gdp's Comments

SmartBlog on Restaurants : About 7% of restaurants are using consultants now

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 18:53:48 +0000

Thanks Rebecca. I appreciate the opportunity in this forum to talk about our profession and our industry and one of the most misunderstood and abused yet critically important tools for helping operators build success. Having been inundated with questions and comments all day, I need to address one of the most important issues people have been commenting on. Cost. As Bob Krieger and Michael Sick have pointed out, the cost of not asking for help can mean the difference between success and failure. But too often, egos and the desire to go down with the ship, get in the way. The cost of any program or process you utilize in any attempt to grow and prosper has to be measured against a qualified ROI. Of course it doens't make sense to write a check for $10,000 and expect to receive any return that is less than the actual investment, but if you receive $25,000+ in value (any combination of cost savings or increased profits) then you should consider writing more checks or seeking even higher levels of return for your investment. This process should also be laid out beforehand and the metrics and methodology for determining it should be in place prior to any engagement and agreed upon by the operator and the consultant. Anything less is unprofessional and unreliable. Can a consultant guarantee a particular result? No consultant can and if they tell you they will you need to run just as far away, as fast as you can. A professional will try to influence your decision making process any way they can but at the end of the day it's up to you, the operator, to do the work on your business.

SmartBlog on Restaurants : Twitter for restaurants: Best practices for improving customer service and sales

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 18:29:15 +0000

Sorry, but the last thing you should be doing is using Twitter, or any social media platform, as just another discount and promotion distribution tool. The purpose of using social media is to engage your guests and support and build better relationships with them. Not turn every interaction into just another transaction.

SmartBlog on Restaurants : Does social media make sense for your restaurant?

Mon, 13 Dec 2010 17:52:13 +0000

The time issue is not a cop out because to be effective you have to plan, create and measure the impact of the content you create and the context for the audience which you intend it. Otherwise, it's just doing a bunch of stuff just for the sake of doing a bunch of stuff.

SmartBlog on Restaurants : Does social media make sense for your restaurant?

Mon, 13 Dec 2010 17:48:39 +0000

Sorry Baz but there's no missed point. We all agree that social media can help build better business relationships with consumers, what we don't agree with you on, is that it is 100% necessary - yet. We also believe that a business shouldn't just "dive into" social media if you have not yet built a social business or understand what your goals and objectives for doing so, are. As to your other points, Social Media is not a "relationship growing business" for restaurant & hospitality businesses. It is a facilitator. It can add value to the relationship, but it cannot create one just as no marketing tool can. This is the domain of real people serving real people. It is also certainly not the most revolutionary opportunity in the last 100 years. While the tools are relatively new, word-of-mouth and relationship marketing have been around as long as the industries that rely on them. Hype like that does nothing to engage the minds of operators, looking at how social media can impact their marketing efforts. The other (bigger) problem is that the business community and marketing professionals (as well as marketing amateurs) see social media as a marketing function. It is not. It is a business function. Until we recognize that, we won't be seeing much more than coupons, specials and contests anytime soon.

SmartBlog on Restaurants : Does social media make sense for your restaurant?

Thu, 9 Dec 2010 21:21:43 +0000

Amazing, considering your Irish! = )

SmartBlog on Restaurants : Does social media make sense for your restaurant?

Thu, 9 Dec 2010 21:04:20 +0000

See? Just keep it focused on the basics and in that we agree 100%. Now who at SmartBlog gets our invoices? My recent post More Facebook Shenanigans

SmartBlog on Restaurants : Does social media make sense for your restaurant?

Thu, 9 Dec 2010 20:41:56 +0000

Nobody said to solely rely on face-to-face feedback. But as any real relationship goes, and as with any good Voice-of-the-Guest program, it starts with those who are actually sitting in your dining room and not sitting behind a computer screen. Only 1 in 10 people complain in person because no one asks at the point of experience other than "Is everything OK here?" as they meander through the dining room incoherently asking the same question to every single table, totally oblivious to any detail, all because to them "OK' is their standard. I have a lot of respect for you Barry, but do you really consider it theft if your business pisses off a guest so bad that they feel it warranted to take the glass they just drank from? I really hope not.

SmartBlog on Restaurants : Does social media make sense for your restaurant?

Thu, 9 Dec 2010 20:20:23 +0000

Knowing your name or your face doesn't much matter if nothing is done to build the relationship. Why shouldn't we think of it as a social business? Because you have to be engaging on both sides of the table as well as in your community. Without engaging your staff to build relationships, you'll never have a social business. It doesn't work one way and anything less makes you a commodity. I'm sure you'd understand this if you had ever owned or operated your own restaurant. As for your 2nd paragraph, I think you need to re-read my comments and maybe my blog because it sounds like to me you're arguing just for the sake of arguing.

SmartBlog on Restaurants : Does social media make sense for your restaurant?

Thu, 9 Dec 2010 20:09:02 +0000

The only numbers that matter are the numbers of butts in your seats, the number of dollars they spend and the number of people they rave to about your business. The rest is semantics.

SmartBlog on Restaurants : Does social media make sense for your restaurant?

