Restaurant Marketing - 3 New Ideas for 2014

As an independent restaurant owner, figuring out how to effectively market your restaurant may be the most difficult part of your job. Just coming up with the time necessary to put together a workable strategy often prevents most independent restaurant owners from ever moving forward. Read on to uncover 3 ways to help you stand out from your competition.

Lease a New Website

Maybe you bought into the idea that building your own website was a great way to save money. Now that you've figured out there is a lot more to this than you have the skills for, it might be the perfect time to call a professional. Many web design company's are now offering payment plans that actually allow you to rent a website for a monthly charge. Just like leasing a new car you can have a brand new, professionally design website for as little as $100 per month.

So now instead of having to worry about trying to become a web designer and SEO specialist, you can have all the benefits of a custom designed website for a low monthly payment. Not only are you going to get a professional looking website but you will get the right search engine optimization that allows your customers to find you in their local searches.

Make Facebook Your Friend

Most restaurant owners are hard working do it yourselfers with not a lot of time for chit chat. So when you hear the word Facebook the first thought that probably comes into your mind is "what a waste of time that is." And for years I felt the same way. It wasn't until I learned the power Facebook has to affect my bottom line that I realized it was time to stop criticizing it and make it my friend.

When used correctly Facebook can turn out to be a powerful ally that not only helps you reconnect with potential customers, but becomes a 24/7 marketing machine that allows your best customers to sing your praises to their legions of friends.

Land Some Reviews

Just like a fisherman reeling in a big catch, landing great reviews should become the highlight of your day. And just like a savvy old fisherman getting those great reviews take planning, patience and plenty of persistence.

Contrary to popular opinion, great reviews usually don't just fall in your lap. Getting great reviews begins by developing a realistic strategy and getting all your employees on board. If you are not able to come up with something on your own there are plenty of professionals available to help you.

Whether you do it yourself or hire a professional marketer, it may take a while for you to see the results. Most customer review programs take anywhere for 90 to 120 days before you begin to see significant changes in your Yelp reviews.

Don't give up. You will need plenty of persistence to push through to get the number of reviews that you need to experience a significant breakthrough. But keep in mind that once you have them, you may see the benefits for years to come. Having the most reviews for your cuisine type in your area is like being "king of the hill." All your competitors now have to work twice as hard to simply catch up to where you already are.

To get your free, no-obligation review of your current marketing program, contact David Doty from One Tribe SBO by visiting our Get Started page. By setting aside just 1 hour you'll learn how many times it may be possible for you to double your returns on the marketing dollars you are already spending.

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5 Strategies for Keeping Team Members Engaged

It is critical to know that happy employees are the "lifeblood" of the practice. Before a patient meets the doctor, they make first contact with an employee through the phone or in person. If that first encounter is less than desirable you are at risk of the prospective patient choosing another provider or if they do decide to come, a negative review. Here are five strategies to keep your employees engaged and your patients happy.

1. Define Your Expectations of Employees

It is important to let your employees know exactly what your expectations are. Set the rules early on and you are less likely to have a problem with them. Document your expectations on paper so that everyone can keep track. If you expect your front desk assistant to arrive at the practice 30 minutes before opening to help set up for the day, make sure he or she knows to avoid conflicts down the road.

2. Say Thank You

There is no greater feeling for an employee who does a task than to receive a thank you from their employer. It does not matter if it was a daunting task or an easy one; it is the fact that you acknowledge them that is important. When you repay your employees with gratitude (verbal or monetary), they are more likely to stay engaged.

3. Set Goals

Every year, you probably set practice goals that include increasing patients. Are you setting goals for your employees too? It is highly important that you set time aside and discuss goals with them. When they have a goal, they will be motivated to achieve it.

4. Communicate with Employees

This is quite obvious but many practices lack in the communication department. A doctor should not make all the decisions. Your employees should take part in the decisions you make. Empower them to be part of the solution, not the problem. If you want to start a new rewards program, talk to your employees about it. Do they think it's a good idea? Do they think it will help with patient retention?

5. Develop Relationships with Employees

Every practice should aim to be a business that has employees that look forward to coming to work. Relationships with employees should be built over time by checking in on them regularly. By being involved with your employees, you can understand what it takes to keep them engaged.

Keeping employees engaged is not an easy task. Implementing these strategies is only the beginning and time must be invested to keep it going.

If you need any help implement this strategy, contact Mindstream Creative.

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Key Points To Consider Before Hiring Employees

The pros and cons of hiring employees for your company. The benefits of hiring a good one and the consequences of hiring the wrong one.

