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To email me: Jeffrey at RestaurantWorx.com
For a free consultation, call me at 877-535-2324.

Listen to "Hospitality101", our weekly show on BlogTalkRadio every Tuesday from 2-4pm C.S.T.

Jeffrey & Gary Talk About The Bootcamp on H101 RestaurantWorx™

Related posts:

1. The Hospitality101 Radio Show
2. Hospitality101 01-05-2010

To email me: Jeffrey at RestaurantWorx.com
For a free consultation, call me at 877-535-2324.

Listen to "Hospitality101", our weekly show on BlogTalkRadio every Tuesday from 2-4pm C.S.T.

Have Match – Will Travel RestaurantWorx™

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Connecting & Engaging With Guests in New Ways

We believe that social media represents one of the most significant recalibrations of guests behavior in history, resulting in fundamental shifts in the way our businesses communicate and interact with guests. So we have designed our Bootcamp to help you achieve three (3) specific goals:

1. Give you practical knowledge and insights needed to successfully plan, implement, manage and measure social media marketing efforts.
2. Teach you how to appropriately align your social media efforts with your business objectives and overall marketing strategy.
3. Understand how to navigate the tools and platforms, assign responsibilities within your business and drive your company’s presence and participation in the social media ecosystem.

You will learn about the total business implications and how to manage a successful social media presence for your business, as well as techniques for gaining staff and guest buy-in to achieve your goals. We will show how to use necessary social media tools and services (including “Voice-of-the-Guest” (VoG) programs) for gaining valuable insights and feedback about how guests feel about and respond to your brand. You will also learn how to apply and share these important insights with all stake-holders.

This is a must-attend  for operators and managers alike. Whether you’re already involved in or just starting to understand the opportunities and the power of social media, you will gain the knowledge and expertise to be able to assess your capabilities as well as develop and manage successful social media marketing efforts.

Learning Objectives

• Define social media
• Describe the attributes of social media
• Identify the leading and fastest growing social platforms
• Identify the new roles and responsibilities required to manage social media
• Specify the point at which a dedicated social media/community manager is required
• Describe the different disciplines that need to  with a social media/community manager
• Identify some of the skills required for a social media/community manager
• How to cope with having to “do it all”
• Define the main objectives of social media marketing
• Specify the four main objectives of social media
• Compare how you would recommend specific social platforms based on objectives
• Identify the methods of monitoring your social media ” ecosystem”
• Define the tools and resources used for monitoring
• Compare the features of free versus paid tools
• Know how to track your guests’ conversations about your brand.
• Specify how to develop rules of engagement
• Differentiate between advertising and marketing opportunities in social media
• Compare the push vs pull approaches to advertising and marketing in social media
• Define the measurement approach for advertising within social media
• Identify how you can leverage the “social graph”
• Describe how to measure your social media efforts
• Define social media ROI
• Compare direct versus indirect measurement

For a complete Bootcamp Agenda – click here.

Day 1 Wrap Up, Q & A

Day 2 builds on the previous discussions and begins to focus on your specific business and it’s social media objectives. Contact us if you have more questions or sign up now.

For complete information on the Social Media Marketing Bootcamp, visit the event website at RestaurantSocialMedia.com

See you soon.

To email me: Jeffrey at RestaurantWorx.com
For a free consultation, call me at 877-535-2324.

Listen to "Hospitality101", our weekly show on BlogTalkRadio every Tuesday from 2-4pm C.S.T.

The Social Media Marketing Bootcamp RestaurantWorx™

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1. Why Your Business Should Not Engage In Social Media – Yet!

What the discussion boils down to is both the value of a happy guest and the value of an unhappy guest because both have equally important values.

Let’s assume you have a $20 per-person-average (PPA) and that for every happy guest they will tell five people within a month of their great experience.  Those five people then visit your restaurant and have a great experience and each of them tell five m0re people and so on. It will look something like this:

Happy Guest #1 is worth $240 to you a year if he visits you just once per month at the $20 PPA level. Do you have happy guests who just visit you once a month? Perhaps but most visit you much more.

So by the end of the fifth month, the initial guest has told enough people about his great experience to garner you over $15,000 worth of business – not bad for just getting it right – and after a full year of positive word-of-mouth, the initial guest has helped create over $128,000 worth of business for you simply by communicating to the people in his close community about how great an experience he had at your restaurant.

Now contrast this with the understanding we all have that when you “get it wrong”, people have a tendency to tell more people about the bad experience than the positive one. Then assume the $20 PPA again and multiple these amounts by a factor of 2 or 3 or 4 (whichever you understand to be the case about the flow of conversations about bad experiences) and you can see how much money is potentially lost from the negative word-of-mouth generated by bad experiences.

Now consider the amplification of the bad experience and subsequent communication about it by people engaged with social media and you see a whole bunch of potential for lost sales as well as erosion of your brand reputation.

