Item Upon - Business

One Consultant Does Not Fit All: Hiring the Right Consultant
I constantly work with other consultants with or on behalf of my clients. Some are consultants I help my clients locate and other are consultants they have found themselves. 99% of the time, the relationships and projects have a successful result, but in the remaining 1% everyone wonders what went wrong.The business world is full of examples of consultants who end up providing less than desirable results. Sometimes, it's because the person is not really a consultant at all — they are in transition or just filling time between jobs. Other times, it may be the consultant is not the right fit for the organization or the project was not clearly defined.When you hire a consultant or contractor you must have the following:A person who is the right fit for your organization A relationship that is set up for success at the beginning A deal that is fair for both parties A project that is clearly defined I can't tell you how much time, energy and money is wasted when these things are not in place.An outside consultant offers many advantages to entrepreneurs and smaller businesses, such as the ability to provide objective advice, a frame of reference and best practices from other clients, methodologies and models to g

some sort of incentive for those members to stop by for a meal. Change your incentive in each newsletter and track the results.

Sponsor Contests:
One restaurateur saw a substantial increase in VIP member visits when she started having a weekly drawing. She sent out a postcard to the VIP members and asked them to bring in the postcards for a FREE offer. When redeemed, the postcards were entered into a weekly drawing for a free lunch or "Dinner For Two". Monthly drawings were also held with prizes such as a digital camera, CD player, clock radio, etc. Grand Prize Drawings held twice a year gave away a grandfather's clock or a cruise. With every mailer, she reminded her customers of the grand prize drawings.

Additional Celebrations:
Create theme nights to attract your VIP members back to your restaurant. Tie your theme occasions with holidays. For instance, February is National Chocolate Lover's Month. Offer your VIP members a special chocolate dessert promotion for the month of February. One creative Italian restaurant owner did a VIP promotion for its St. Patrick's Day elebration. He sent out an email invitation saying, "Come party with real Italians on St. Patrick's Day. We'll show you how to celebrate St. Patrick's Day in style." Any holiday will do. One restaurant celebrated Agatha Christie's Birthday by offering a surprise entree special.

Remember that the number of dollars that a customer is going to spend is limited. To get more than your share, you are frankly going to have to take them away from your competition Effective marketing will help you get a larger share of your customer's dollars and includes the tools to track each and every promotion to determine your customer response and return on investment. With good marketing and tracking you will be able to keep your restaurant in Top OF Mind awareness with your customers.

"It's not your customer's job to remember you. It's y

To Brand Or Not To Brand? That Is The Question
The brands are coming! Their arrival has been evident in our supermarkets and on the main streets of our towns and cities for some time now. It started as a trickle, led by the makers and the retailers of consumer goods, but it has more recently become a fast moving torrent that races headlong through almost every business and walk of life. In certain respects, it has come later to the hospitality world than to many others but now that it has arrived it is clearly planning to stay.Make for the high ground! For many in the industry, it is something to be viewed uneasily as it threatens to burst its banks and overwhelm everything that stands in its way. Others are out constructing canals and reservoirs. For us, branding offers something new and exciting; a fresh flow of ideas that will bring renewed direction and vigour to our business.So, to brand or not to brand? This is just one of the questions facing Irish business owners in 2003 as we regard the landscape and consider our choices.Any unease that we may feel in the matter is readily understood. The B-word has been bandied about a great deal during the last few years and has been blamed (most famously in Naomi Klein’s recent book No Logo) for some of the worst excesses

"Before you begin marketing through a VIP Club, you need to take a step back and look at your restaurant. Make sure that you are ready for increased business. Don't attempt to market your restaurant unless you have above average food and service. Good marketing can actually put a restaurant that provides poor food and service out of business faster because more people will have a poor dining experience, and the negative word-of-mouth will cause them to fail faster than if they do not market at all," says Brent Davis, Director of Coaching Services for RestaurantMarketingGroup.org (RMG) a company that specializes in helping restaurants to build sound, trackable marketing systems through its easy-to-use software, "How-To" marketing manuals and personalized coaching.

Gathering the Data:
Once you have taken an internal inventory and feel good about the food and service that you provide, it's time to start using and building your database of existing customers. Remember that in most restaurants 30 percent of the customers are bringing in 70 percent of the business. For the sake of our discussion, let's say that Joe's Family Diner has 10,000 customers a month. That's 322 customers each day. Seventy percent of the diner's monthly customers would be 7,000. If the restaurant's VIP Club marketing creates only one more visit per year per customer at an average check of $25, the volume will increase by $175,000 per year or $14,538 a month and that's with only one extra visit per existing customer per year. You can see why it's important to go after additional customer visits.

"Don't forget that your existing customers are your neighbors. A VIP Club enables you to market within your neighborhood to existing customers. It's permission based and therefore considerably more effective than if you did a blanket coupon offer to all of your neighbors. These are folks who know and frequent your restaurant; they took the time to fill out a VIP card and have shared personal information with you," says Davis.

