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DEAD STOCK

“Dead stock” is liquor purchased for sale (maybe during a promotion, or earlier experiments with the clientele) that for one reason or another, just hasn’t sold.  Whether you find it annoying because it takes up space or because it creates clutter, the worst part for everyone has to be that it represents expenditure that stubbornly refuses to convert into retail dollars.

Excess, slow moving stock can also complicate your life by creating theft issues.  Ordinarily honest people can be tempted to steal if they see a case of wine or liqueur covered in dust in a dark corner of the cellar. “It’s not selling anyway, no one’s even looked at in it years… No one will miss it if I take it home for my party”.  This process is very easy to rationalize, and it opens the door for theft to continue in other areas once the original guilt has been overcome.

Dead stock also makes theft easier by cluttering up your storage spaces – a disorganised storage space is an easy place to disguise theft of regular stock.  A disorganised space may even hide your stock from you, and lead you to accuse innocent people of stealing products that are still in your storeroom.

SO – what do we do?

The first step is to determine exactly how much dead stock you have – ask your Barmetrix Account Manager for a ranked depletion report and recommendations.  Because the report covers everything that is actually in the venue, rather than just products that are selling or in the system, you’ll find dead stock quicker than using your POS.

Next, ask your cellarman to organise your spirit store, isolating all the dead stock into one place (perhaps in milk crates).  Once done, you can see exactly what you have to work with – but you’re not done yet!

Now - get it to start working for you, instead of tying up space & cash!  Whether you sell it creatively or (judiciously) give it away, there are still plenty of ways to get ahead with your dead stock.

Improve your business:

 Get cash for it:

Give it away:

Marketing

Just watch out – if you try any of the above and it goes too well, your stock might get popular again!

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BARMETRIX QLD UPDATE

Barmetrix continues to take off in the northern state, under the guidance of Barmetrix QLD Chief Peter Stawiarski  - or Polish Pete as he is now known in Brisbane!

We want to welcome new Barmetrix Brisbane clients The Met, Tank Hotel, Sun Bar, Hotel Broadway and Luxe Bar & Restaurant who join other notable Brisbane venues like Watt Modern Dining and Barsoma in working with Pete to stamp out variance and improve profits.

- UPDATE -   Barmetrix has now extended its services to Surfer's Paradise and the Gold Coast!  Audits have already begun on several famous Surfer's venues - if you are interested in meeting up with Pete for a quote for your venue (either in Brisbane, Surfer's or the surrounding area) give him a call! 0425 338 060

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OUR HEROES - MATT ERBY

Jason Jelicich talks with Matt Erby, General Manager of Arthouse Hotel about his approach to hospitality management and his experiences in driving a modern successful venue.

 Those who know Matt Erby know that he is a man of the people and, as long-standing General Manager of one of the Sydney’s most iconic hotels (The Arthouse) he represents a new generation of manager who combines both a high level of business acumen along with a strong people focus.

 When The Arthouse Hotel (a former art gallery in Pitt St, Sydney) opened in 2001 it became an instant success, ‘it was the new place on the block…and it pumped!’ says Matt.

 The Awards quickly followed, in 2003/ 2004 Arthouse Hotel won both the state and the national AHA Award for Best Bar Presentation Service. This was followed up by the wins at the state and national Best Entertainment Venue in 2004/ 05.

‘Arthouse was (and is) different because of its impressiveness, its grandiosity. We still have customers whose jaws drop when they come in’ Matt proudly exclaims.

 But a truly great venue must rely on more than just the visible – as it’s often the invisible elements that bring people back i.e. the service, the atmosphere, and the smiles on the faces of the staff.

 The way Matt manages this ‘intangible’ element is to focus on building a strong team and minimising staff turnover. ‘Strong friendships are the key to surviving the hard times and keeping guest service levels high’. Matt explains.  ‘In a venue this size, keeping staff turnover to a minimum is essential so that our managers can keep their attention on driving business – rather than having to deal with the issues and hassles associated with the training & inducting of new staff’

‘My goal is to reduce staff turnover to 50% - or 25 staff/ year. The benefits of our business from improving staff retention are massive…from increased return patronage, sustained productivity, limited mistakes & variances, consistency in rostering etc’

 Matt’s aim at Arthouse is to facilitate an upwards cycle of development for both staff and managers ‘My ideal is to see a glassy move through the ranks to become head bartender or manager, that’s always been very satisfying for me’.

 To achieve his goal of 50% staff turnover, Matt has had his managers hard at work on creating a comprehensive staff training & induction program for the venue.
Starting from the moment they are interviewed, staff are asked if they are willing and able to attend regular on-site training events as a prerequisite for employment (an attitude and propensity for learning is a must to work at the Arthouse).

