Saturday

Ben & Jerry's

This people must be stupid, giving away their food like that. Don't they know they'll cannibalize sales? Don't they know they'll addict their customers to discounts?

Or, maybe, they have propped up a weaker evening. Maybe butts in seats is worth it to them on this day. After all, you can't take a percentage to the bank.

Only Ben & Jerry's knows, but it does seem like they are promoting a higher ticket item (sundaes, instead of cones) which introduces customers to more menu items (and creates more reasons for going).

It also looks like they are incentivizing customers to bring friends (read: introduce them to the product).

Ben & Jerry's has done similar promotions in the past. Most notably free ice cream day, scheduled just before the weather breaks in the Spring, which serves to jump start their season and create new habits.

Maybe we can learn a little something from them.

Thursday

Rewarding Neighborhood Heroes

Corporate America and chains have taken over what used to be the purview of mom and pops, namely community involvement.

Starbuck's, Ben & Jerry's, and now, Citgo? Yes, Citgo. The gas station. Nominate yourself as a community hero and win a free gas card worth $2500.

So why wouldn't you, as a local restaurant owner, do something similar? It doesn't have to be grand, because you still have a leg up on corporate America: you can put a face with the gesture.

- Have your target audience (principals, HR directors, charity directors) nominate their employees and volunteers.

- Recognize a different person each week (in-store); their co-workers come with them to celebrate

- Recognize them in a wider forum in your email distribution (Bob G. of Smyrna was last week's Hero - raising over $15,000 for Children's Hospital, for example)

- At the end of the year, donate $1,000 (or more) to the charity of one of the year's 52 winners

Total cost: 52 x lunch (@ food cost) + $1,000 (about $100 per month)
Benefits: an easy conversation with community leaders (fire chief, principals, pta, volunteer coordinators), a strengthened relationship with their organizations, increased frequency of message and (hopefully) email sign up.

If you're the mayor of your village, you can steal these ideas, make them your own, and do them way better than the corporate monoliths. (BTW, corporate monoliths do these things for a reason.)

Tuesday

Regions Bank = Poor Customer Service

Went to change a $100 bill at a Region's Bank in Georgia today - since that's all I had and most small businesses can't change $100 without at least a little difficulty.

Cashier asked if I had an account, I said no (it was the nearest bank). He informed me that he couldn't help me because he wouldn't be able to reach me "in case he needed to afterward."

Nevermind that this is complete BS, I can understand that certain privileges are reserved for customers and used as an incentive to become one. But shouldn't certain courtesies be extended to entice others?

I was floored. I really couldn't believe this was the policy. . .I stared. . .for nearly 20 seconds.

Happy ending: the customer at the next bay, in disbelief himself, gave me change for my $100 bill.

Note: Regions has a PR firm that, no doubt, trolls the web looking for positive and negative statements about their company.

Here's a blog post for them to find. I'm going to log out so I can tweet a similar message, since I've already told at least 4 people (all in under an hour).

Relationship Over Tactics

There's a lot of angst among folks just getting started with LSM, so let's re-focus on what is important.

LSM is about relationships, shaking hands, kissing babies, and being an upstanding member of your community. Period.

That you offer samples to overcome objections, suggest a fundraising program, offer tours to school children are just incidental. Your goal is to support the groups in your communities who will in turn support you.

"But what do I say to a school principal?" How about "hi"? Too often we go for the sale before we even have a relationship. First words: "We live in the community, we hire from the community, we rely on the community, we want to be a part of the community. How can we help?"

The school programs, emails, ads, sampling events, etc. are your media, not your objective.

Start the relationship then build on it. An honest desire to be a part of the community is half the battle. The other half, the tactics, are the fun part. But they can't be implemented until a relationship exists.

Friday

Freedom! I can now blog from anywhere.

(Not much of a post, I grant you, but I'm testing the mobile thing.)

Gossamer on Twitter

Not real sure of the value for my business, but Twitter has a pretty big upside for your restaurant marketing strategy.

I'll be honest, there's a lot of crap out there. But there are some nuggets, too. You can follow me at twitter.com/gossmark.

My plan for now is to post the good, bad, and ugly of restaurant marketing and service from the field. Tough job, but someone has to do it.

Sunday

Community Involvement: The (Old) New Ad Media

Great article about decency as an ad medium.

Some things as this relates to your business:

  • People want to buy from someone they know, like, and trust
  • Love me, love my product
  • Care about what your customers care about, they'll care about you
  • They'll promote you if you support them


Everyone says that word of mouth is the best form of advertising, so how come we spend money on lesser forms? Why not spend the money on our product quality? On putting food into people's mouths? On putting the words into our customers' mouths so that they can spread them?

The sidelines of the local soccer field are the new mass media. Better get used to it.

Friday

National Doughnut Day

It's National Doughnut Day, Krispy Kreme and Dunkin' are celebrating.

Which one will get a higher one day spike?
Which one will get a higher long range return?

To get your freebee at Dunkin' Donuts, you'll need to buy a drink. But there are no strings attached at Krispy Kreme.


My money is on Krispy Kreme. People will buy the coffee anyway, and the goodwill is better.