"VIP Clubs are a great way to build customer loyalty. Always give a thank you reward bonus for joining the club. We recommend that the offers go out by email or regular mail within 72 hours after signing up. The offer should be without any strings attached. I like to suggest that the offer be for a dollar amount. A flat $15.00 or $10.00 amount could be enough depending on your guest check average. You could give a FREE, dinner with a $10 or $15 limit. Give them an offer they can use on anything they want. The offer is now valuable and they feel compelled to use it," says Teresa Horn, RMG Marketing Program Development Specialist.

To enjoy the greatest return on your VIP Club enrollment campaign, you should train your employees so that they understand everything about the VIP Club. Have a contest and give prizes to the employees who sign up the most customers. Place VIP Club displays and sign-up cards in very high-traffic, highly visible areas. Use pre-printed "Post-It" pad messages and put them on your menus so that your customers and employees will be reminded to fill them out. Always emphasize the benefits of VIP Club membership. Enter the names and additional information into the computer software program on a daily basis, using a part time employee.

Horn suggests that your VIP Club sign-up cards include the following information:

Name:
Address:
Birthdates of each family member, so that they can receive a birthday surprise.
Anniversary:
Email::
Phone: (Optional)

"Carefully select your expiration date. I usually suggest using a three-week expiration date. If it's not used by then, it is usually lost. You want to create a sense of urgency," says Horn.

Processing the data:
Don't wait until you have built a large database. Start marketing to each VIP Club member the minute you get their data. You will find that this information is your most valuable marketing asset.

Creating a database of your customers and immediately communicating to them on a regular basis will increase the frequency of visits to your restaurant. For almost any reason, or sometimes for no reason at all you should send the customer a postcard or an email with an incentive to bring them into the restaurant again. Remember, the goal is to bring the customers in at least one EXTRA time per year. By sending them a reminder postcard or email around a holiday or during a local community event will remind them to visit your restaurant. And if they make several EXTRA visits you have exceeded your goal and dramatically increased the sales and profit of your restaurant.

Create a Birthday Club:
What is the most popular holiday for eating out? According to the National Restaurant Association, it's on your birthday. In fact, 55 percent of all Americans eat out on their birthdays. The best news of all is that people have birthdays 365 days a year, spread out over 12 months. Birthdays are the perfect time to encourage additional business.

"Use the information gathered in your database to send out birthday cards for each VIP customer as you recognize one of the most important days in their lives. Their celebrations might as well happen at your restaurant. Always include a FREE offer such as a FREE dinner for the birthday guest. Remember that birthday guests rarely party alone; the average size of a birthday group is five individuals," says Davis.

Go out of your way to make the birthday party a special event when a customer redeems his/her certificate. Your restaurant needs to become the "Party Place." Develop definite policies to ensure that it happens??that the parties are fun and your birthday guest is treated like royalty for their day. You must create a special party atmosphere. One Northwest seafood chain has a crazy fish hat that the birthday person wears while they take a Polaroid or digital photo of the birthday guest and his/her friends. The photo is then slipped into a cardboard photo holder and becomes a nice takeaway remembrance of the evening. Of course, the restaurant's name and address is on the card. If you include a "year" sticker, it can become a collectable item.

Celebrate Anniversaries:
Another great marketing campaign can be centered on your VIP customers' anniversaries. Forty-three percent of American couples say they go out to eat to celebrate their wedding anniversaries. If you own a fine dining restaurant, try to make your guests dining experience special and romantic. Doing "little extras" is what will set your restaurant apart from the competition. Value-added incentives are more important than discounts on anniversaries. You must make it a "special occasion."

Quick Service Restaurants and Pizza Shops can effectively wish mom and dad a happy anniversary by giving them a great offer for their children's meals that way, Mom doesn't have to cook for the children before she goes out to dine. This let's the children celebrate the anniversary too.

Advertise Specials or New Menus:
"With a marketing database, you are prepared to communicate with your regular customers. It's a great way to introduce a new menu or a new menu item. Always include some special offer just for VIP members," says Horn.

Many companies have developed a newsletter for VIP members. Others are sending out e-newsletters. This is a great way to say thank you to your frequent customers. It's also a great medium to tell them about new menu items, new employees, and new recipes. All this helps to make our customers take an interest in your restaurant and keep your restaurant's name in front of your VIP members. Be sure to make the newsletter newsy and fun to read. Always include some sort of incentive for those members to stop by for a meal. Change your incentive in each newsletter and track the results.

"It's not your customer's job to remember you. It's y

Getting Past Fear
Have you gotten tons of career advice, solicited and unsolicited? You nod when you hear it and think, "Yeah, I know this stuff." So, what else is new?But what have you done with the advice? Fess up. Probably very little.Do any of these scenarios fit?* You're in a job you absolutely hate. It's ruining your health and your life. You stay because of the money or the fear that there's nothing better out there.* You're in a job where your boss ignores you, barks instructions and expects you to be a workaholic. But you stay because a new boss might be worse.* You're lazy. You figure that one of these days, you'll hear about a great job, the economy will improve, or maybe your boss will realize how great you are. Plus, you don't have a resume.* Or, you're unemployed and decide not to pursue a job that you heard about, or a field you are interested in, because one person said they were looking for experience you didn't have. Well, they know best, right?Hello. I want to grab you by the shoulders, look into your eyes and say, "Wake up and smell the coffee!" Santa Claus is not coming down your chimney, and Elvis has permanently left the building.So, why do otherwise savvy adults live with this pass

k the time to fill out a VIP card and have shared personal information with you," says Davis.

