Hospitality Q&A

The point of a website is to get customers from those searching on Google.. I'm not in the local SEO space.. not sure how much having a website increases one's ranking on Google's local search results?  e.g. if I'm searching for "indian restaurants near me".. I'd say as a restaurant, that'd be the first question I'd want answered.. thoughts @Paige Arnof-Fenn ?

I think the most immediate goals if you're a restaurant, is to appear on Google's local search results, and on Instagram.. potentially on a review site and potentially on one of the local blogs like timeout.com. Just speaking from a consumer point of view and where I've discovered a lot of my local haunts.

If you're just starting out, you probably want a broad view to be everywhere you need to be for your target market.. and just prioritise from biggest bang for the buck to "nice to haves" depending on your capacity/budget. 

Hi Nathan,

Ask them, have a conversation with them!

It will be as different and as individual as they are.

Don't fall into the trap of thinking that you can apply a blanket approach. People and their behaviour are reinforced and rewarded in different ways, at different times, in different environments.

Behaviour can be shaped, predicted, reinforced, punished and most important measured.

How often do we start a conversation with...you always...everytime....you never....

Get baseline, behaviour and then measure.

To get more of the behaviour you want or want more of, reinforce through reward (actually has to be though). If you do this well you will find the behaviours you don't want or want less of start to go diminish and go way.

The absolute correct answer to your question is right there...right there... with that employee and that employee and that employee.....

Cheers

Greg

Just like any strategy, take a look at where you make your most money, then find the people who are most likely to buy in that space. Why do they come to you for that experience, and not the restaurant down the road? Or order in from Deliveroo?

Once you understand what's motivating these people to open their wallets to you, you can start working the channels which will present your best offers to them in the best possible way. At the time they're ready to buy.

I think Door Dash are the best for now. That's why we decided to do a parthership with them.

Some ways:

- Look for Facebook community groups and contribute
- Facebook engagement and branding ads
- Host community events in your cafe; for example, mummy's lunches, poetry nights, etc
- Have an interesting story? Try approach the local paper/radio to feature you

Interesting question - what's your experience @Eric Sutfin @Laura Tien ?

Hi Wilson,

As I look at your website I see that you are a Steakhouse, not cheap and not BYO. Tricky to be the friendly local with that but you can definitely be the special treat so you need to look further afield as well for customers. Your clientelle may not be the instagram type just yet but they will definitely be your Trip advisor type so respond to your negative reviews asap.

* work on the SEO of your site so people can find you for what you provide, not just where you are - tell them about your 400 DAYS WAGYU - it's worth travelling for

* open for a few lunches Thurs - Fri, and let all the local small businesses know about it - put your blackboard out!

* Get onto Google local business as Jason says

* Connect with some local hotels (accomodation) closer to the city and invite the Head of concierge for lunch so they can recommend you to their customers

*Get some good PR happening in local papers - eat sections and business & food mags/portals so you can tell everyone about Sonleys, those who aren't looking for you today but might like a steak next week.

* Don't give away too much too soon - you will find you have a niche market who will pay for the quality of what you do (as long as you do it)

Best of luck

In order to expand your customer-base you need to give people a reason why they would want to potentially go out of their way to get to you instead of going to a cafe closer to home. As the others have mentioned, it’s difficult to give suggestions without knowing what you’ve already tried, but here are some ideas that will (hopefully) help you get more foot traffic in your cafe:

1. Corporate and event catering - catering not only opens up another way of doing business, but it can expose your cafe to a wider audience who may bear you in mind for future catering events 

2. Do weekly specials - doing a delicious weekly gets people excited and offers value-for-money

3. Host events - run comedy nights, open-mic, film nights, cork n’ canvas, etc

4. Try to nail one thing on your menu - we all have that one favourite dish that we would travel far and wide to get! Pick and master a household or local/national favourite that will get people talking 

5. Loyalty cards - loyalty cards are a great way to keep people coming back

6. Consider a suburb special coupon - give people in the nearby suburbs an exclusive discount
   
   Good luck :)