*** INDUSTRY INSIDER *** How Restaurants play Big on a small budget?

The restaurant industry is facing a real shift where senior executives are starting to embrace the culture of data and actionable intel. Harnessing data and using it to the advantage of the company, as cost-effectively and quickly as possible, has become an issue of paramount concern for Founders and Directors.

In Australia & Asia (as in many markets) the restaurant business is in a turf war. That’s not to say restaurants are being overly competitive with each other, it more the case of economic dispersion as the middle classes widen and spread to other areas and the arrival of new venues. So many choices now exist for diners in new up and coming areas, that you only need to walk five minutes in any direction and you will see examples of the winners and unfortunately the losers. In a tough market with more competing restaurants, fewer customers, and ever skyrocketing rents, only the strongest and/or the smartest will survive...

Not everyone has the deep pockets of the big restaurant groups, so I ask, what makes a restaurant smart and resilient in an industry that’s hasn’t changed much (in technology terms) since the sixties and what useful technology can restaurants take advantage of today.

Here are my Top Tips to help any restaurant get ahead:-

1.  Get Digital - Employ or get help from someone that understands online. With each passing year your customers only get more digital savvy and reaching out to new audiences is essential for business survival. Very often restaurants (for lack of budget or management expertise) will put this pivotal and strategic role in the hands of a junior marketing person or worse not utilize them properly. If you can’t afford an experienced professional, try and get help from someone you trust. I can’t express the importance of getting this right, from your social media to your websites to your search engine marketing.

2.  The Value of Data – It’s so important to know your customers and protect your customer data. Please don’t give it away and by that I mean, using external reservation widgets on your website - where you have zero control of how or where the data will be used next. You have paid for that customer traffic to your website, so it’s important to keep that data sacred. B2B providers like TableSolution can enable your websites and Facebook pages to be private data capturing portals. Building a large customer database and using that data correctly will make your business more resilient to market turns, more profitable and ultimately more valuable.

3. Protect you Brand – Don’t share your brand with third parties no matter what they profess to offer you. Restaurants are not one big community and your brand is essential to your identity, so don’t put any other brand on your website that does not belong to your business.

4.  Ask for Feedback - Your customers are your most honest critics and your best way of referring new customers to you. What could be a more awesome way to improve your offering and build customer relations at the same time! People value customer opinions, so putting good reviews on your website will put bums on seats.

5.  The Big Spenders - Understanding your frequent diners is one thing, but knowing the big spenders and what they like to buy, is a very powerful option and especially important for knowing where to spend your bigger marketing dollars. Look for ways to utilize and join your POS data with your CRM data. This can pay big dividends.

6. Build A Fan Base - There are so many ways to build online relationships from; building social media fans, sharing campaigns to loyalty schemes to special customer events. Companies like GiveX offer great Gift Card and Loyalty programmes and Facebook tools can help you profile your existing audience using Facebook's Social Media Profiling tools. This all works to make customers feel relevant, special and loved.

7.  Talk to Everyone - There’s always something new and exciting out there, so it pays to be open-minded and do not tie your cart to one horse. You will travel faster and further with the help of multiple marketing partners and services.

In Asia and Australia, there are numerous marketing partners as well as B2B technology partners like TableSolution. All have unique and useful benefits to offer. Talk to everyone and get savvy about what will work for your business. You might find that latest secret weapon you’ve have been looking for!

8. Give Fast Wi-Fi – In all regions, but especially in Asia and Australia, people love to take food photos and share with friends. So much free advertising is available here, giving your customers great W-Fi, will not only provide valuable free marketing, it also helps foreign travelers enjoy your venue more. If you make the Wi-Fi password easy to remember or amusing, this can also be a clever way for your venue to stick in the mind. Some great examples I still remember years later; 'rememberme' 'justgoodcoffee' and 'onlygoodfood'.

9. Restaurant Cards – Sounds simple, but in my view, restaurants do not use these cards well or often enough. Like something you would give to every single diner, these are emotively really important tools for building your brand, enabling digital engagement and encouraging loyalty. Use these cards well and it’s an easy and cheap way to extend your reach. As an example, we have all seen coffee schemes encourage loyalty or invite to like your Facebook page. It all helps.Hoemme

10.  Work as a team – It's important to ensure that you’re developing a data-driven culture as an organization and that everyone in the business, from top to bottom, truly understands the value of data-driven decisions and knows how it applies to the work they do daily. There are amazing tools that deliver business-changing insights, but if staff are not using the tools properly during service or no one believes in the power of customer service, then it’s all for nothing. I really like it when the staff remembers who I am an what I like... even if I don't remember them, I will next time.

The ability to gain actionable insights and put them to use in a relevant manner is a positive reality for restaurants today. Having a data-centric approach to actively engage with good customers is not only easy, but an absolute must to stay ahead of the larger competition.