Wednesday

5 Principles to Increasing Ticket Average

Everyone wants to increase ticket average, but too often the only thing they do about it is to ask "Do you want fries with that?" That's fine, increase items and their sizes to get more at the register.

But it's not all you can do. It's common for stores to add anywhere from $500 to $2,000 per week to their sales totals by not only selling more on each visit, but to modify customer behavior to purchase more on future visits.

1. Suggestively sell. It's easy to tell when someone is new to your unit. Offer suggestions that are both popular and profitable. Suggest dessert and appetizers (full-service restaurants do, why not you?). Sample dessert and other menu items in the dining room - you won't increase this sale, but you might increase the next sale (plus, it's a lagniappe - it makes them feel special).

2. Daypart specials. Splitting in-store specials by daypart drives menu trial and helps to discourage ordering sandwiches for dinner. Change your in-store specials at 4:00 to encourage higher ticket dinner items.

3. Build carry-out. Carry-out tickets are generally larger than in-store. Bounce-back "$5 off any carry-out order of $20 or more", create frequency/punch cards for each carry-out order (free sandwich when completed), offer curb-side service.

4. Catering as a marketing tool. Free 10-person caterings introduce your service and show your product in action. Remember, though, that you can't sell catering to people who are not your current customers. (See 5 Principles to Driving Trial).

5. Earn trust. Everyone loves to know the owner, to feel special at a restaurant. They also love to be the first to discover a place and to show that they know the owner. It's human nature. When you earn trust, and become the Mayor of Mayberry, your customers will bring their friends. Party size is a great way to increase your ticket.

It's key to remember one thing about ticket average: It doesn't usually happen all at once. How can you get 25 cents more from each customer? How can you grow ticket average by 25 cents each week?

Ticket average is built with customer loyalty and trust (read: a relationship). New customers don't spend as much.

5 Principles to Generating Frequency

Your sales will increase by 40% if you can get your customers to visit once every 10 days (36.5 visits per year) instead of once every 14 days (26 visits).

There is now one restaurant for every 664 people in this country. That's different than 30 or so years ago when there was one restaurant for every 1,029 people. People are eating out less frequently these days (consumer confidence is waning), but they have more choices each time they do.

Share of wallet makes all the difference to your customer count (and, therefore, your advertising costs). Here are 5 principles to getting customers to visit more often.

1. Invite them back. Don't assume their experience was great, invite customers back (and soon) with a bounce-back coupon. Make it a BOGO or half off a scone with purchase of coffee. Make it a Trial offer for a different menu item. Put a tight expiration date on it (get them in the habit of coming back and bringing friends).

2. Let them try everything. Sample at the counter. Sample to those standing in line. Walk the dining room with little Lagniappes (New Orleans for "a little something extra"). The more menu items guests have tried, the more likely they will have to choose between two favorites when they visit you. Meaning they'll crave you more often.

3. Tell them when you'd like to see them. You can eat at the same restaurant more than once in a week more easily if one meal is lunch (sandwich) and the other is dinner (meal). Give bounce-back coupons for specific dayparts or for carry-out. Use your current traffic to drive more traffic, with more occasions to love you.

4. Surround them with messages. Studies suggest that RECENCY (the time gap between seeing your message and making a buying decision) is more important than either reach or frequency in advertising. This means that if you can deliver a message to lunch customers at 11am you have a better shot at getting them. You have a better shot at reaching them at 11am if your message is out there in several forms (email, bounce-backs, direct mail, etc.).

5. Let them know you love them. None of your marketing matters if the experience sucks. Don't just be polite, be genuinely happy to see your customers. Walk the tables, ask for feedback, offer samples. In my experience, one of the most critical factors for success is whether an owner/manager walks the tables. It puts a face on the ownership.

More customers visiting more often. If you have a high traffic count, you'll be amazed at what increasing frequency can do for sales (as much as $3,000 per week - honest). All without spending any more money or eroding profit.

Next up:
5 Principles for Increasing Ticket Average

5 Principles to Driving Trial

We all want more cusotmers, but some ways of gaining them are better than others. Mass media and awareness creation are one thing if you have brand presence, quite another if you're the new kid on the block.

And keep in mind, if you're a midwestern franchisee of a brand that is well known in the southeast, you're the new kid on the block.

So here are 5 principles to driving trial:

1. Volume solves everything. There's not a problem in your restaurant that can't be solved by driving more traffic. Make it a habit to always invite people in (as your guest, see #2) and to make new relationships. If your store is packed, you can sample other items and promote different services like catering. Having people come to you lowers your messaging costs.

2. Generate cash flow, worry about profitability later. If you want people to come in make the offer great, don't skimp. Keep in mind the lifetime value of a customer. If it takes "free" instead of "1/2 off" to do it then do it. Most people will bring a friend and you'll break even on the deal.

3. You're food rich and cash poor. Advertising costs are measured in cost per thousand (CPM). Your results should be measured in cost per customer. If product cost is $1.25, and you WOW! them with it, your cost per customer is $1.25. 100 customers cost $125. Compare that to sustained (read: effective) advertising.

4. If your product is good, prove it. Put your product into people's mouths every chance you get. Your product may sell itself, but it has to be introduced. Sample at events, give free product to small groups (where word of mouth spreads faster), and sample in-store.

5. Love me, love my product. People in communities love to know the owner, it makes them feel part of the business. If you support what the community supports (HS, band, youth sports, library) they'll support you. Again, word of mouth spreads faster from small groups than it does from large ones. Word of mouth about advertising doesn't spread at all. Support your local groups, get to know the people in your community, run for Mayor of Mayberry.

Marketing to Mayberry isn't all that hard, you just have to shed some of the "mass appeal" thinking. You don't need an entire city to love you, only about 3,000 people or so. If they know you, if you give them something for nothing and it's fantastic, they'll love you.

Next up:
5 Principles to Generating Frequency of Visit
5 Principles to Increasing Ticket Average