If you want to succeed in implementing your business plan and achieving business growth, it is critical that you hire the right employee. Like everything else you want to achieve in life preparation is the key. There isn't much point in hiring someone who doesn't believe in your brand or in your company's philosophy. Hiring the wrong person can damage your business. - Hiring the right one can be instrumental in growing your business.

Systemising your hiring process will make it much easier to employ the right people for this and future positions. Prior to hiring, do your preparatory work. Have absolute clarity about what the post offers, what it entails and the required criteria for the role. (Writing a Job Description/Person Specification/Job Application/Interview Questions, etc. will help with the process.)

Here are some questions you should consider before hiring:

• What type of person do I want to employ?
• Do I want a dynamic go-getter who is eager to progress and contribute to the success of the business? Or, do I just need someone who is happy with routine?
• Do I want someone with minimum qualifications or previous experience?
• What duties do I need to be performed in addition to achieving targets?
• Will I have to provide training?
• What personal qualities and attributes am I looking for?
• Do I need a team player to fit into my current work culture?
• Am looking for someone who will use their initiative?
• What level of communication skills am I looking for? E.g. verbal, written, face to face?
• What support do I need to put in place for them?

While the above questions are not inclusive of all criteria that you may require, they are indicative of the fundamentals necessary in hiring the right employee. However, one major element of hiring the right person is; it is absolutely essential that they share the vision, mission and values that you have for your company. If they don't share your vision, you will undoubtedly struggle to implement your business plan and/or marketing strategy for business growth.

Remember, just because someone has the 'right' qualifications doesn't always mean they are right for the job. Those who have enthusiasm, energy and a positive attitude, will often have much more to contribute towards the success of your business. Moreover, they will want to contribute to your business growth and profitability.

Principal Consultant of Business Reboot, Lorraine Garvie, has significant and comprehensive experience as a Business Consultant for small to medium sized businesses throughout Australia and the UK. Business Reboot is an Australian based advisory firm specialising in marketing strategy and business development and focuses on growing long lasting and dynamic businesses.http://www.businessreboot.com.au

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Why Perform Market Research Before Commencing Marketing Activities?

Market research is an important aspect of every business. It is not a one-time activity. Successful businesses conduct surveys on a regular basis to keep up and surpass its competitors. Irrespective of whether you intend to start a new business or planning to expand the existing one, market research is vital for understanding where your target segment lies and how sales can be increased.

Market research covers a wide range of tasks. It can be applied across a variety of challenges faced during marketing such as knowing target customer preferences, brand positioning and sales strategy. Managers in particular make use of this information to successfully introduce new products or services keeping in mind the needs of the target consumers. However, this perception is always subjective. This is because of the fact that what a consumer may consider valuable today may be quite different from what they may value the next year. Rather than just speculating, it is wise to collect data, analyze and make an informed decision. The goal of market research is to provide both facts and direction that is needed for making important marketing decision.

1. Understand your target consumers:

Why would your target consumers prefer to use your product over your competitors? What are their needs? What draws them? Is it the service that you provide, the uniqueness of your product or the prestige associated with usage of your product/service? Who influences their purchase decisions?

2. Set specific targets:

From the data that you have collected, you can set specific realistic targets concerning areas of sales, growth and introduction of new products and services.

3. Formulate effective strategies:

After conducting a thorough research, you would be able to make an informed decision about how to price your services, how to publicize and promote it, which mode of advertising could prove effectively such as radio, television or newspaper. It will allow you the opportunity to make an informed decision before initiating, building, establishing, diversifying or reducing business activity.

4. Examine and find solution to business issues:

Once you have narrowed down the problem, research will help you work out the root cause of the problem. For example, if you have noticed a fall in sales figures, you might have discovered that a new competitor has entered the scenario or a substitute has been discovered for your product.

5. Plan your business expansion

Market research will help you identify target consumers and test if they are receptive for a new product or service. For example, if you are looking to establish a new chain of clinics, you would have to survey the adjacent location in order to determine if your target consumer base resides there. If not, how do you plan to reach them?

6. Identify new business opportunities

Market research helps identify new venues of opportunity. You may find a completely unchallenged market to showcase your services. You can identify changing trends in the market such as change in preferences, increase or decrease in target population concentration, etc.

Medical writer at a Leading Healthcare and Medical Marketing Firm. Check out his blog a Medical Mantra, a pharma blog with a difference.

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5 Safety Checks for Your Marketing Effort

There are some important questions that managers and entrepreneurs should consider in order to understand if their teams make the most out of their company's marketing efforts. Here are some basic guiding questions for small companies for such a marketing self-assessment.

