By David Scott Peters

Restaurant Tip of the Week

Don’t Lose Out on Customers Because Your Offerings Are Limited 

You know how Mexican restaurants always have the American hamburger on their menu? You know why? Because there’s always someone in the group who doesn’t like Mexican. That one person can dictate the whole group’s choice in restaurants. Expand your world and start thinking like a customer. Better yet, start thinking like the potential customer who steers business away from your restaurant. Look down your food, beverage and drink menus and start asking questions. Identify potential lost opportunities. Look at your vegetarian options, your healthy options and your drink mix. Then analyze if they are feasible to find solutions for, if you can implement those solutions and if they are worth the expense and effort. A few changes that dont’ change the dynamic of your restaurant or your essence can capture you a lot of extra customers.

David Scott Peters is a restaurant expert, coach, trainer and speaker, specializing in systems for independent restaurant owners. He is the nationally acclaimed restaurant coach whose unique “SMART Systems” approach to boosting profits has earned him the title of, “The man who can walk into any restaurant in America and find $10,000 in undiscovered cash before he hits the back door – Guaranteed!” Visit www.TheRestaurantExpert.com for more. Learn more tips, tricks and secrets in David’s free five-part e-course, “How to Explode Your Restaurant Profits NOW!” Simply sign up to receive the e-course at TheRestaurantExpert.com.

By David Scott Peters

For the past five years I’ve produced a monthly member newsletter. It’s come a long way from the first few editions produced by me on amateur publishing software (Word!) to the professionally produced piece it is today. But no matter how pretty it looks, it’s the content that is important. And it’s full of great content for independent restaurant owners.

The March issue is hitting mailboxes this week, and I just wanted to take some time to tell you about this month’s contents. If you’re interested in seeing more of it, I offer a three month trial for only $3. Sign up here.

David Scott Peters – “Define What Makes You Different,” an article focusing on how to write your restaurant’s unique selling proposition so that you can clearly define your restaurant for prospective customers and increase traffic.

Coach’s Corner – “Try This System Worth Five Points,” an article written by TheRestaurantExpert.com Coach Fred Langley about using the purchase allotment system to budget for and purchase your food. Implementing this system has commonly saved restaurant owners upwards of five points off their food costs.

Linda Peters-Gethcell – “New Identity Training,” an article focusing on keeping your staff motivated and interested in providing great customer service in your restaurant.

Brad Hackert – “When a Cup Isn’t Always a Cup,” an article by TheRestaurantExpert.com Coach Brad Hackert about what can happen to your food cost when you use the wrong measures in your recipe costing cards.

Tonetta Weaver – “Gift Card Accounting,” our favorite accountant Tonetta offers insight into the regulations governing what to do on your taxes with the cash generated from gift cards before the gift cards are cashed in.

Every month this newsletter if filled with original content generated by myself and my team of restaurant specialists. Try it for three months and see if you don’t come away with some great tips and tools for using systems in your restaurant.

David Scott Peters is a restaurant expert, coach, trainer and speaker, specializing in systems for independent restaurant owners. He is the nationally acclaimed restaurant coach whose unique “SMART Systems” approach to boosting profits has earned him the title of, “The man who can walk into any restaurant in America and find $10,000 in undiscovered cash before he hits the back door – Guaranteed!” Visit www.TheRestaurantExpert.com for more. Learn more tips, tricks and secrets in David’s free five-part e-course, “How to Explode Your Restaurant Profits NOW!” Simply sign up to receive the e-course at TheRestaurantExpert.com.

By David Scott Peters

Restaurant Tip of the Week

Hire a Good Manager to Improve Business 

Think hiring a good manager isn’t that important? Just take a look at what a manager with good interpersonal/communication skills can do for your restaurant, and consider it before you decline a raise or higher the guy willing to take less money:

1. Build a climate of trust and respect in which communication is encouraged and messages are communicated with respect.
2. Express clearly what needs to be done, using language that employees can understand, resulting in things actually getting done.   