 All staff are then put through a basic induction program. ‘When we started 5 years ago, it was little more than on the job training – but that wasn’t a system’. Matt explains. About 8 months ago, Matt installed the Barmetrix PROtrainer – an automated bartender induction, training & testing system, designed specifically to be used as an internal training resource for busy bars - after identifying the need for a formal internal training system to bring staff up to full productivity as quickly as possible.

‘I love that we can combine all elements of our training together – and then have it driven on a day to day basis by the PROtrainer unit’ Matt says.

Additional to the induction training, Matt now has regular staff training sessions scheduled for every Monday fortnight – with all barstaff expected to attend. Attendance is compulsory and he is proud of his turn-up rate of 80 - 90% of venue staff.

The sessions cover a range of topics including product knowledge, tastings, mixology, and full bartender skills evaluations. Matt incorporates in house training with external training from key suppliers such as Barmetrix.

‘I have Barmetrix coming in monthly to train my staff and they run the staff through a comprehensive skills evaluation every quarter’ Matt explains. ‘It complements our training and provides a further unique evaluation of our staff skills that we cannot perform ourselves internally’

Additional to the staff training, Matt is also a strong advocate of management training. ‘This is something I would ideally like to do more of’ he explains. At present he has his core management team attend quarterly Management Workshops and is encouraged by the way his managers respond to the training. ‘They all seem to get something different out of the training, but even if they just get motivated – then that’s a great outcome.’

Matt is now eying off the AHA National Training Award, a point of aspiration for him, and a key marker of recognition that he has achieved his goal. And looking at what he has achieved to date – he’s definitely looking like a contender!

Matt Erby’s Top Five Tips for Improving Staff Retention

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CUSTOMISED BEER?

Ever wish your place had a trendy house beer like those micro-brewery pubs?  Wish you were promoting your own brand when you sold a beer, rather than someone else's?

If you couldn't brew a beer to save your own life, or you just don't have the time - there is a very cool option available from Brewtopia. 

Brewtopia have an excellent micro-brewery.  Their lager in particular is worth a try if you haven't already (often sold under their own label, Blowfly).

The reason this should be worth your attention however, is that the friendly guys at Brewtopia will sell their beer to you with your own label on the front!  Consumers can already do this online at the brewtopia website (www.brewtopia.com.au) using a custom label generator tool to pick up a case of beer at retail price.  (We used the online generator to produce the example image on the left). It seems to be proving popular with buck's parties, company promotions and the like.

If you contact them direct however, you can arrange wholesale pricing, plus they'll do a personalised professional label for you. (Design costs are about $50, which is stupidly cheap if you've used a graphic designer before - and they use your name, your photos, your logo etc). Should give you results a little more convincing than the Barmetrix Beer!

Besides bottled beer, you can also get a range of wines, including sparklings, with all the usual suspects in premium and value options. There's even a bottled water.  I think it makes a lot of sense - if you're going to sell a beer, might as well have your face on it as anyone else's... Now let's see the local micro-brewery pub beat that range...

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2 FREE TICKETS TO TGR CONFERENCE

As many of you know, Think And Grow Rich is the #1 best selling personal success and wealth creation book of all time. What you may not know is the book was first published in 1937.

My friend Stuart Zadel is the publisher and has just released the 70th Anniversary Edition, which includes over $2000 in free bonuses including two free seminar tickets to…get this… Stuart has teamed up with ten world leading Wealth Creation and Success Experts (including me!) to celebrate the 70th Anniversary of Think And Grow Rich in style at:

The Ultimate Think And Grow Rich Marketing And Wealth Creation Training Conference

I highly recommend this event. It is filled with practical strategies that anyone can use to significantly increase their income and improve their financial position immediately. That makes this book not only a great read but phenomenal value too!

Specifically for Pubs and Clubs are two of the speakers, both world renowned business and marketing experts sure to get your brain firing. The information delivered through this event is easy to understand and gives specific, outlined steps to help you create financial success. (If you've ever seen Stuart Zadel speak before, you'll also know what an inspiration he is)

If you can't wait, go here now:   http://www.thinkandgrowrich.com.au/jelicich

You can only take advantage of this offer in the next 24 hours - it expires at midnight tomorrow night. 

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TRIVIA - WORLD LEADERS

The Manhattan cocktail (whiskey and sweet vermouth) was invented by Winston Churchill's mother. 

Frederick the Great of Prussia tried to ban the consumption of coffee and demanded that the populace drink alcohol instead.

The bill for a celebration party for the 55 drafters of the US Constitution was for 54 bottles of Madeira, 60 bottles of claret, 8 bottles of whiskey, 22 bottles of port, 8 bottles of hard cider, 12 beers and seven bowls of alcoholic punch large enough that "ducks could swim in them."

Taking punch a step further - the courtiers of William III once used a garden fountain as a giant punch bowl. The recipe included 560 gallons of brandy, 1200 pounds of sugar, 25,000 lemons, 20 gallons of lime juice, and five pounds of nutmeg. The bartender rowed around in a small boat, filling up guests' punch cups.