10 WAYS TO GROW YOUR RESTAURANT
Have you ever asked yourself this:
How can I make my restaurant more successful?
If you own a restaurant, no matter how big or small, this must have crossed your mind many times.
You already know that to do this, you have to consider many aspects of your business. There are countless components that you must consider to make your restaurant profitable and you must master each of them in order to grow your restaurant and be successful. Growing your restaurant is not easy. If you want consistent sales and your restaurant to thrive, you need to make investments.
Since we want to help you grow your business, we offer you fifteen tips that you can put into practice to differentiate yourself from even the most prestigious restaurants:
- Pursue innovative marketing strategies
You can't expect old-fashioned marketing techniques to help your restaurant succeed. In order to grow your restaurant, you must strive to find innovative marketing strategies that will attract more customers to your establishment.
Is your current plan not bringing the sales you hoped for?
It's time to start planning again. Try new methods, such as advertising on Facebook or Instagram. Once you've tried different marketing techniques, evaluate what best contributes to the growth of your restaurant.
When it comes to being innovative, don't just focus on your marketing efforts.
The last thing you should do is imitate other restaurants in your area, even if their concept is successful. You need to stand out from the crowd by offering a unique experience. Think differently in all areas of your restaurant management. You can expand your menu with new dishes that will surprise your guests, transform the interior in an original way or even organize original events that your customers will not expect.
When it comes to being creative, imagination knows no bounds!
- Participation in local events
Build strong relationships with your community by getting involved in local activities.
Set up your own stand at a local event or organize various activities to educate your customers about your products. These are examples of how you can make yourself known in your community. They also allow you to meet your customers in person. When your customers feel like they know you and your product, they're more likely to become repeat customers, and you can let word of mouth do the rest.
These strategies will surely help you grow your restaurant.
- Organization of events
Similar to the above, you can partner with organizations in your area to run charity or fundraisers. You'll be doing something good for your community while building a positive image for your restaurant that can attract more customers. But these events can also include cooking classes, televised games or dating: creativity is also required here.
If you have an extra room or a locked area in your dining room to ensure privacy, provide the opportunity to host birthdays or other celebrations, and provide a discount for large groups.
- Customer Loyalty Reward
Use a rewards program to reward customers who come back to your restaurant.
If you do this, you're more likely to get good feedback every time your customers come back. It's a simple trick to improve your restaurant: your customers will be more willing to eat at your restaurant if they know they can take advantage of a discount.
- Consider the location of your restaurant
Without a highly visible and convenient location, it can be difficult to attract new customers and grow your restaurant. When choosing a location for your restaurant, you should make sure that it is clearly visible from the street, easily accessible and easy to find.
Of course, this increases the likelihood that people will see your restaurant and decide to visit.
- Hire the right staff
When your customers visit your restaurant, they expect a personalized experience.
This is something that many famous restaurants don't offer, but introducing it will keep customers coming back. If you want to offer a first-class service, you must have highly qualified staff. By hiring and retaining competent employees in your company, you can ensure that your customers always feel well taken care of when they visit your restaurant and this will no doubt contribute to the growth of your restaurant.
But in addition to the excellent service in your restaurant, you should not forget about the online service. Hire enough staff so that at least one of your employees can handle online sales. Online customers are just as important as those who visit your business and deserve the same quality of care and service.
- Increase in sales through large orders
Have you noticed that even the smallest restaurants offer their best dishes for group orders or business meetings? You too can use this strategy.
Choose from your dishes what to prepare for large orders and present it in an attractive and practical way and at competitive prices. Encourage your customers to visit your restaurant in person or visit your website to take advantage of the specials on that dish. These sales increase the popularity of your product, drive additional sales of other dishes, and meet your customers' expectations. All of these will contribute to the growth of your restaurant.
- offer entertainment
This is a strategy that guarantees more customers will come through your door.
This investment does not have to cost a lot of money, as many local artists also seek the publicity that comes with performing on stage in a restaurant. If you're not quite sure what kind of entertainment to offer, first try to keep it varied (the possibilities are numerous: magic, comedy, a band...) until you find the right recipe. Then you can decide to enter into a regular contract with the artist(s) of your choice. It also doesn't hurt to just ask. Ask your regular customers what kind of live entertainment they prefer.
- Offer happy hour promotions
Customers who go to a restaurant during happy hour (which can last from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. depending on the venue) are not only attracted by the cheaper drink offerings. Remember that smaller portions of food and snacking are becoming more common, and take advantage of this.
Along with discounted drinks, offer a simple happy hour menu. You can offer a selection of the same dishes you serve for lunch or dinner, but in smaller portions and at cheaper prices. Try to choose dishes that take less time to prepare and that guests can easily share without the need for cutlery (things that can be eaten with your hands).
- Ask your customers for feedback
Constructive criticism can make your business thrive.
Send out customer satisfaction surveys or use tools such as shoptimizer to ask your customers for feedback right after their visit to the restaurant. Find out what your customers appreciate most about your company. In addition, your customers may have suggestions on what you can improve. Maybe they're looking for a specific item on your menu, or they're having trouble ordering online.
Your feedback will help your restaurant continue to grow, and your customers will be grateful that you consider them.
With the shoptimizer it is playfully easy to generate more reviews. The tool only has to be brought to the table with the bill and customers then have the option of going directly to your rating option with just a quick touch of a smartphone. Then they can share their impressions in the restaurant.
Google reviews also help to attract new customers to the restaurant, as restaurants with many reviews are listed higher up in a search. Customer feedback not only helps to improve the offer, but also serves as a success factor for new customers in the future.
