Q: Want to double your sales at your restaurant?

A: Then ask your current customers to come back one extra time a month.

Power of Constant Communication

     Restaurants build rapport with patrons and generate repeat sales by offering great customer service.  As you get to know your patrons better, the more they trust you, the faster your restaurant grows.  Keeping in touch with these patrons by email is very cost-effective when it is compared to traditional advertising medias.  Even direct mailing these patrons is comparatively cheap when you realize everyone receiving your promotion is familiar with your restaurant and usually receptive to opening the marketing piece. 

     If you're smart, you'll also use follow-up emails or newsletters to ensure you develop a relationship with your patrons.  Informing them of your promotions, menu items and charity events will maximize restaurant returns. Tell them when you chef wins an award, has a recipe to share, or is having a Chef dinner.  The more you can automate these processes the more time you will have to ensure that you make the most profit. 

    That’s where the Patron Profiler and PickaRestaurant.com come in.  Email based marketing/direct mail campaigns can fulfill a number of objectives including:

· promote your restaurant image
· publicize your menu offering
· build awareness of a location or new location
· virally add email addresses
· convert your current data for use in online marketing
· determine the quality of your data
· encourage offline contacts to come online
· reduce the costs associated with restaurant traditional advertising
· targets patrons already satisfied with your level of service and offering

     Permission based email marketing is by far the fastest growing, and most popular, marketing method in businesses today. In many cases customers are asking for email messages rather than traditional printed marketing literature. Businesses are embracing it due to the numerous benefits such as: better ROI (return on investment), less expensive than postal mailings, speed of campaign creation and delivery, and ability to include full color photos.  

     The average cost to acquire a new customer in an upscale venue is typically $120 worth of traditional media dollars.  On average, there are 1 new patron for every 14 regular patron coming through the restaurant door on any given day.    May of these new patron probably stop in for none other than dumb luck the first time, any maybe never have received or head your message over traditional media.  It's very untraceable advertising and media companies know this tending to scare potential advertisers by telling them their competitor down the road is running an ad, and they should too.  Don't you think it’s a lot easier and cost effective to tell a patron that if he or she brings in a first time guest, you’ll give the table a bottle of wine?  The patron bringing this guest is your restaurant’s ambassador pitching your menu and hyping the food and atmosphere.  It's a $5-8 bottle of wine vs $120 worth of billboard, radio, or print ad.  You make the decision.  I know it's hard to understand that all that you have learned about marketing and promotion should be thrown out the window.  But believe me, traditional media advertising needs to be put to rest and owners need to start marketing from within their neighborhoods.