Thu, 9 Dec 2010 20:03:16 +0000

No social media cannot help a mediocre business. Social media is an "inside-out", not an "outside-in" process. It only serves to amplify your mediocrity. You first have to fix your business from within. The only feedback you need comes from those whose butts are already in your seats. And if you can't listen offline (which is where all relevant brand discussions start) then you cannot listen online. As for your guest complaint. I would have said, "Keep the glass and bring it in so we can refill it and show you how we really treat our guests!"

SmartBlog on Restaurants : Does social media make sense for your restaurant?

Thu, 9 Dec 2010 18:58:46 +0000

While I agree with most of what you say Joel, remember this is an industry that has an average profit margin of less than a nickel on every dollar. So I don't think they have it "too easy".

SmartBlog on Restaurants : Does social media make sense for your restaurant?

Thu, 9 Dec 2010 18:55:44 +0000

Age is just one factor and definitely not the defining one. Not everyone in a certain age group is your target market. Just because FB has 6 gazillion users doesn't mean they'll all potential guests.

SmartBlog on Restaurants : Does social media make sense for your restaurant?

Thu, 9 Dec 2010 18:49:23 +0000

You miss three very critical points Amanda. 1. Social Media very much has proven ROI and it is centered on actual sales and profits. But this connection has been so infrequently made (especially by those who think that # of fans, friends and followers are legitimate metrics) that operators aren't getting the message. 2. Restaurants & Hotels should be the most social businesses on the planet, but just because people gather at your place to celebrate life, doesn't make you a social business. 200%+ turnover, treating guests like customers, commodity food and hospitality, etc are all sure signs of an anti-social business. 3. If you can't deliver on the "social", having a social media presence will only serve to amplify your mediocrity, so it's best to stay away until you first fix your business or you run the risk of hastening your demise. My recent post More Facebook Shenanigans

SmartBlog on Restaurants : Does social media make sense for your restaurant?

Thu, 9 Dec 2010 16:01:41 +0000

Barry hits on a critical point, namely the use of social media as nothing more than just another broadcast channel; the campaigns you site (Mc Donald's, Genghis Grill and KFC) are prime examples of this. The bigger point we've been making for the longest time is that most operators should NOT get involved in social media yet, because they simply are not social businesses - which is the ultimate goal. They do not have the culture or the internal levels of engagement to support a social media presence which is critically necessary to in order to succeed with it. However, the biggest reason operators do not yet believe in social media is because they don't see the ROI for it. This isn't helped by all the inane discussion by the industry's self-proclaimed, social media guru's, about the use of fans, friends or follows to determine success either. Until we start having serious discussions about social business leadership and the tools that can help operators actually put cash in the till, we'll be stuck in the mud like we usually are.

Inside Hospitality : Cracker Barrel: Success comes from ignoring discount mania.

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 13:59:00 +0000

Amen Dale! It certainly doesn't help that everyone and his brother talks about value solely in terms of price. And survey after survey showing consumers are using coupons more than ever, etc... lull operators into thinking that price is all that guests talk about. When in fact, it's all that operators give them to talk about.

Inside Hospitality : Study shows guests care about service. Wow, no kidding. - Daily Tip for July 28th.

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 13:41:19 +0000

Yes, but they shouldn't have to.

RestaurantWorx : The Yin and Yang of Restaurant Marketing

Sun, 18 Jul 2010 02:42:55 +0000

Thanks Mark. Discounts & coupons lock you into a lowest-common-denominator business that's almost impossible to break out from. I have written about the effects of this brand & value destroying practice all of my professional career. Feel free to use any article or just ask and I will point you to them. The one set of facts that operator's who lock horns with us on this issue can never argue against is the numbers - check out Doing the Math on Discounting http://restaurantworx.com/are-you-into-doing-the-...

RestaurantWorx : Six Common Social Media Mistakes Made By Restaurants and Hotels

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 20:53:59 +0000

I agree. but like I said in the next to last line of the post, "There are more, and we’ll talk about them in other posts." The point in #1, "No Goals" takes care of not having a strategy because without goals, there can be no strategy (except, of course, the strategy to create goals). So hang in there. There's more to come. Thanks for the comment.

Eric D. Brown - Technology, Strategy, People & Projects : Are you managing the constraints or leading your people?

Fri, 9 Jul 2010 09:13:23 +0000

Outstanding points Eric. I agree 100% with your perspective. My recent post Six Common Social Media Mistakes Made By Restaurants and Hotels

SmartBlog on Restaurants : State of social media for restaurants

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 22:52:35 +0000

Not only that but there are over 1,000,000 foodservice operations in the US - over 70% of which are independent.. How will you ensure that all segments are represented? What works for fast food concepts won't work for Morton's or what works for a chain with increased resources can't be duplicated by a local independent, etc. There's no way to get "statistically sound" numbers within the industry. Even the National Restaurant Association can't get statistically sound numbers. The best thing is to stop trying to survey anyone and start analyzing best practices by segment and quit portraying some false sense of scientific method. My recent post Memorial Day 2010