Horn suggests that your VIP Club sign-up cards include the following information:

Name:
Address:
Birthdates of each family member, so that they can receive a birthday surprise.
Anniversary:
Email::
Phone: (Optional)

"Carefully select your expiration date. I usually suggest using a three-week expiration date. If it's not used by then, it is usually lost. You want to create a sense of urgency," says Horn.

"It's not your customer's job to remember you. It's y

Thank-You Notes: An Integral Part of Your Career Design
There is one little practice that is vital to generating the interest of potential employers. It is critical, but very few job seekers actually do it.What is it? The THANK YOU NOTE!Interview experts agree that EVERY job hunter MUST send thank-you notes after EVERY interview. They also point out that most people completely ignore this bit of wisdom.In order to have a huge advantage over the other candidates for the job you want, send thank-you notes to EVERYONE you meet the day of the interview--administrative assistants, managers, interviewers, people you met who already do the job you are targeting, and so on.One of my resume clients (let's call him Mike) is a Certified Arborist and Tree Care Professional in the San Diego area. His goal is to move into the consulting arena.Very soon after speaking on the phone with the owner of a prominent tree care company, Mike mailed a brief note thanking the owner for his time and consideration. Within a week, the owner called Mike and offered him an informal mentoring arrangement to help Mike learn more about the consulting side of tree care.Mike decided to pass on the offer and continue his job search, and he recently landed a very nice position. He sent me an e-mail about his

ber the minute you get their data. You will find that this information is your most valuable marketing asset.

"It's not your customer's job to remember you. It's y

We Try Harder and Smart Advertising
There are many great advertising campaigns and marketing strategies, which corporate America has produced. Many of these great advertising campaigns have won awards and many deserve them. One of the greatest advertising achievements was done with Avis Rent a Car. Perhaps you'll remember the; We Try Harder; advertising campaign?It is interesting because Avis Rent a Car did not bother to say they charge less, have better service or rent better cars. None of that. Hertz Rent a Car was busy telling us how quick you could get out of the airport and into a car because of their fast check-in service.Avis Rent a Car simply said; We Try Harder. To the customer this meant that they tried harder to please them and it said to the customer that Avis Rent a Car cared about the customer. If Avis Rent a Car is trying harder and trying to give better service, then that is a good reason to rent from Avis Rent a Car instead of Hertz.You see, smart marketing and smart advertising is not always what it seems. Sometimes the best advertising strategies are those, which visualize in the customer's mind and evoke a strong emotion. If you stop to think about Avis Rent a Car and the; We Try Harder Campaign it is interesting because, they never said if the

One Northwest seafood chain has a crazy fish hat that the birthday person wears while they take a Polaroid or digital photo of the birthday guest and his/her friends. The photo is then slipped into a cardboard photo holder and becomes a nice takeaway remembrance of the evening. Of course, the restaurant's name and address is on the card. If you include a "year" sticker, it can become a collectable item.

"It's not your customer's job to remember you. It's y

LLC or Corporation : Which is Best?
When choosing between starting a Limited Liability Company and founding a Corporation, picking the right option can feel overwhelming. However, deciding how to go about the process of incorporation is simple once you gather the necessary facts. Once you've learned about these two kinds of organizations and have gained a strong sense of what your unique priorities are, the choice about whether to register as an LLC or as a corporation will begin to seem very clear.The differences between setting up your business as an LLC or as a corporation are numerous, and the more you know about these two kinds of organizations the better equipped you will be to decide how to structure your company. The differences vary by region, as incorporation is regulated by state rather than federal law, so it is a smart idea to consult with a local lawyer in the early stages of your decision making process. Once you know a bit about the differences between an LLC and a corporation, it is time to turn your gaze inward and consider your unique needs. Neither an LLC nor a corporation is ideal in every situation, so in order to pick the right kind of corporate structure for you, it is crucial that you make a frank appraisal of your requirements so that you can weigh the costs

some sort of incentive for those members to stop by for a meal. Change your incentive in each newsletter and track the results.

"It's not your customer's job to remember you. It's your obligation and your responsibility to make sure the customer doesn't forget you! An effective VIP Club will do just that," says Davis.

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Accountants -they're all the same aren't they? The same old 'bean counters' offering the same old traditional service options? Actually there is a lot more to choosing your accountant than you may think and not all accountants are the same.

Truth be told, starting your very own sports business may not as hard as you may think. In fact, a franchise business opportunity might be just what you need to get your foot into the door of a lucrative career in the sports industry. Consider for a moment the potential for sport franchises in today's marketplace. It goes without saying that a business that provides sports oriented products and services can attract consumers of all ages and backgrounds.

Outsourcing has been the cause of much debate in recent times. There have been arguments for and against outsourcing. The fact remains that in these days of heavy competition, it’s become a necessity to outsource certain components of a business in order to remain competitive.

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