have to have an outlet for the scraps and small pieces. If you don’t have this outlet, and all you do is through the scraps into a stockpot, or grind it up for hamburg. You’re better off paying more for the cut steaks and saving money in the long run.

There are times, when it pays to pay a little more, and save your hard earned money. The key is to know the difference on when you need to pay more and save on cost and labor as well.

Think about it, I’m sure everyone has at least one situation in their restaurant where pride or ego is preventing you from analyzing your particular situation. Take a good look and you’ll be surprised at what you find.

Long hours of working nights and weekends, hiring and firing staff, training and motivating staff, dealing with salesman, taking inventory, keeping up to date on rules and regulations, health department, fire department, liquor codes, city and county codes, repairs and maintenance, taxes, insurance, food cost, labor cost, advertising and marketing, working with family, and even after we think we have ALL of these items figured out, now we have to worry about getting guests to walk through our doors and hope they LOVE us! Ahhh….The joy of being a restaurant owner.

You know what I’m talking about, we’ve all been there, long days, weeks and months away from family and friends. Sometimes after a long day of work we drive home and ask ourselves, why? Why do we put ourselves and our family through the agony of owning a restaurant?…But every once in awhile a day comes along that makes everything worth while…Now, before I continue on, let me preface everything I’m saying by stating I LOVE being a restaurant owner, however, there once was a time that loving my restaurant was furthest from the truth. I struggled like many of you do today with all or some of the items that I listed above. It took many years for me to figure out what was going to make my restaurant successful and more importantly what was going to give me passion and motivation to love what I was doing. After changing my mind set, and making a personal commitment to succeed and then developing systems and most importantly learning how to market my restaurant was the turning point in the first step of LOVING what I do.

Now back to the thought that every once in a while something happens in your restaurant that truly makes you feel proud of doing what you do and makes you understand why you are a restaurant owner. A few weeks ago one of my long time cooks who has been with us for nearly 9 years, had his oldest son apply for a busboy position. Not really knowing who the new young employee was, I observed him from afar and noticed he was a quality young man with great work ethic (just like his dad)….Two weeks later, this fine young man asked if he could speak to me personally and we set a time to speak the next day. Not knowing what the conversation would be I began to wonder if he was having issues with one of our managers or something else was really wrong.

My new employee of nearly one month met with me the next day and proceeded to shake my hand and THANK me for giving him the opportunity to work at such a wonderful establishment. He showed true appreciation and maturity for his age…He also thanked me for letting his dad work in my restaurant, stating how important my restaurant was to his family for income. He ended our conversation by saying, “I want to be just like you when I grow older, someday I to will own my own restaurant and have the passion to help other families like you have helped mine, you are a true inspiration to lots of people”! WOW, this young man helped me realize, I am not only responsible for the well being of my family, but also the well being of the 43 other employees who work for me and their families.

Sometimes as restaurant owners we forget the fact that not only are we responsible for our families, but the families of our employees as well and what your restaurant means to them. So the “Joy of being a restaurant owner” took on a whole new meaning to me late Friday night. The next time you are struggling with one of the items listed at the top of the page, take a moment and find the JOY of being a restaurant owner, and quickly dealing with that item will become much easier. Take the time to write down at least 10 reasons why you LOVE being a restaurant owner, and then everyday read them aloud to yourself and watch positive energy take hold in your restaurant.

I LOVE what I do! Do you? Email me at Ben@restaurantmasterminds.com and tell me your dreams, passions and desires about having a successful restaurant.

Ben Martinez

Restaurant Masterminds

There are times when I speak to our staff,  I feel like I’m in a Charlie Brown Cartoon. I look around the room and servers are talking to the person next to them. It feels like all they are hearing is blah, blah, blah, bah blah. I sometimes wonder if this is a waste of time. The truth is, communication is the lifeblood of your business. It’s so important, the President of the United States has a Press Secretary and anyone famous has someone who handles their communication.

The key to communication is to be concise, stay current and keep everyone in the loop. Our monthly meetings are mandatory, we have a full agenda, servers are required to sign-in, these are paid meetings and we expect you in work mode. Preparation is key, our managers spend the entire month documenting issues to discuss for our meeting, tallying up winners for our server contests and assembling short videos to stimulate the staff and make it fun.

It always amazes me when I’m in a restaurant and I ask a question and the server is completely clueless. The sad part is, it’s not even his or her fault. Management has failed, it’s our job to train and communicate with our employees. Typical restaurant communication is to tell one server and have them pass it on. We’ve all done this exercise and the results are staggering, the last person told, has a version that isn’t even remotely similar to the original message.

Today, we communicate differently, texting is the best way to get in touch with someone. Everyone has an I-phone or some sort of a phone that has their e-mail on it. We’re currently assembling an employee website, it will be pass-coded and include server schedules and current market prices for lobsters, current promotions and a hot list for servers. We are even including a forum for servers to communicate with us. I know a lot of chains utilize an employee website, it’s time we evolve and utilize technology better. The issue here is to communicate better, make sure our staff is properly outfitted with all the information they need to do their job.

Information is power, don’t employ a bunch of powerless people, arm them properly and put them to task. A well trained employee, who is completely in the loop is probably worth ten to twenty thousand dollars a year in sales. They take pride in their job and are proud of their place of employment. Lastly,  having a staff of well communicated employees will eliminate a lot of internal strife, the he said, she said, stuff will go away. Keep your staff in the loop and you’ll have a much happier staff who appreciate their job.

Dick Varano