Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: There's one thing that you could do that would change your business almost overnight. I shared one of these tactics last time, and today is the one that will really change your entire business. It's by focusing on first timers. If you could identify every single first timer in your dining room and do this one thing, it'll change your business. That's what today's episode is all about.
There's an old saying that goes something like this. You'll only find three kinds of people in the world. Those who see, those who will never see, and those who can see when shown.
This is Restaurant Strategy, a podcast with answers for anyone who's looking.
Hey, everyone, thanks for tuning in. My name is Chip Close. I am your host. This is Restaurant Strategy. It's a podcast dedicated to helping you build a more profitable, sustainable business. Why? So that you can make more. So you can ultimately work less. When it becomes repeatable, it becomes replicable. When something's replicable, it becomes scalable. And that's how you build generational wealth. Restaurants are hard. There's no reason why you shouldn't make money doing something this hard. There's an entire economy around your business.
So let's make you part of that economy. I give talks, I write books. I host a live event every year. It's called the Restaurant Profitability Summit. You'll find a link in the show notes to get your tickets. I also run a group coaching program. It's called the P3 mastermind. Today, we've put hundreds of people through the program. It's the single best way I know to help independent restaurant owners increase the profitability of their restaurants. Literally make more money. RSP is our website. If you want to go learn more, please go do that. If you are interested, set up a call. You'll chat with me or someone from my team. There is no pressure. We bring 10 to 15 new members into the program every single month. My question is, why not you? You get on a call, we ask each other a bunch of questions. If it's a good fit, we'll talk about next steps. If not, we'll shake hands. Goodbye and good luck. No hard feelings. Rsprophit.com as always, you'll find that link in the show notes.
Avi, you love to go out to eat. So, as a guest, what's your biggest pet peeve when you're trying to choose a place to eat?
[00:02:24] Speaker B: Yeah, as the father of two children, I can't leave the house for less than $30 an hour. My wife has celiac, so when we're going to make a dining decision. I live and die by that menu. I'm in there researching what's available. What can my wife eat, what can we share, what do I get to eat off of her plate?
And so that menu is just a crucial part of all decision making for me as a consumer. It's why at Marquee, we focus so much on our menus, our menu integration, so that as operators, your menu that lives in your point of sale that you want customers to see is available and up to date everywhere.
[00:02:57] Speaker A: To learn more about Marquee, go to marquee.com m a r q I I.com to learn more about this and all of the incredible features they have.
Pop Menu has reimagined their restaurant. They're breaking the mold of the menu. Take the kitchen doors off the hinges, serving up their most comprehensive solution yet. It's called Pop Menu Max. So it's got everything you've already heard me mention, right? Websites, SEO, marketing tools, all of that. But now we get phone answering. Now we get third party online order aggregation, we get first party ordering, we get waitlisting. All of that is now in the, is now in the, in the bag. Pop Menu is phone answering. For example, that technology gets your ringing phones covered, right? AI AI helps the simple questions get answered so your phone line's not tied up right? So you don't have a staff member just answering the phone. That can actually be there for your in person hospitality. No more missed reservations, no more missed orders, no more people asking for hours, anything. And that's just the beginning. You have a passion for food. Pop Menu is a passion for technology. Together it's a recipe for restaurant success. Listen, if you're a restaurant owner, you need Pop Menu. It's going to take your business to the next level. For a limited time, only get $100 off your first month. Plus you get to lock in one flat unchanging monthly rate. Go to popmenu.com restaurantstrategy to claim this offer. Again, it's $100 off your first month. And yes, you're gonna find that link in the show notes.
Okay, so I told you these last three episodes in this 20 episode arc last week, this week, and then next time are probably my three favorites. The stories I tell more than anything else. And these stories are part of tactics. These are tactics that you can employ right away that helps you be more engaging. That actually, actually, actually helps you make more money in your business. Last time we talked about a better goodbye. Today we're going to talk about a better hello. 80% of your restaurant every single night are first time diners. Did you know that that research has been done over and over and over again for about the last 35 years and we find somewhere around 80%, somewhere between 75 and 80% and 85% of the guests in your dining room every single night are first time diners. You simply have to make it a priority to figure out who they are. It's very simple. Here is the script. The story I tell all the time is the power of identifying first timers. So when a server greets a table, have them walk over, say, hi, how's everyone doing? Welcome to Restaurant xyz. My name is Chip. I'll be taking care of you real quick. You guys have been here before, right? We always assume the positive. We never say, have you been here, have you dined with us before? We always say, you guys have been here before, right? Or you've dined with us before, right? Whether you're casual or formal, whatever it is. But you assume the positive. If they say, yes, we've been here, say, oh yeah, yeah, we've been here plenty of times. Oh yes, we love it here. Great. Absolutely, you're our people. For everyone else they say, no, actually we've never been here. Right? You assume that you're just part of the club, right? We assume you're part of the club. And then they say, oh, actually no, we're not part of the club. They say, no, actually it's our first time here. Said, no way. Really? Amazing. Are you guys, do you guys live in the area? Just in visiting. Do you work nearby?
