“Have you booked your office holiday party yet?” was the question the manager asked after I finished lunch at a restaurant the other day. I was caught off guard only because I was on the beach the day before!

She handed me a very fancy, glossy flyer and attempted to walk away. I had only one question: “Why should I book my office party here, instead of at one of the other 200 restaurants in the area?”

She looked puzzled, thought for a moment and replied, “If you book early I am pretty sure we offer a discount?” Wrong answer! Before anyone considers price, they have to WANT to book with you! The flyer was boring and did not make me say “WOW! This looks great!”

Let me give you a few examples of ways restaurants we have booked with WOWed us:

1. Gave us a custom designed cake with my company logo on it – plus matching cupcakes for each guest to take home to their families (I am certain that this was folded into the $/head charge)

2. Supplied an amateur photographer dressed up like an elf (a member of the wait staff)

3. “Multimedia pack” - They allowed us to bring in our own musical playlist and slide show for the LCD screens in the private room

None of these examples are terribly creative (or expensive) and I am certain that you and your team can come up with 5 better ideas in a 20 minute brainstorming session.

So if you want to BOOK OUT your venue this year, give your staff AT LEAST 3 GOOD REASONS to sway business in your favor.

To your success,

WHEN A 1-oz SHOT GLASS HOLDS MORE THAN 1oz!

The Meniscus Curve

I am certain that I missed the science class where they taught us about the Meniscus Curve but over the last 12 years I have seen its effects cost bar owners MILLIONS of dollars!

A false sense of security often exists when bartenders religiously use a jigger to make drinks (a practice that I advocate in most cases). And here’s why;

1. Some bartenders pour into a “jigger” until the liquid begins to run down the side. This is hard to spot from 20 feet away but it usually results in overpouring 10- 20%.

2. However, most bartenders over fill the jigger and yet don’t spill a drop. This loss ranges from 5- 10 %.

It seems hard to believe that you can LOSE 1 IN 10 BOTTLES of all your spirits and not spill a drop!

Teaching your staff to “Flat Pour” has helped many bars arch up their profits dramatically overnight.

Take a minute to study your staff. You might be surprised how much this hard to detect issue is costing your business.

Onward and upward,

NUTS?

As my flight was taxiing down the runway Sunday evening, our Southwest flight attendant said over the PA, “If you are sitting on the right side of the plane please wave at the Delta plane beside us so they can see what a FULL FLIGHT LOOKS LIKE!” Over the laughter of the passengers she continued,”It has been a looooong time for Delta!”

What struck me as remarkable was how the attendant shared the same sense of humor and attitude as the founder of Southwest, Herb Kelleher. I know this from reading a book years ago about Herb entitled, Nuts that described ‘his way’ of doing business.

This serves as a great example – that if Southwest can employ 34,000+ people who share common values and “live the culture”, it should give hope to restaurant and bar owners who need to do the same with teams of 100 or so!

The book is filled with great stories but also important lessons about how Kelleher and his team really did the impossible by assembling a world class team to make millions of dollars in one of the toughest industries in the world. By the way, they continue to have a blast while doing so.

I am going to pick up another copy of the book and recommend that you do the same.

Onward and upward,

Terrible staff attract a lot of [unwanted] attention!

Only a fool would purchase a million dollar race horse and then hire a fat, washed up jockey to race it. So why do so many business owners invest countless dollars into building restaurants and then employ miserable jerks as hosts, bartenders or servers!?

A client called the other day and asked what they should do about the horrific feedback there are getting on YELP. While on the phone with him I reviewed the comments posted by angry (former) customers and replied, “FIRE the knuckleheads that work for you who are offending your customers!”

Honestly, no training program, pep talk or team building exercise is going to transform a person who HATES their job into being a “A Player” who thrives to deliver happiness 300 times a night, 5 days a week. Like they say, you can’t polish a turd!

I know… YES, they seemed very sweet at the interview. YES, you have invested months of time into them. And, YES it causes short term pain and uncertainty to “free up someone’s future”. But in most cases it is the only choice, so get over it, and get it done!

Have you ever wondered how the top restaurants in your city manage to employ all of those great staff…you know, the venues that are FULL on a Tuesday night?!

They do 2 things that most restaurants simply DON’T DO: 1.  RECRUIT (find GREAT people); and 2. TRAIN (I mean a real induction, not just a couple of shadow shifts).

#1. RECRUITMENT: You encounter A-Players every week (if you are looking for them) working at the grocery store, the woman that lives five doors down or even at your bank (a client recently hired his bank manager as his restaurant AGM). Top restaurant owners approach these folks, offer them a career in our industry (“no experience needed – WE TRAIN”) and to their surprise, many jump at the chance and opportunity. Business cards are cheap and recruitment needs to be a DAILY FOCUS if you wish to find the best operators in our industry.

#2. TRAINING: In a transient industry like ours, YOU MUST employ a manager who loves to train and is good at it (hint: bring one in from another industry). Don’t be afraid to cut staff after 2 weeks if they don’t have what it takes. Employ people who will invest 8 weeks learning “YOUR WAY to do business”.

I know this is harder than it sounds but it is a hell of a lot easier than devising a plan to stop the army of angry amateur restaurant critics that now have a HUGE voice on social media sites.

The restaurant business has changed – it got tougher. Have you?

In your corner,

.