Friday

Tight Restaurant Market

As of 2003 there was one restaurant for every 664 people in America. Consider that 30 years ago there was one restaurant for every 1,029 people, according to the National Restaurant Association. That's a big increase.

With the proliferation of fast-casual and Bar and Grill places, there is more choice (and clutter) for consumers, and more competition for share of wallet for owners.

Now, maybe more than ever, two things stand out clearly:

1. Consumers can be choosy. You need them and they know it. Poor customer service is always a knock-out factor, but today nothing short of a WOW experience can compete. Knowing the owner, being treated special, is a critical factor in choosing where to eat.

2. Advertising clutter is off the charts. Coupons, mailers, billboards, cable ads - everyone is fighting to be heard. Local Store Marketing and word of mouth are more relevant than ever.

Combine this glut of restaurants with the current economic environment. High gasoline and fuel prices coupled with rising food costs (everything from milk and dairy to chicken, pork, and beef) are conspiring to keep more people at home. People are not cutting back on gasoline, they're cutting back elsewhere.

Frequency of visit has always been a decent measure of unit health and this summer many restaurants are feeling that pinch. Fewer meals being eaten out makes the competition for each visit more fierce.

Hope lies in the basics. Rather than faceless advertising, small businesses can solidify relationships with their complementary audiences and win them over, one at a time.

Knowing the owner gives the consumer a stake in the business. We recommend businesses where we know the owner, we patronize our neighbors because we're all in it together.

Make sure the customer experience in your store is top-notch, get out into the community to forge and strengthen relationships, and focus on your 7 Core Competencies to maintain a high frequency of message and you have a chance to maintain a high frequency of visit.

It's that or hold on until consumers are more confident.

Wednesday

What "locals" say about Local Store Marketing

Not only do I live and breathe local store marketing, I live in an area that relies heavily on it as well. Most of my neighbors are experts in LSM, but from a different perspective: they know what it takes to get them through the door and to keep them coming back. As customers.

I thought it would be helpful to show just how empassioned your neighbors can be about their local businesses. Below is a flyer, printed by the neighborhood association entitled "Think Local First" - a Top 10 list of reasons to "Think local, buy local, be local".

This is an interesting point because it was the residents who put this out, not businesses. The members of this community, East Atlanta Village (located, you guessed it, just East of downtown Atlanta), realize that when businesses succeed the community thrives.

To underscore that, just try to criticize one of the older establishments in the village on a neighborhood discussion board, EAVbuzz.net. Community members will come out of the woodwork to defend any slight.

And it's not just blind loyalty to the community. The amount of defense is in direct proportion to the amount of community service of the business and how well known (and liked) is the owner. You can criticize the food and service at one establishment that is fairly new, with an owner who lives in the neighborhood but isn't very well known, but don't bother making the same criticism to a 10 year old establishment with similar quality food and service. Everyone knows the owner and they (rightfully) stick up for him.

The successful local store marketer knows that the more people you know, the more people there are to defend your product and service when you're not around. Let's face it, mistakes happen within your store. The question is whether people care enough about your business to stand up for you, give you the benefit of the doubt.

Top 10 Reasons to Support Local Business:

  1. Significantly more money circulates in the neighborhood when purchases are made at locally owned, rather than nationally owned, businesses.

  2. Our one of a kind businesses are an integral part of our distinctive character.

  3. More new jobs are provided by local businesses.

  4. Public benefits far outweigh public costs.

  5. Encourages investment in East Atlanta Village.

  6. Competition and diversity leads to more choices.

  7. Reduced environmental impact.

  8. Better customer service. [Editor's note: Not necessarily, but clearly the perception is that service is better. Maybe because when you know the owner you're more forgiving because you know you can always "go to the top".]

  9. Non-profits receive greater support.

  10. Local business owners invest in the community.


Top

Catering Tips

Summer has hit hard in some areas, not so much in others. Finding where everyone went when school ended can be a
challenge, but a renewed emphasis on catering and boxed lunches (think picnics and small groups) can help fill the
gap.

Here are a few tips from those of you kind enough to give us feedback:

Talk to others. Partners that routinely talk to other partners, corporate members, and customers never seem
to be at a loss for ideas as to how to build catering. Not all ideas are right for each location, but most are.

Ask for referrals. Salesmen of every ilk ask for referrals and most of them get them. Don't be afraid to ask
your existing customers if they know of someone who'd like to try your product for free. Give the refer-er a little
"thank you" as well. The ideal time to do this, of course, is during delivery or during your follow-up call (you
do make follow-up calls, don't you?).

Work your eixsting customers. Bounce-backs and flyers to your most supportive group (existing customers)
creates awareness. Packaged offers make the sale easier. Tip from a partner: Offer "5 people free for caterings of
20 or more". It's a good incentive, but the original party size tends to creep up as people start to think of others
to invite. The greater the size, the less the discount.

Use the fishbowl. Too few of you use the fishbowl for leads at all. Even fewer of you use it to the fullest
extent. There are a few stores for whom a fishbowl is their only form of marketing - and they do pretty well with
it. If you need help, see the first suggestion above.

And for heaven's sake, don't turn down new leads. A recent lead for "Mega Corp" was given to a unit. The manager,
however, said "we already do caterings for Mega Corp, we don't need to give a new person there a free sample."

So, the lead went to someone else. Now this unit has competition within a current customer. Plus, they didn't take
the opportunity to "own" the whole company (this lead had never ordered from the unit before, we checked). Mega
Corp. is, after all, a large company. Penny wise. Pound foolish.

Plan your work so you're more effective. Work your plan so you're more focused. Lack of focus costs more and
generates less in return. Drop us a line or give us a call at 404.588.0863 if
you have questions.