[00:06:05] Speaker B: What?
[00:06:06] Speaker A: Tell me, how did you, what made you come in tonight, right? That is such a simple thing to do. If you could identify the first timers and then you say, right, great. Listen, you're in great hands. I'm going to make sure. I'll point out all the signatures. I'll point out some of my favorites. I'm going to make sure you have a great first time here. Right? That goes without saying. Here's what happens most of the time. Say, hi, have you guys dined with us before? And they say, no, no, it's our first time. Oh, amazing. Great. Well, you're in good hands, right? So you smile at them, they say, no, they're first timers and they get a bigger smile, which they should. But there has to be a playbook, There has to be a plan in place, something that follows that moment. If we are asking if they're first Timers, it's to make sure they know how it works or what you're famous for and all of that. Yes, but also because the hardest part of marketing is to get first timers in the front door. It's the hardest to do, most time consuming, most expensive. Once you got them in the front door, then it's your job to retain them. But if you've got no retention plan, well then you're just flushing your money. Why spend all this money to get somebody to come once and then leave and never come, come back, right? 80% of your nightly reservation book are first time diners. 70% of all diners will never return.
So think about this like a 10% gap. If we could just improve that, right, from 70 to 60 or 70 to 50 would again fundamentally change the finances of your business.
It would impact top line revenue, of course, and it would definitely impact bottom line profit.
So somewhere in first approach service job has to be identifying first time diners. You phrase it as in the positive. You make sure they know they're welcome. You're going to, you know they're in good hands. You're going to point out everything, all the signatures, everything they should get. When the server steps away, then they have to go over to the manager and say, hey, table 10, first time diner, right? All night long. The manager should have servers going up to them, say, table 22, first time diner, table 5, 10, first time diner, table 6, first time diner. All, all night long. And then it's the manager's job to approach the table at the appropriate time. I usually recommend between when the order's taken and when first course lands. Or sometime right when like entrees are sort of like finishing or finished, right? When they're going to make that turnaround from entrees to desserts, there's a couple of times you can do it, but the manager has to come over and say, hi, I'm so sorry to interrupt, but I just wanted to introduce myself. My name is Chip, I'm one of the managers here. I understand it's your first time here, is that correct?
And then we engage with them. Remember we talked about the power of engagement? Talked about that little Moleskine notebook. Man, this is a perfect cheat code for it. You say, you know, I understand it's your first time here, right? And then find out more about them. Do you guys live in the area? You new to the area?
Where else do you like to dine out? You visiting? Where do you work? Do you work in the area? All of that stuff and then you ask a very important question, which is, So I gotta ask, what made you come in tonight? How did you hear about us? You're gonna find really important things about your. You're gonna find out things about your marketing. Mostly you're gonna figure out what's working, right? How do they find out about you? So maybe it's from another regular. Maybe they saw an ad, maybe they keep passing, maybe they drive by all the time. Maybe they just moved in. You're gonna find out the mailer worked or the, you know, the, you sponsored the little league team. Or you're gonna figure out what about your marketing actually got these people in here.
And then what you do is you use a simple bounce back program. You put something in their hands that would get them to come back. You say, well, listen, again, I don't want to keep you from your conversation, but I wanted to introduce myself, make sure you know you're welcome. If there's anything else you need throughout the night, just holler. Also, I want to leave you with this. This is my business card. On the back. I signed it, I put today's date on the front. It says $10 off. This is $10 off next visit, anytime in the next 30 days, right? You come back to no questions asked, $10 off your next meal. I'm gonna give you one, and I'm gonna give you one. You can come back twice. Can't use them together, but you can come back two more times anytime in the next 30 days. My information is on there. Please email me or call me, text me, let me know you're coming in. If I can, I'd love to stop by. If you need help getting a table, obviously let me know. You put something in their hands that would specifically get them to come back. Now, Will you get 100% redemption rate? Will they all come back? Absolutely not. But again, if we say, hey, 70% of all first time diners will never return.
All we're trying to do is improve that metric to go from 70 to 60 or 70 to 50, meaning we get more of those people to come back. And maybe we put something in their hand that gets them to come back.
That's enough. It's enough to make it worthwhile.
This is one of the simplest, easiest, cheapest things to do that actually works. I call it a better goodbye and a better hello.
Talked about the better goodbye last time, right? Thanks so much. Have a great night. We're not going to say that anymore. We're going to ask the question we actually want to ask. And this time we're going to have a better hello. Hi. I always want to check. You guys have been here before, right?
Then we put something in their hands that would specifically get them to come back.
That's it guys. It's one of the stories I tell all the time because I was taught that years ago and I use it now. I teach it over and over and over again and I would say the better goodbye is the most ignored thing. This is the second most ignored thing. Biggest difference you can do is by putting this into practice it will change the finances of your restaurant again. If you want to learn any more about the Mastermind program I run P3 mastermind, go to RSProfit.com if you want to get your tickets to the Profitability Summit those are available. There's a link in the show notes about 55 tickets left as of this recording. Appreciate you guys being here and I will see you next time.