1. Are your marketing and sales activities out of sync? Sales and marketing must work well together. This is sometimes hard to achieve especially when the responsibilities are shared within/by a large or variable team. Keep in mind that sales and marketing have to reinforce each other within an integrated strategy resolutely centered on your customers.

2. Do you truly understand your clients and your market? The natural answer for an established business is "Yes" but sometimes it is not that easy to keep the pace with the ever-changing market. To answer objectively, break down this question to its relevant bits and pieces. Here are some guiding questions:

- How deep do I know the need of my clients?
- Is my company able to communicate internally and use this knowledge to adapt my products or/and services?
- To what extent is my team proactive and consistent in building long term customer loyalty?
- Can we anticipate the needs of our customers?
- Are we able to effectively influence their buying criteria?
- How can we be more relevant for our clients? How can my products or services create more value for them?

3. Do you truly know your competitors? Ensure that your team systematically gathers relevant data about your direct and indirect competitors. Their products, marketing budgets, sales initiatives, promoting channels, promotional activities and company structure should all be on your radar. Why? Because it helps you see where your market is going, what your customers really need, and which tactics used by your competitors have a positive impact.

4. Negative feedback could be a marketing opportunity or a perfect opportunity to lose a client! Your client-facing personnel should know how to deal with negative feedback in a constructive customer-oriented fashion. A good way to turn an unhappy customer into a fan is to instruct your sales or customer-service people to follow this three simple step-strategy:

- Emphatically understand and acknowledge your client's problem (it's a matter of empathy not about who is wrong or right)
- Give assurance that someone in your company deals without delay with his concern
- Offer a discount or another incentive to make up for your customer's trouble

5. Evaluate open-mindedly if you make the most out of the new marketing must-use tools. SEO, online marketing and social media marketing provide excellent opportunities for almost all businesses to get their products or services noticed.

If you want to try a more systematic assessment to your present marketing effort you can generate your marketing assessment report using Marketing Lens, the business-growth self-assessment available online on tooliers.com. This tool is especially designed for small and midsize companies to help them identify their main weaknesses in their marketing activity.

Try Marketing Lens for free and self-assess your marketing activity. You will receive a report with your main weaknesses. Use them in the process of improving your business!

http://www.tooliers.com/marketing-lens-questions/?utm_source=ezinearticles.com&utm_medium=contentmarketing&utm_campaign=SubmittingArticles

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Sales Concepts - Why People Buy

Some Fundamentals

Today's buyers are more educated, more informed and have more options than ever before. They are buying more and they're buying for all kinds of reasons as such. A thorough understanding of the buying process will enable you to better understand how your customer /client are making a buying decision. A successful sales process can enhance your ability to gain favorable attention, discover needs, get a positive decision and develop a long-term relationship with your customer / client.

Buying The Process

The determining factor as to why a prospect actually buys is not product or service superiority, but the salesperson's ability to discover needs, create urgency and develop confidence in his or her ability to satisfy those needs better than anyone else.

Today's sellers are not selling, they're helping people buy and today's buyers are not being sold, they are buying and buying for many different reasons.

Buying the Why

Before a person considers buying anything, they MUST have a want or need. Once there is a need the buying process begins.

People buy either to gain a benefit, avoid a loss or solve a problem. They buy to gain money, save money or avoid loss of money. Additionally they will buy to prolong life or to improve the quality of life.

One of the most important skills the you, the salesperson, can develop is your ability to help your client / customer identify and recognize their needs.

What your customer / client's tell you they want is very important; WHY they want what they want is even more important.

The more a want becomes recognized as a desired need and the more a need becomes wanted the higher the level of client desire for your product or service.

Buying the Client and You

Clients / customers usually begin their evaluation process within the first two or three minutes of meeting you. First impressions are extremely important. The first and most important step in successfully influencing the buying process is your ability to create a positive and favorable first impression.

This impression will be based upon what you say (what they hear) and how you appear (what they see). You demeanor and your ability to exhibit genuine understanding and appreciation for their needs will influence their perception of you as an individual.

Each and every client / customer will evaluate you emotionally (DO I like this person?) and logically (Will this person bring value to me?) It is essential that you be prepared to talk about who you are as a person in a way that enhances your credibility with your customer / client.

Once your client / customer has developed a favorable impression of you, the evaluation process will turn to your company.

The Question that MUST be answered..

Who are you and who is your company? requires that you validate yourself as a person of integrity. Before someone will buy from you, you must establish that you and your company can be trusted, that you will fulfill your claims and deliver as promised.

