Written on December 1, 2017
by Joe Welsh
Growing your sales with effective restaurant marketing strategies As we enter the busiest season of the restaurant year, it is important to refresh your teams on the importance of these months and the impact it can have on your business for the following year. Spend some time on these topics and have a great holiday […]
Written on October 23, 2017
by Joe Welsh
With the holidays fast approaching, it is important to assess your restaurant marketing plans for success this season. Your plans may include new menu items, community involvement programs, increasing catering sales, advertising and many more. One area of importance that is often neglected is the role your servers play in the guest experience. No matter […]
Written on July 27, 2017
by Joe Welsh
Are Your Employees Hurting Your Profits? We all agree there are many moving parts that impact the profitability of a restaurant, one of the key ingredients that is often overlooked are your employees. If you think about it, they are more than just servers and cooks. Every action they take has an impact on your […]
Written on December 11, 2016
by Joe Welsh
Most restaurant owners are faced with problems every week. There are a lot of balls juggling in the air every day. Some are handled flawlessly; some balls are dropped. The question remains how can you become a better juggler. The best jugglers practice a lot and have coaches to help them perfect their act. If […]
Written on June 25, 2016
by Joe Welsh
With many of our clients, we utilize a Restaurant Reputation Management tool to monitor what is being said by their customers on the review sites. We see the good bad and the ugly side of consumer comments about many restaurants across the country. It truly becomes obvious as to why some restaurants are very successful […]
Written on June 7, 2016
by Joe Welsh
No, this is not a blog about the Dr. Seuss book, but it is a story about places you might wind up at. Learn about how digital maps can impact your restaurant’s reputation. As a Restaurant Coach, I often use Google Maps when I travel. In many areas, I am not familiar with the towns and […]
Written on February 9, 2015
by Joe Welsh
Over the past few years, many restaurant owners I have met with have been very skeptical of review sites such as Yelp or TripAdvisor. They contended that the reviews are false, misleading or competitors just writing bad reviews about them. In some cases they claim that Yelp was misleading in its representation of reviews. Recently […]
Written on January 26, 2015
by Joe Welsh
Restaurant Margins are tight, we all know that. Rising food cost, minimum wage increases, and competitive pressures make a day to day impact. It’s a tough business, every penny counts, but are you getting every penny your restaurant is earning? I’m sure your distributor is passing along all of the allowances that they get from […]
Written on January 3, 2015
by Joe Welsh
As we start a new year it is important to take a step back and look at how you did last year. Was it a good year filled with great things that will lead you into 2015? Was your restaurant marketing plan effective? Many restaurants owners I meet with are just too busy to take […]
Written on November 5, 2014
by Joe Welsh
November is upon us and the holiday planning is set in place for most restaurants. Gift card promotions in place and holiday parties are booked. Fortunately gasoline prices are dropping which will free up discretionary spending. The challenge is to drive traffic into your restaurant and away from the big box stores. Promotions on social […]
Written on May 26, 2014
by Joe Welsh
Restaurant’s Changing Lives! That’s a powerful statement. Recently I was in Philadelphia and had lunch at a Maggiano’s Restaurant. When the waiter put down the menu, there was an additional menu in which a percentage of the proceeds were donated to the Make a Wish Foundation. A great program to help those in need. Taking […]
Written on May 12, 2014
by Joe Welsh
Every week I speak with restaurant owners in many parts of the country. In each conversation, they tell me of their concerns in running their restaurant business. In each of these conversations they all expressed many of the same concerns and they revolve around these five issues: Growing sales and reducing cost. Rising food cost […]
Written on April 22, 2014
by Joe Welsh
Recently I came across a study that was done by Deloitte consulting on loyalty within the restaurant industry. It is a very good analysis of loyalty in the industry, but another fact caught my attention. The study looked at driving factors of why consumers go to restaurants. There are many factors that drive our decisions […]
Written on February 22, 2014
by Joe Welsh
Understanding the lifetime value of your customer is important part of restaurant marketing. What is a customer worth to you? 2014 is off to a crazy start. A recent article on Fox Business News cited that the winter weather has impacted small business by as much as 13% in the first two months of the […]
Written on February 18, 2014
by Joe Welsh
Is reputation management part of your restaurant marketing strategy? Recently, I was on an extensive road trip for the better part of the past month. Many nights in hotels and most of my meals in restaurants. Ah the glamour of business travel! One thing I have seen in most markets that I visit is that […]