Finally, add in the lost opportunity cost of getting the marketing wrong or not listening to your guests and understanding their level of dissatisfaction with your experience.

So the lessons of situations like this are what I rant and rave about to restaurant and hospitality operators on a daily basis. Those being:

• The reason most operators fail is not for lack of capitalization, it’s from bad marketing.
• The reason most operators continue to fail, even when they see how bad things are is because they can’t admit they need help.
• No marketing strategy is more effective or powerful than those which work to leverage positive word-of-mouth strategies and tactics.
• Failing to implement a serious Voice-of-the-Guest program to measure guest expectations is suicidal.
• The potential for success is too great to dilute by using any discounting strategy when what you should be doing is adding value to support and enhance each guest experience.
• Social Media can serve to amplify a great experience or a negative one more so than any other and underscores why you have to be listening, engaging and facilitating with those conversations.

What do you think?

To email me: Jeffrey at RestaurantWorx.com
For a free consultation, call me at 877-535-2324.

Listen to "Hospitality101", our weekly show on BlogTalkRadio every Tuesday from 2-4pm C.S.T.

What’s A Guest Worth? RestaurantWorx™

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(Washington, D.C.) With the economic downturn easing, the restaurant industry is expected to show gradual improvement in 2010, according to the National Restaurant Association’s 2010 Restaurant Industry Forecast released today. Industry sales are projected to reach $580 billion this year, a 2.5 percent increase in current dollars over 2009 sales. When adjusted for inflation, 2010 sales will be essentially flat, which is an improvement over the 1.2 percent and 2.9 percent negative growth in real sales that the industry experienced in 2008 and 2009, respectively.

Restaurants will continue to be strong contributors to the recovery of the nation’s economy, with industry sales representing 4 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product and employees comprising 9 percent of the U.S. workforce.

“The past two years have been a very challenging time for our industry. While there are still substantial challenges ahead, we are encouraged that the outlook is improving,” said Dawn Sweeney, President and CEO of the National Restaurant Association. “With a total economic impact of more than $1.5 trillion, the restaurant industry is a strong player in the economic recovery. Restaurants are the cornerstone of communities across this nation and we are a key player in propelling job retention and creation across the United States.”

Industry Segment Growth
Continuing the trend from last year, the quickservice restaurant segment is expected to fare slightly better than the fullservice segment as diners focus on value and specials. Quickservice restaurants are projected to post sales of $164.8 billion in 2010, a gain of 3.0 percent over 2009. Sales at fullservice restaurants are projected to reach $184.2 billion in 2010, an increase of 1.2 percent in current dollars over 2009.

The eating-and-drinking place segment expected to show the strongest growth in 2010 is social caterers, whose sales are expected to increase by 4.5 percent. Among all commercial industry segments, the strongest growth is expected in retail-host restaurants (including those located in gas/service stations and drug- and grocery stores) with a 4.9 percent sales increase.

Workforce Outlook
For only the second time in nearly half a century, the restaurant industry lost jobs in 2009. Despite the losses, the industry still outperformed the national economy, and job growth is expected to resume in 2010. The restaurant-and-foodservice industry remains one of the nation’s largest private sector employers with its 12.7 million employees. By 2020, the industry is projected to employ 14 million people – an increase of 1.3 million jobs.

State Sales Growth
Colorado is expected to post the strongest sales growth in 2010 at 2.9 percent (2010 industry sales of $8.7 billion), followed by Idaho at 2.8 percent ($1.6 billion). Forecasted to post growth of 2.7 percent: New Jersey ($12.8 billion), New York ($29.0 billion), North Carolina ($12.8 billion) and Texas ($34.8 billion).

The top states by restaurant sales volume in 2010 will be California at $58.0 billion (2.3 percent growth); Texas at $34.8 billion (2.7 percent growth); New York at $29.0 billion (2.7 percent growth); Florida at $27.6 billion (2.4 percent growth); and Illinois at $18.7 billion (1.9 percent growth).

Consumer and Menu Trends
According to the National Restaurant Association’s 2010 Restaurant Industry Forecast, consumers will continue to seek value, convenience and expanded menu options in 2010 – and restaurants will deliver. Consumers forced to cut back on spending say they aren’t dining out as often as they would like, and this pent-up demand will turn into restaurant traffic as economic recovery continues.

The Association predicts that growth opportunities can be found in delivery and other off-premise options, cooking classes and other interactive guest activities, and using new media to reach new and returning guests.

Social media will become more critical to restaurant marketing this year. A good plan and solid understanding of those tools – including Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, and YouTube – can help operators mitigate the economic environment. “Word of mouth” has moved online, and more consumers use the Web to browse menus, make reservations, and get recommendations from other diners. Restaurants’ use of e-mail, Internet and cell phone text messages in marketing efforts is also a growing trend.