My name is Dominick Borzomati my competence / expertise is in STRATEGIC THINKING.

My mission is to educate Business Owners as to the value and significance of pursuing STRATEGIC THINKING.

And in doing so affect lasting change that will advance the success of the entity by developing a Strategy that gives the entity a distinct advantage over it's competition. http://www.dwbassociates.com

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7 Steps to Commercial Success for Your New Product

The first point any business or budding inventor needs to check is that their idea for a new product or service is designed to be a marketable product - as you can make anything, but only marketable products will sell! Here are seven steps which, in our experience, you need to consider to ensure you have a commercially viable offering and the greatest chance of financial returns.

1) Know your unique selling point (your USP)
It may seem obvious but many people get this wrong or simply do not give it sufficient thought. Often what they see is different to what their customer sees. It is important to know the advantages of your product from your customer's perspective. As well as knowing your unique selling point, you need to be able pitch it to a potential customer, quickly and clearly. Often referred to as the 'elevator pitch', you need to refine whatever you say to describe your idea in an accurate, concise and compelling way. It needs to engage a potential customer - or potential investor - and compel them to want to know more. When Sony started getting into electronics in the early 50's the head of engineering said that he would 'develop a radio that can fit in your pocket'. At the time, when radios were the size of cabinets, this was a compelling story and a great USP.

2) Know your market
People often think of an idea and a design that is something that suits them, or solves a personal issue. They believe that the fact they, or their family and friends, like it and need it means there is a market for it. But to assess whether a market genuinely exists, you first need to ensure you have clearly identified exactly who your customer and end-user is and how they will use your product. Market profiling and competitor analysis are essential here. As an example, we work with many different companies who plan to sell to the children's toys, games and lifestyle sector. What they need to be aware of is what children are looking for. They also need to have a scale reference to a young end-user, in order to get the size right.

3) Know how big your market is
If only we received a pound for every time we heard the phrase "everyone will want one... " This, I am afraid, cannot be true. Not everyone will, or can, buy your product or service. Knowing clearly who your target customer/end-user is will enable you to estimate the actual size of your potential market. Competitor analysis will then help you to understand how competitive the market is and how well other company's products are selling. From this you can calculate a market penetration figure - ie the % of the market you can reasonably expect to achieve, provided your product/service is competitive. This can be translated into how many actual units you might be able to sell.

Bear in mind that this process is more of an art than a science and delivers scale rather than precise numbers. However, a number of educated and defendable guesses that deliver a number is better than no number at all! It will require some digging and cross-checking from different sources and a fair degree of estimation and guesswork. Much of the information you need can be found on the web or through reliable sources, such as the British Library. We suggest you identify a best, worst and most likely figure that you can substantiate. You can then refine your numbers progressively over time.

4) Know how your customer will buy your product
Make sure you know how your customer will find and purchase your product or service. For example, is it a direct sale? Or do you need an intermediate, such as a retailer or distributor? Do these distributors use agents and do these retailers buy from businesses like yours? The longer the chain between you and your end-user is, the lower your costs and larger the profit margins need to be. Researching your competitors will help you greatly here and you can watch and learn from them. You may even be able to see an innovative step they are missing and such a step could well end up being your key USP.

5) Know how everyone in the chain will learn about your product
Promotion and branding for your new product/service needs to be considered early on. As product designers, and having developed intellectual property concepts for the entertainment industry, we know that the essence of a design concept typically forms the foundation of any promotional and branding activities. It is common for a branding company to make a brand fit an existing product, but this is tough and can be hit-and-miss. It is far easier and more effective to consider branding and promotion at the beginning of a project, rather than at the end, and to let the two aspects develop together.

6) Know how much your customer will pay
How much will you customer pay for your product/service and so how much should it cost you to supply it? Addressing the earlier points should enable you to answer this question quite easily. We work on the principle you can make anything but only marketable products sell. So not only do you have to know what your product or service will sell for, but then what it will cost to make and deliver, whilst still enabling everyone in the chain to make the money they need to. As an example, a TV advertised product sold on the High Street should cost around a seventh of its retail price to manufacture.

7) Know that all these points are interdependent
All of the answers to the above points are interdependent and so changing one means you have to re-evaluate the rest. As an illustration, you cannot just raise the price of something without re-considering the amount and type of promotion you undertake and the quantity of product you can reasonably expect to sell.

If you would like further information, or to receive some practical advice on this subject, then Bang Creations runs a monthly workshop at the British Library, Business & IP Centre. For details and to book visit Eventbrite or the events section of our website http://www.bangcreations.co.uk

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