Restaurant Owners

Email Newsletter Engine

One of the easiest ways a restaurant could increase sales with SalesPersonDream would be utilizing the email blast feature to do a weekly newsletter.  This newsletter could be sent out with a “Super Special” on days that are typically slow or days you don’t have many reservations should you be a reservation taking restaurant. This simple feature can pack your restaurant on slow days with the click of a few buttons.

The most important step is to start to build the database of your existing customers.  The easiest way to do this is either a business card goldfish jar draw for free lunch or entrée each month, making it clear they are joining your newsletter by giving your card.

An even better method is a small satisfaction survey slip of paper being handed out with the bill offering them the ability to join your newsletter and for those who do they will be entered into a monthly draw for a free dinner or gift certificate.

The best way is to hand out the slip of paper and give a golf pencil branded with your business to fill it in with.  The odd person will take your pencil as a souvenir but they are much cheaper than pens, and of course you will get many more people answering your survey compared to expecting the person either have their own pen, or to ask your staff to borrow one of theirs.  This simple pencil will increase the numbers who fill in the survey dramatically.

Automated Email Follow Up

Another feature of SalesPersonDream that could increase sales dramatically is creative use of an email follow up series.  You would need to be diligent with this and likely link it to some kind of loyalty card concept but it can really help to build you a regular client base. 

The loyalty card could be as simple as a stamp type card they can earn something free after accumulating a number of stamps which are given out each purchase, right up to a plastic membership or VIP type of a card for higher end restaurants.  Whether it works towards something free or not is up to you, the point to it is to know your customers so you can reset the email series each visit.

One Tip we have learned with stamp cards, it is often MUCH appreciated by customers if YOU keep their stamp card right at the till in a name ordered business card box so they do not need to remember to bring it with them.  All you need to train your staff to do is ask if they are part of your loyalty club, and if they say yes, ask their name and look up the card, or if they say no, ask if they would like to join.

As for the email series, you would simply make a series of emails that the first one would thank them for their visit today and simply asking them how their visit was, and if anything was not satisfactory to please let you know right away.

Then in two weeks send an email asking if they were thinking of coming back to join you again, and suggesting you would love to serve them again , and once again offer to help if somehow the last visit was not satisfactory.

A similar type email in 2 more weeks, possibly offering them something free should they refer someone to your restaurant as a first time guest.

Around 2 more weeks, about 6 weeks after there last visit send out an email stating you haven't seen them in quite some time and would like to offer them a free appetizer or 10% off or some other offer should they come to see you again in the next 7 days.

At 8 weeks possibly an apology as possibly they were not satisfied with their last visit as they haven't been back and a more aggressive offer to get them back.

Of course the exact timing of this series and the wording will vary based on exactly what type of restaurant you are and what a normal frequency of visit is from your average clientele. You must be careful to not email fatigue your list you have worked so hard to build.

A high end restaurant would likely have an email series timed slower than a daily lunch type of a café catering to businesspeople on their lunch break.

CRM Engine (Customer Relationship Management)

As SalesPersonDream is so much more than just an email blaster you could have your staff keeping notes on any customer right from their iPhones so you get a record of the clients preferences and can enhance their future visits with great use of the information you gather. 

You can even enter them into an automatic happy birthday email and a happy anniversary email.  All of these just create more points of contact to give special offers or just keep your restaurant top of mind with them.

SalesPersonDream Sales Funnel

The other great thing you can do with SalesPersonDream if you do not currently have a website is you can make a very simple web presence and offer people to join your mailing list for special offers etc. from that site.

In today’s online world, the likes of Yelp and others are making it more and more important to have at least a simple web presence for those sites to link to.  This gives all the ranking sites for restaurants the ability to send their interested parties to a site to see a little about you in order to have them make a decision to make a reservation.

The sales funnel and survey pages work great as a simple way to showcase your business for this purpose if you do not already have a website.

Imagine an initial page of info and pictures on your restaurant, contact details and directions.  From there a link to a page where they can watch a short video which could just be a voiceover introducing the restaurant with pictures of the restaurant, the kitchen, the view and some main food items, all done tastefully to show off your high points.

It is getting more and more common for people to want to see your ambiance and food pictures etc. before deciding to try you for the first time.  You could then set the survey up to even include questions that would allow them to set a reservation and as the app will both email and notify you to your phone the second they complete the survey, you could jump right on getting back to them to confirm the reservation request is available.

If you do already have a website, you can link it directly to the survey engine to collect details on folks interested in your restaurant and add them to your newsletter.

SalesPersonDream Survey Engine

A sample survey a restaurant could use would be:

1. How did you hear about us?
   1. From a friend
   2. Found you online
   3. Found you walking by
   4. Saw your advertisement
2. If you answered a friend or an advertisement in question one please let us know which ad or the name of the person who was kind enough to share about us with you.
   1. (answer by freeform text box)
3. Would you like to make a reservation with us? ( we will confirm availability as quickly as possible)
   1. Yes
   2. No
   3. Not now
4. What day would you like to book?
   1. Mon - Sunday in a select list.
5. What month would you like to book
   1. Jan. -Dec. in a select list.
6. What date?
   1. 1 – 31 in a select list.
7. What time?
   1. 12:00 noon to 2am. in a select list.
8. How many?
   1. 1- 30+ in a select list.
9. Please let us know of any dietary issues or special requests you may have
   1. Text area for them to write their answer.
10. Do you have any questions we can help with?
    1. Text are for them to write their answer.

This is just an example as you can configure the survey to ask whatever questions you see fit and are applicable to your restaurant.

The ability to have an email newsletter, email follow up series, track notes on customer preference and have a web presence that can get you linked to in yelp and other such word of mouth sites coupled with the potential to use the survey to both build your mailing list AND help take online reservations all lead to a much more successful and profitable restaurant for you. 

The best part is, it all starts for $29.99 per month.