Frequency?

You may have noticed a slow down in sales. Not everyone is experiencing a reduction in business, but many are. The most likely culprit - frequency of visit.

Competition is high, the economy is uncertain. If you're in a primarily residential area you've probably noticed it more than those in, say, a business district. Share of wallet is even more important now that folks are hesitant to spend $40 per week for lunch, or are eating out once a month as a family instead of twice.

For marketing purposes, the best place to start is with those already visiting you. Your existing customers don't require brand awareness or product education, they just need a reason to come back (preferably sooner rather than later).

Important marketing competencies for frequency of visit:

Bounce-backs
Put a tight deadline on a great offer (thru Friday only!). If it gets redeemed, you know that the redeemer is on his/her second visit of the week.

Specials - Lunch
Be sure to change your specials board, but not too often. If you sell a lot of chicken sandwiches, and you promote steak on your board, remember that each day brings new people. Why change the board every day? Leave it up for 10 days or 2 weeks so that infrequent customers can see it too.

Specials - Dinner
Dinner specials are different. The typical Monday evening customer is usually different than the typical Thursday or Friday customer, treat them accordingly. Sunday-Wednesday might be "get an extra side for free when you purchase a platter", but Friday-Saturday might be "kids eat free with every adult meal".

Advertising during a slow down
This is one area when advertising is most helpful. A consistent presence in a publication will help to soften the beaches for sales. Studies show that companies that advertise during recessions usually emerge in a stronger position than those who don't.

Offers
In slower times it's a good idea to go with deeper discounts or better offers to stimulate trial or frequency. Sacrifice profitability for volume of customers for the short term, but put caveats on your offers. "After 6pm"; "Buy 2, Get 1 FREE"; "thru Friday only!" Use the offers to generate visits, but also to modify behavior.

Don't forget about email and fishbowls. Both of those offer a great opportunity to reach out to existing customers and invite them back more often. External marketing is necessary, but should be a lower priority to gaining frequency of visit.