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Increasing Customers To My Local Bar/restaurant
Posted By: cvehse* on 9/24/2006 6:20 PM (CST) 250 Points
I own small, classy bar / restaurant in a high traffic business traffic location. I'm looking to increase the traffic into my bar from 5-8pm during the week. I'd also like to pick up my ' corporate party' business especially with Christmas being around the corner. I have a small budget. I'm looking for some good ideas that isn't going to cost me a fortune to get the word out.
Thanks so much.
Mel

Posted by: KathySmithFilms* Member Response
9/25/2006 2:00 AM (CST)
• The Sunday Entertainment section of local Newspapers positioned with dining and entertainment. Write up copy that gets people hungry using the perceptic of taste giving a couple of choice dishes that have been surveyed out that people come to you for.

• Get a nice write up or review published in the paper & frame that and showcase it to start a buzz on word-of-mouth

• Flyers that let all locals know about Happy Hour; offer two-for-one price only during those times & have your volume food appetizers & dip--meet new people, do your fish bowl of business cards drawing for dinner for two, email, flyers, WOM. Have an up sale card on the table to make reservations early & invite your friends, etc. Ask people how they found out about you. It will open some doors on where to advertise once you tabulate results.

• Cleaning up a place (really white glove clean) increases stats 500%. I do this every time my stats start to drop; it's magic!

• Offer space for company weekly meetings or continuing education credits in a special area for group rates--ongoing bookings for various clubs or businesses. Keep track of what people order the most of and what you have they brag about and have a success log started for your next flyer.

• Have a post card on each table & front reception for all traffic starting now & log book for your receptionist to pencil in or sign up for Holiday Reservations so Mom doesn't have to cook and clean. Book Early & Leave the Party Worry to us so you can enjoy your friends!! Have your event planner go to their place of business & help plan. But the below will give you the way so you can incorporate you own past successful actions. Operation sting works on restaurants where the 5-8 crowd may get the first day on the house but that will start your buzz.


Your going to be packed. The above ideas are classy but cheap.
Biz of the Biz
 
Posted by: shghosh Accepted Answer
9/25/2006 5:55 AM (CST)
For those hours- traditionally marketeers invented happy hours. I assume you have already tried that and still need more- all my suggestions are doing events/ activities from 5-8 PM to get the requisite footfalls.

1.Try organising "Speed Dating" on certain specific weeknights( fridays). Its logistically daunting so you need to tie up with a matchmaker who is also looking for a venue. To market the same, use the matchmakers database and get new customers.

2. Since your location is in the Business district- Offer discounts on Food or drinks, whatever you have your biggest mark ups on and visit the Admin Mgrs of the big ( more than 100 employee) offices to market the same. Else most organisations have a "Fun Committee" whose job is to arrange office parties. They become active around this time and arrange pot lucks etc- make your bar the venue for such events.

3. Since your bar is a classy place- tie up with your local art galleries and throw a cheese n wine and art exhibition on tuesdays. Make sure that you choose artists whose paintings/ serigraphs/ sculptures etc cost about the same that one spends on a good christmas gift. To market the same, email the art gallery patron list.

4.Else you can run "Hollywood Themes"- a Quentin Tarantino evening for eg. and do up the place with posters from his popular movies. Or a Romantic Comedy evening , do up the place with Casablanca and Sleepless in Seattle posters. Or an Action Tonite... you get the picture. For billed amounts over and above $XXX you can gift off the same posters that you used to make the theme! That way every wednesday you can change the theme without wondering on the piling inventory of posters and memorabilia.

5. Have Tarot card reading, Fend Shui consultation on careers and Face Reading done on "Fortune Cookie" Evenings.

Draw up a Monthly calendar of events and print it and give it off to regular patrons.

For the long run, to get more corporate business- Arrange to gift Desk Calendars 2007 for your existing Corporate Clients. Send them a mailer asking them to recommend another organisation where they have friends. Whoever sends you back the direct mailer, send the calendar to.

Also consider getting "Low Calorie Options" on the menu. Given the health consciousness thats fast changing from fad to way-of-life you will earn a group of repeat customers who dont mind spending that little extra but get what they like.

If you run the above regularly, your bar will come to be known as a place one can hang around in... make sure that the above themes are time bound 5-8.

 
Posted by: Frank Hurtte Member Response
9/25/2006 8:55 AM (CST)
If you already have a high traffic area... working on getting people in is not something that has to cost an arm and a leg. I suggest a two for one drinik special with some kind of gimmick. Whether it be bring a buiness card and get two for one drinks. or bring a can good for charity and get a two for one.
 
Posted by: Nila Nealy Member Response
9/25/2006 10:16 AM (CST)
Just a thought here...This sounds like a good case for "brand ambassadors."

You don't necessarily have to pay ambassadors, but some incentive is always nice. So, in exchange for free meals or drinks (if law allows it) you get a handful of people (maybe loyal customers, but definitely people who seem to be the connectors amongst the your target market) to go out and spread the word. They sort of recruit customers. It's like a second job for these ambassadors. You can even pay them in dollars or points per every person they send in. Tie the pay to the sales generated.

