Restaurant Marketing: No Hospitality At This McDonald’s

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Restaurant Marketing: No Hospitality At This McDonald’s

Restaurant Marketing: It’s 18 freezing degrees and I’m passing through a small town in Maryland looking for some breakfast. McDonald’s is open so I go in and order. It’s freezing cold inside. I ask the man who’s walking out from behind the counter if he’s the owner/operator. He says, “No, I work for McDonald’s Corporation.” I said, it’s freezing in there. He say’s “they’re working on the problem.” I say, “why don’t you offer everyone a free coffee while you’re fixing the problem and all of your guests are freezing?” He looks at me like I’m a bimbo.

Why don’t people in the hospitality business understand what true hospitality really is? Oops, forgot. This is McDonald’s.

Technorati Tags:

restaurant marketing restaurant promotion restaurant business restaurant management restaurant consulting hospitality marketing hospitality consulting foodservice marketing

Posted by jcohen in
(0) Trackbacks • Permalink

Thursday, December 24, 2009

34 New Year Restaurant Wishes From A Guest’s Point Of View

From A Guest’s Point Of View: 34 Restaurant Wishes

1. A greeting without using a number: “Welcome, I’m glad you’re here.”
2. A clean, well-decorated washroom/bathroom.
3. A sincere thank for my business.
4. A clean menu, without tattered edged, in easy-to-read-print for aging “boomers.”
5. A menu that is short, concise and not “War and Peace” and instantly shows the “house specialties.”
6. Accurate directions over the phone to get to the restaurant.
7. Your email specials to be brief, to the point, not a 2 pager.

I would like to have—

8. A server who holds my drink glass in the middle, not on the lips of the glass.
9. A server that doesn’t get down on his/her knees to take orders.
10. A server who tells me what the “market price” is for the seafood entree.
11. A server who knows how the food is cooked.
12. A server who gives me short list of specials, not an essay.
13. A server that doesn’t say, “I’m going to be your server tonight.”
14. A server that “reads” my group and knows I’ll need more napkins for my kid.
15. A server who has tasted the food and has some great personal recommendations

I would like to —

16. Have something to eat (bread, rolls) while I’m waiting.
17. Never to hear the phrase, “Is everything okay?”
18. Be offered half-portion desserts, because I’m too full to eat full-portions.
19. Have soft drinks not pre-poured and not watered down with ice.

I would like to —

20. Drive into a parking lot that is clean and well lit during the evening hours.
21. Walk up to a restaurant that has impeccable landscaping.
22. See that the front doors are clean and not full of fingerprint smears.
23. Order take-out that has leak-proof packaging.
24. Order take-out that is accurate.
25. Order take-out where the cold salad is NOT packed with the hot entree.
26. Have the seniors’ menu also be offered as a young teens’ menu.
27. See a brand name premium coffee, like Seattle’s Best on the menu.
28. See a brand name premium ice cream, like Breyers on the menu.
29. Receive my final bill/check within 60 to 90 seconds of requesting it.
30. Receive an umbrella if it’s raining as I’m leaving the restaurant.
31. Have the owner/manager of the restaurant greet and thank me for my business.

I would like my kid to have—

32. Enough different colored crayons and games to keep her busy.
33. Be offered Macaroni & Cheese specifically made by Kraft.

And finally—

34. A genuine smile ... because smiling is contagious.

###

Technorati Tags:

restaurant marketing restaurant promotion restaurant business restaurant management restaurant consulting hospitality marketing hospitality consulting foodservice marketing

Posted by jcohen in
(0) Trackbacks • Permalink

Monday, December 21, 2009

Restaurant Marketing: McDonald’s Says, “Stay All Day Long”

Restaurant Marketing: Five years ago as part of my restaurant marketing program, I was telling restaurants to get ahead of the curve and include free WiFi in their restaurants. I was met with a lot of reluctance and responses like, “but the guests are going to take up all of the seats!”

If you didn’t jump on the WiFi bandwagon then, you’re now lagging behind as guests want to go to restaurants where WiFi is free. At Panera, it’s been available 24/7 at no charge and now, effective mid-January, WiFi will be available at McDonald’s at no charge. McDonald’s. McDonald’s wants you to stay as long as you want. They want you to feel “at home” and comfortable.

And isn’t that how a restaurant should make you feel?

Technorati Tags:

restaurant marketing restaurant promotion restaurant business restaurant management restaurant consulting hospitality marketing hospitality consulting foodservice marketing

Posted by jcohen in
(0) Trackbacks • Permalink

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Domino’s Says To Their Customers, You’re Right, Our Pizza Is Lousy

Restaurant Marketing: It seems that Domino’s Pizza has finally realized that no advertising budget in the world can change the minds of their guests who have said their pizza is lousy.

A recent survey of pizza consumers found that Domino’s ranked at the bottom of all the major chains for taste, along with Chuck E. Cheese. As a result Domino’s will be totally remaking the recipes of their pizza, ready for in-store sale on Dec. 27.

As they’ve spent zillions of dollars on advertising, trying to convince us their pizza is great, and discounting it to $5, and as sales and profits have dropped, imagine the amount of wasted dollars just thrown away. Although they’ll put a positive spin on this, the fact is they’ve finally listened to their customers. Duhhh!

Lesson #1: No advertising budget can fix a product that is of poor quality. Lesson #2: Always talk and listen to what your customers are saying about your restaurant.

Technorati Tags:

restaurant marketing restaurant promotion restaurant business restaurant management restaurant consulting hospitality marketing hospitality consulting foodservice marketing

Posted by jcohen in
(0) Trackbacks • Permalink

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Restaurant Marketing: Create A Remarkable Buzz About Your Restaurant

Restaurant Marketing:Create a “monster-dinosaur sized” product, for example, a burger with several pounds of burger meat on it. Stack it with mounds of tomatoes, mushrooms, bacon and cheese, so it’s 1 to 2 feet high. Sell it for (example) $49.95.

You’ve got the largest burger in your city. Call your TV station. Send the burger to the radio station morning DJs. You won’t sell a lot of these, if any at all, but you’ll create a buzz, some press and publicity ... you’ll be the home of the original dinosaur monster burger.

There are no rules to this. There are no restrictions. There is a lot more you can do. Have photos of your guests “diving” into the burger. Sell T-shirts. Is this crazy? Yes. Is this remarkable? Yes.

But more importantly—people will talk about you—and that’s the best kind of marketing you can have.

Not a burger restaurant? What product do you have that you can take to the Xtreme? Make plans to do something “monster” during the first quarter of 2010.