It had always been a dream of Peter’s to own his own restaurant, food was more than a passion, it was a way of life. Typical pub grub, buffet style service, comfortable and welcoming surroundings, and a fantastic team. When we met Peter to discuss his expansion plans this looked like the perfect business. LOOKED like… Looks can be deceiving.
We quickly established what Peter was looking for, made a number of suggestions, and soon had the vision that Peter wanted clearer in his head – there was work to do. During the conversation we were aware Peter was being continually interrupted. “Is that normal?” we asked. “No”, Peter came back quickly, “It’s usually much worse”.
A longer discussion started and we quickly realised there was a number of “cracks” in this business. Peter was working 14-16 hours a day and rarely saw his young family. The restaurant dream in reality was a nightmare.
The scenario was very similar to many businesses. Peter needed a stronger manager, yet profits simply would not permit that additional expense. We sat down with Peter and put in place a 12 month plan to remedy that situation. Here’s the bullet points we implemented after introducing Peter to our “Six Steps” formula.
It was very obvious the food was too cheap. “Put the Prices UP” we encouraged. The resistance to that passed after a few weeks and the fixed price meals went up by £1.50. No one complained. Not because they never noticed, because it was still amazing VALUE. The food waste was frustrating for everyone. “Eat as much as you can is the issue” we were told. Customers go up for more, then realise they are fuller than they thought… BIG waste bill. Not wanting to disrupt that business model, the restaurant simply started to use smaller plates. Less waste, customers were still just as happy, and life was good.
Dessert sales were always low. Peter started to offer small “tasters” of his homemade desserts – they were amazing… it’s no surprise that after that started dessert sales rose by over 25%. That was an easy one.
Coffee was equally frustrating. Peter bought his coffee from a local producer who’s reputation for the most amazing coffee was legend in the local community – yet coffee sales were LOW… really low. We listened to his team and the script they used was simply “Would you like a tea or coffee” – nothing wrong with that, it’s a pretty standard question.
We suggested a small change. Try reading this. “Would you like a tea or a coffee?” – that promotes a yes or no answer. Now add the Power of Silence… ” Would you like a tea (2 second silence) or perhaps a Coffee?” – try that again…
The second time it then becomes a CHOICE between the tea or the coffee. Now, if the customer doesn’t want, like or have time for either they will say so… however, Peter did record a 150% increase in coffee sales. 150% Increase.
What does all this mean? An extra £6000 per month onto the bottom line of the business and more than enough cash to recruit an experienced manager. That then allowed Peter to reduce the hours worked AND devote more time to implement a whole load of other new strategies in the business.
After these “quick wins” we then set about putting systems in place, getting consistency in the restaurant was key. Staff training was high on the agenda and it was long before Peter and his team were working towards their 90 Day Goals.
Six months on, Peter now works part time in that restaurant – mainly because he opened a second and still enjoys time off to enjoy it.