Anyway, your ambassador can wear your t-shirt and hand out "stuff." Maybe they give buy one-get one certificates to the targets.

Sell the t-shirts at your establishment to create more "unpaid" ambassadors. The t-shirt can have some fun saying on it. Something that creates conversation.
 
Posted by: halyameni Member Response
9/25/2006 10:55 AM (CST)
i have a few friends that own your kind of business and the #1 thing that has worked for them is word of mouth. for the slower times, they offer great specials that you can't beat anywhere else. however, with one of my friends, it kind of backfired. it ended up resulting in getting way busier than normal which required extra staff, which resulted in poor service. i guess all i am trying to say is, have great specials for each day of the week around the time you mentioned above and it might start off slowly, but in time, you will see your business get really busy and make sure you have enough staff ;-) owe, and the other big thing, make sure the customer service is phenominal, it will bring them back every time. trust me, i have seen it first hand. i am actually in the process of creating a web site for one of them as we speak. i am hoping to have it completed in the next couple of months.
check my site in the next couple of months, i will post his site in my web portfolio. [URL deleted by staff]
 
Posted by: Jr_Mgr_lester* Member Response
9/25/2006 3:04 PM (CST)
try to deliver working lunches for small team meetings for companies in the area. you probably have friends who work at offices in the district so whenever you deliver lunches to them, make sure to include a flyer/coupon for a special gift (such as a slice of dessert or a discount) with every delivery; as much as possible, deliver them personally and engage in a little chitchat with your customers when you hand them the coupons. and make sure that you are at the shop when they redeem the coupons- when they leave, ask them to tell their friends about it and give them a few more coupons. dont forget a "valid until date" on the coupon so you wont end up losing profit.
i like the idea of feng shui and speed dating- that would be a blast.
 
Posted by: iozel* Member Response
9/25/2006 3:06 PM (CST)
Restaurant/bar business is a very interesting area . before suggesting something, I think we must know where the restaurant is and what the typology of your popttential clients are and also what might be the major problems/weeknesses of your business?.
You say "a high traffic business traffic location" but is it in an international city or a local town?
Is this area totally commercial area where people rush out as the offices close, or is it an area where there is heavy business traffic but also somesort of "metropolitan life"night life or entertaining?
what kind of business area are we talking about, in other words are your clients mostly from industry, financial sector, bohemian advertising agecy ?
people ..etc.. ?What kind of people are mostly round?What are major draw backs/weeknesses of the area and your restaurant?
 
Posted by: cvehse* Author Response
9/25/2006 3:18 PM (CST)
This bar is in a very metropolitan city. Vancouver, BC. (close to tons of big corporate offices, robson street, fairmont hotel vancouver...) I have no problems with my lunch business i'm just looking to pick up my after 5pm business when all the suits get off work and is looking for a nice bar/cafe to sit with some co-workers for a few beers. I've been approach with the idea of 2 for 1 drinks and it's just not what i'm aiming to do. This isn't your typical bar - the appies are not wings and potato skins so i need to make sure the way i market to these people is also on their level. This is very much inthe financial district. Thanks for everyones help on this.
 
Posted by: annni85* Member Response
9/25/2006 5:06 PM (CST)
Hi cveshe:

The idea is very nice and i think u r dealing with a niche which likes gestures and nice simple touches, i think "membership" is a good idea. if u have a large space in ur restaurant, make a corner for the members; you can put the requirements u like later, maybe the person gets his membership after 10 bills or anything u think it's good. Those people care about having a community and that what u should provide besides ur services.
and u can have a corner for meetings, forums and interviews.
i think 50% of ur success in this bar counts on the corporate identity. focus on the community u r going to establish..
wish u a very good luck
 
Posted by: bbogue* Accepted Answer
9/26/2006 12:31 PM (CST)
I agree somewhat with annni... the exclusive audience deserves an exclusing approach. Maybe hire some extra well-dressed waiters to hand out a few appetiser samples to passers-by -- give them some sort "coupon/members-only/invite" piece -- something that looks classy and invites them to make plans to come in for drinks/dinner.

How accessible is the restaurant? Can you see inside? Can you open the doors and and let them hear the music, smell the food from the sidewalk? Is the menu in the window so folks can check it out? Do you have room for live music??? ... always a good draw...

Another idea might be to target certain businesses with a similar "sample" idea -- stop by around 3:00 with some compllimentary samples and again, the printed "invites" -- they will love the free food -- especially if it's good and well presented -- and you get the advertising directly to your target audience. If you do one or two establishments at a time, you can spread out your effort and expenses so the out-of-pocket hit is not so harsh (especially compared to publication advertising!)

The tie-in with local galleries is good-- perhaps work a catering job or two in there to get your name in front of their patrons... or a simple trade -- display their "flyers" in your foyer, if they'll do likewise.

Hope this helps! The restaurant biz is a tough one -- good luck!

-- barbara
 
Posted by: blanalytics Member Response
9/27/2006 6:57 PM (CST)
Free Buffalo wings with drinks. Guaranteed
 


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