Build a positive work climate where employees can and will work productively. A climate where they can do their best work and achieve their highest potential in their jobs.

A good manager is worth the investment for your restaurant.

If you’re looking for something to keep your managers working for you and motivated, or if they’ve been after you for a good bonus program, I’ve got the perfect tool for you. It’s the “How to Structure a Restaurant Bonus Program,” which provides you with all you need to create a bonus program that rewards your management team, but doesn’t rob you of your profits. Check it out here.

David Scott Peters is a restaurant expert, coach, trainer and speaker, specializing in systems for independent restaurant owners. He is the nationally acclaimed restaurant coach whose unique “SMART Systems” approach to boosting profits has earned him the title of, “The man who can walk into any restaurant in America and find $10,000 in undiscovered cash before he hits the back door – Guaranteed!” Visit www.TheRestaurantExpert.com for more. Learn more tips, tricks and secrets in David’s free five-part e-course, “How to Explode Your Restaurant Profits NOW!” Simply sign up to receive the e-course at TheRestaurantExpert.com.

By David Scott Peters

There was an article on Salon.com that is important for every independent restaurant owner to read. This article talks about the menu engineering tricks employed by restaurants to persuade customers to make menu choices a certain way – in a way that is more profitable for the restaurant.

This article is important because of the point made by the author that “…it’s a certain type of restaurant that has resources to expend on menu psychology.”

These certain types of restaurants are the chains – not the small independent restaurants slipping delivery menus under the author’s door that he refers to.  

But you have the resources to engineer your menu, too. As an independent restaurant owner looking for ways to increase your sales and profits, you can employ the same menu engineering strategies talked about in the article. I teach my members and those who attend my workshop the same strategies and the results they see are well worth the investment of their time and money.

When looking for ways to increase your restaurant profits, it’s the small things that add up that make all the difference. Creating recipe costing cards, understanding your ideal food cost and knowing how to price your menu correctly to be profitable and then employing certain strategies to guide your customer’s experience will net you big results – lower food costs and increased sales. Combine the results of these two areas and you’re talking more money in your bank account and more resources to make more changes.

If you’re ready to see changes in your restaurant, consider your menu a great area to conquer. Consider attending my semi-annual workshop for independent restaurant owners where you will learn restaurant systems such as menu engineering and a lot more.

David Scott Peters is a restaurant expert, coach, trainer and speaker, specializing in systems for independent restaurant owners. He is the nationally acclaimed restaurant coach whose unique “SMART Systems” approach to boosting profits has earned him the title of, “The man who can walk into any restaurant in America and find $10,000 in undiscovered cash before he hits the back door – Guaranteed!” Visit www.TheRestaurantExpert.com for more. Learn more tips, tricks and secrets in David’s free five-part e-course, “How to Explode Your Restaurant Profits NOW!” Simply sign up to receive the e-course at TheRestaurantExpert.com.

By David Scott Peters

Restaurant Tip of the Week

The Floating Beverage

The floating beverage is a classic bartender scam. To do it, a bartender rings up a normal order, such as a beer and an appetizer. When a customer pays in cash, the bartender goes to the register to close out the ticket, but instead pockets the cash and transfers the beer and appetizer to a new customer who orders the same items or something similar. The bartender proceeds to do this many times during the shift, ultimately making themselves an additional $50 to $100. Your POS system and a mid-shift drawer audit are your best defenses against this scam.

David Scott Peters is a restaurant expert, coach, trainer and speaker, specializing in systems for independent restaurant owners. He is the nationally acclaimed restaurant coach whose unique “SMART Systems” approach to boosting profits has earned him the title of, “The man who can walk into any restaurant in America and find $10,000 in undiscovered cash before he hits the back door – Guaranteed!” Visit www.TheRestaurantExpert.com for more. Learn more tips, tricks and secrets in David’s free five-part e-course, “How to Explode Your Restaurant Profits NOW!” Simply sign up to receive the e-course at TheRestaurantExpert.com.