Restaurant operators continue to step up their efforts to go green, investing in energy-efficient equipment and fixtures, using recyclable materials and reducing their water use. Green initiatives not only help manage costs, they can also drive traffic. Four of 10 fullservice and 31 percent of quickservice operators plan to devote more resources to green initiatives in 2010 than they did in 2009, and 4 in 10 consumers say they choose restaurants based on their conservation practices.

Locally sourced food, sustainability, and health and nutrition will be the top trends on restaurant menus this year. Seventy percent of consumers say they are more likely to visit restaurants that offer locally produced food, and nearly three out of four say they are trying to eat healthier in restaurants now than they did two years ago.

The top 10 menu trends in the Association’s “What’s Hot in 2010” survey of more than 1,800 professional chefs (American Culinary Federation members) are: locally grown produce, locally sourced meat/seafood, sustainability as a culinary theme, bite-size desserts, locally produced beer/wine, healthy kids’ meals, half-potions, farm/estate-branded ingredients, gluten-free/allergy-conscious items, and sustainable seafood.

Ethnic cuisines and flavors are also a hot menu trend this year, including regional ethnic cuisine and fusion cuisine. Consumers are interested in trying French, Spanish, Japanese (other than sushi), Thai, Cajun/Creole, soul food and sushi.

For more information about the National Restaurant Association’s 2010 Restaurant Industry Forecast, visitwww.restaurant.org/research/forecast.

To email me: Jeffrey at RestaurantWorx.com
For a free consultation, call me at 877-535-2324.

Listen to "Hospitality101", our weekly show on BlogTalkRadio every Tuesday from 2-4pm C.S.T.

Restaurant Industry Outlook Brightens in 2010 as Sales, Economy Are Expected to Improve RestaurantWorx™

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6. Constant Contact Survey Results: 93% of U.S. Restaurants anticipate strong sales in 2006
7. Technomic: Bakery Cafes Prosper In Weak Economy
8. Technomic's Annual Survey Sheds New Light on Bar Sales at Chain Restaurants
9. Wine Promotions in Restaurants: Do Beverage Sales Contribute or Cannibalize?

To email me: Jeffrey at RestaurantWorx.com
For a free consultation, call me at 877-535-2324.

Listen to "Hospitality101", our weekly show on BlogTalkRadio every Tuesday from 2-4pm C.S.T.

Hospitality101 01-19-2010 RestaurantWorx™

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1. Hospitality101 01-05-2010
2. Hospitality101 10-20-2009
3. Hospitality101 12-29-2009
4. The Hospitality101 Radio Show
5. Hospitality101 01-12-2010
6. Hospitality101 12-02-2009

We have also revamped our show’s website http://www.Hospitality101Radio.com into an online community where you can join in the conversation during the show by being in the chat room, listen to the show’s archives and post content about the issues and topics we cover. Take a look and let us know what you think.

To email me: Jeffrey at RestaurantWorx.com
For a free consultation, call me at 877-535-2324.

Listen to "Hospitality101", our weekly show on BlogTalkRadio every Tuesday from 2-4pm C.S.T.

Hospitality101 01-12-2010 RestaurantWorx™

Related posts:

1. The Hospitality101 Radio Show
2. Hospitality101 01-05-2010
3. Hospitality101 01-19-2010
4. Hospitality101 12-29-2009
5. Hospitality101 10-20-2009

Issues include:

• Restaurant sustainability
• Dominos Pizza
• Our industry needing better ideas
• Restaurant Marketing Problems
• Taking better care of staff
• More great conversations…

To email me: Jeffrey at RestaurantWorx.com
For a free consultation, call me at 877-535-2324.

Listen to "Hospitality101", our weekly show on BlogTalkRadio every Tuesday from 2-4pm C.S.T.

Hospitality101 01-05-2010 RestaurantWorx™

Related posts:

1. Hospitality101 01-19-2010
2. Hospitality101 10-20-2009
3. Hospitality101 12-29-2009
4. Hospitality101 01-12-2010
5. The Hospitality101 Radio Show
6. Hospitality101 12-02-2009
7. Jeffrey & Gary Talk About The Bootcamp on H101

1. The Hospitality101 Radio Show
2. Hospitality101 12-29-2009

To email me: Jeffrey at RestaurantWorx.com
For a free consultation, call me at 877-535-2324.

Listen to "Hospitality101", our weekly show on BlogTalkRadio every Tuesday from 2-4pm C.S.T.

Hospitality101 12-29-2009 RestaurantWorx™

Related posts:

1. Hospitality101 10-20-2009
2. Hospitality101 12-02-2009
3. Hospitality101 01-05-2010
4. Hospitality101 01-19-2010
5. The Hospitality101 Radio Show