"...operators are spending more and more time worrying about the market, looking over their shoulders, counting cars and trying to outguess the new guys. When they ask me what they should do, I tell them to stop trying to compete!" —Bill Marvin, The Restaurant Doctor
Increase sales by not competing? No, this isn't some sort of New Age marketing mysticism. It's part of an amazingly successful, commonsense approach to restaurant marketing that author Bill Marvin calls guest-based marketing.
What exactly does "guest-based" mean? It's really pretty simple. The dynamic marketing approach described in this book is based on the notion that in the restaurant business, customer satisfaction is the real bottom line, and that any successful sales-building effort begins on the floor with the guests you've already won. In Guest-Based Marketing you won't find clever new ways to squander your precious resources trying to beat the competition and steal their customers away. You will find sales-boosting techniques that will help you to motivate your customers to keep coming back for more, even if it means driving an extra mile or two. Using numerous case studies and real-life anecdotes, Marvin describes proven techniques to help you:
- Identify and build on your strengths.
- Build customer loyalty.
- Increase the number of visits customers make.
- Get your customers to spread the word and attract new customers.
Marvin teaches you how to launch an effective customer loyalty program and use an array of incentives to build sales. He helps you hone your all-important people skills. You'll learn techniques for remembering guests' names, as well as their individual likes and dislikes. He shows you how to conduct customer surveys and make the best use of the information you gather.
Designed for quick reference and featuring Bill Marvin's trademark warm, humorous style, Guest-Based Marketing is an indispensable tool of the trade, for restaurateurs of every variety—truly a working book for working people.
"Bill Marvin has been laying a foundation for practical hospitality marketing for years, and now Guest-Based Marketing is the capstone on a masterpiece—hands-on, practical stuff for those in the industry and for those who would be in the industry. Today's very competitive marketplace demands guest-based marketing skills and focus—a most valuable book at precisely the right time." —Michael E. Hurst, Professor, Hospitality Management, Florida International University
In this groundbreaking guide to restaurant marketing, expert Bill Marvin demonstrates that success doesn't come from beating the competition, it comes from pleasing your guests. He shows you how to work from the inside out—to build on your strengths and to take advantage of intrinsic advantages you didn't even know you had. He also suggests dozens of successful, low-cost techniques for mining the most precious resource at your disposal—your existing customer base. Among other valuable lessons, you'll learn how to:
- Educate your guests about why they come to your restaurant.
- Implement sure-fire incentive and customer-loyalty programs.
- Manage a successful word-of-mouth marketing campaign that gets your customers to do your advertising—for free.
- Get your staff involved in an ongoing commitment to customer satisfaction.
- Enhance the personal connection between your restaurant and your guests.
Perhaps the most important lesson you'll learn in Guest-Based Marketing is, as Bill Marvin puts it: "Monetary success and personal joy will come when your sole concern—your driving passion—is how you can excel."
