Hospitality marketing -
Restaurant Marketing & Promotion
Boosting Business in Quiet Periods
Copyright 2009 PromoHelp
Develop a loyalty card scheme and run it only on Mondays and Tuesdays. Make it achievable,
for example a prize for redeeming points after four or so visits. One easy to implement
scheme is ‘food bingo’. Design some ‘bingo-
These should be a mix of starters, main courses and desserts with a few side dishes. Each time customers eat an item which is printed on their card it’s initialled by a staff member. This encourages them to try different things on your menu and to order starters, sides and desserts.
Try making one item on your menu an “eat all you can” item on Mondays and Tuesdays only (or whenever you could do with more business). Don’t charge any more than normal for it but make it a condition that it can only be ordered as part of a meal. You can change the promotional dish every week or leave it the same for a while. Here are five ideas to start you off:
- Pancakes -
good because they don’t cost much to make and are filling. They can be sweet or savoury and you can fill them with anything you happen to have in the kitchen from cheese and mushrooms to bananas and syrup - Soup -
easy to make and store, quick to serve and with the advantage that people can only eat so many bowls of it - Chicken wings, chicken skewers, ribs, meatballs,, curries and casseroles -
all use secondary cuts of meat and make more than acceptable main courses - Pizza -
a popular high GP% item that uses few other ingredients apart from flour, tomato and cheese. - Salad or vegetable bar – set up a selection on a table in the dining area so that
customers can help themselves continuously throughout their meal. To keep wastage
to a minimum make plates or bowls small so people don’t over-
estimate their appetites (watch out for our ‘Eat–all- you- can’ recipes coming soon
Food Bingo
Example of food bingo card
There are a number of ways of awarding prizes, for example..
One line – free drink
Two lines – free starter or dessert
Four corners – bottle of house wine
Full house or bingo! – Free meal
To design & print your own bingo cards for nothing go to http://www.dltk-
Eat all you can
Magic Mondays
For many restaurants Monday is traditionally a quiet night After a week-
‘Magic Mondays’ is a collection of
mini-
those quiet nights buzzing
Offer a special menu available only on Mondays (or whichever quiet slot you’re trying to fill). Instead of presenting this as an uninspiring choice of cheap meals, make it something that’s worth turning out for. Add sparkle to your Monday Menu with a few exciting dishes, including a couple of your own signature dishes. Be inventive with names and descriptions of secondary ingredients. Giving your imagination free rein doesn’t mean you have to do the same with food costs. There’s nothing wrong with using up ingredients left over from
Mondays-
the weekend, provided these have been properly stored and are still in good condition. It also makes good sense to use cheaper types of fish such as whiting and sardines and economical cuts of meat like braising steak and lamb shanks
Hospitality workers night off
Make Monday hospitality night and invite workers in the hospitality industry to come to your venue to eat, drink and relax. Hospitality staff often have Mondays and Tuesdays off because their own bars and restaurants are either closed or are too quiet to warrant their services. Make your venue the liveliest place in town whilst giving your contemporaries a chance to catch up with each other and enjoy themselves. Start a ‘Monday Club’ and give out free membership cards. Offer drink promotions as well as merchandise giveaways and competitions.
Student Night
If you’re within easy reach of a college or university it could pay to be student
friendly on quiet nights by offering a special ‘Student Menu’. Include plenty of
high GP% items with a ‘just-
Out of the hat
Put all of the bills from the evening into a chef’s hat. The first one pulled out gets a refund on all the main courses from their table (limit the offer to food only and restrict it to a maximum of four meals in case of large groups).
Diners don’t need to stay to win but set a time for the draw and many will stay on to find out the result. Remember to offer them drinks whilst they wait. Make the draw an occasion with music and ceremony and maybe even dress someone up to make the announcement. Get the participating customers to fill in their details on the back of their bills such as email, phone numbers, birthdays etc so you can add them to your contacts list.
Offer discounts to the families of your staff when they dine on Monday evenings. Let them order off your regular menu and give them a substantial discount on their food (like 40%). Charge them for their drinks, of course, and have fun serving them. They’ll be more relaxed than your regular clients, but will also want to leave a good impression (tip) because their family member works there. Give them a great meal and they’ll be proud to tell all their friends about the restaurant at which their auntie, daughter or Dad works.
Staff Family Night
It’s always a good idea to evaluate each promotion and make notes about what worked (and what didn’t!). Don’t be disheartened if they don’t all produce results first time round. With some adjustments and a little time for word to get around, you’ll soon start to see growth in your sales at the beginning of the week.
Influences
Find out who influences people to come to your restaurant and say thank you. For example, approach the staff in the tourist office or the drivers at the local taxi firm and say thanks with a discount voucher for 20% off early on in the week. It’s a great way to keep them sending more custom your way
Bring a Friend
Offer your regular customers a reward, for example a free drink or coffee or dessert, if they dine on a Monday evening and bring a friend who’s never eaten at your restaurant before. This idea is popular with football widows, ladies groups and office workers trying to continue the weekend. Advertise it as ‘Bring a buddy’ or ‘Find a friend’ night
Loss Leader
At quiet times, ask a member of staff to hand out copies of your menu in the area
surrounding your restaurant offering an instant discount of 20% to customers who
come in for a meal before a certain time. Works especially well in an area with lots
of restaurants where people often study menus before deciding where to eat. Run a
loss leader to fill seats -
