Crafting a Strategic Sales Boosting Scheme for a Dining Establishment
Looking to crank up the sales in your restaurant but unsure where to start? Fear not, pal! With an ironclad action plan, you'll have a roadmap to skyrocket your profits.
Running a restaurant is no cakewalk, and implementing ideas haphazardly can leave you twisting in the wind. So let's get down to brass tacks and walk you through a winning plan to amp up your restaurant's sales game.
So, what's the big deal about putting together an action plan?
It's literally a lifesaver, dude! Here's why:
- Clear as a bell: An action plan brings clarity and focus to your sales goal ambition. Instead of running helter-skelter, you'll have plenty of time to mull over your objectives, add structure, and create a solid blueprint before diving in headfirst.
- Turns ideas into reality: An action plan helps you zero in on the specific actions that will unlock the door to your sales growth castle. Then, break those actions down into manageable tasks.
- Proper resource allocation: It's easier for your underlings to prepare and allocate resources, knowing the actionable steps in advance. Plus, you'll know what resources are required to execute your plan and get the greenbacks rolling in.
- Accountability all around: By assigning responsibilities to your mini-mes, everyone will be clear on their tasks and accountable for delivering the goods.
- Anticipating challenges: You'll be able to see the challenges coming down the pike and plan for them like a seasoned pro.
- Timed to perfection: Setting a timeline for when specific tasks must be completed will heighten the level of urgency and keep everyone on the ball.
Now that you understand the importance of an action plan, let's explore how to build one tailored to raking in the moolah at your restaurant.
Formatting Your Action Plan like a Boss
A well-organized action plan is the key to unlocking sales like never before. Here's a structured approach that includes format, key strategies, and essential elements.
7 Keys to a Killer Action Plan
- Straight-up Goal Statement: Start by plainly stating the main objective of your action plan. For example, this action plan aims to bump up restaurant sales by 20% over the next half-year.
- Current Situational Analysis: Provide an overview of the existing conditions of your restaurant operations, including sales data, customer feedback, and market trends. And don't forget to identify your strengths and weaknesses and the opportunities you can grab. Oh, and chuck in any gossip about your rivals – you know, for shits and giggles.
- Actionable Steps: Go full-on detailed in outlining the actions necessary to hit your sales goals. Elaborate on every nitty-gritty consequence and the specific dates they need to be executed.
- Timeline: Map out a schedule and milestones from start to finish.
- Resource Requirements: List the resources (budget, staff, technology, etc.) needed to execute your plan.
- Accountability Assignments (optional): If you fancy yourself a micromanager, feel free to assign specific task responsibilities to your flunkies.
- Review Section: Explain how you'll measure the overall success of your action plan after some time. Throw in some metrics like increased sales, customer satisfaction scores, and online engagement metrics.
Revamp Your Restaurant Action Plan into a Sexy Masterpiece
Using a template makes it a breeze to organize your details. Choose a template that fits your preferred file format (e.g., Google Docs, Word, PowerPoint) or one that's aligned with your presentation style. Once you've picked a format, it's time to flesh it out with sale-boosting strategies.
Sales-Boosting Strategies for Your Action Plan
Here are some strategies to include in your action plan to skyrocket restaurant sales.
Serve up Online Ordering
Selling more to online customers is hands-down the way to go. Since the Great Plague, an increasing number of people are online to grab a bite, making it a rapid-growth market.
So, why the hell not get a chunk of pie for yourself and boost sales through the roof by offering online ordering?
Our top pick: Orderable. It’s a totally boss plugin that lets you add online ordering directly to your restaurant website. Plus, it's easy-peasy to install.
Why Choose Orderable for Sales Shocks?
Orderable is the ace in the hole for maximizing your sales. Here are the top guns that set this plugin apart:
- Delivery and collection schedules tailored to your tastes: Choose the specific days of the week when you'll be offering pick-up or delivery services. Then, define the maximum number of orders you're able to fulfill for that day.
- Time slot management: Break your day into time slots that make managing orders a lot easier. Plus, customers get to choose a delivery or pick-up time that's convenient for them, eliminating chaos and confusion.
- Add delivery fees: You know that customers love to pay extra for ASAP, same-day, and next-day deliveries.
- Menu optimization: Show off delicious food pics, write tantalizing descriptions, add nutritional info, and include dietary product labels to make customers' mouths water like never before.
- A live order management screen: Your kitchen staff can see live orders as they come in, and process them with ease.
Kickstart a Loyalty Program
Retaining customers is a goldmine for sales growth. A loyalty program is a fantastic way to keep those cherished customers coming back for more. Plus, it's not only about the success for your bottom line – it's about feeding your customers' needs.
So, offer personalized rewards like priority seating, exclusive menus, event invitations, and more. Promise them an unforgettable experience, and they'll wax poetic about your establishment.
We've drilled down all the deets in our comprehensive guide on creating an unbeatable restaurant loyalty program.
Evaluate Your Dining Experience
If you want to maintain those rave reviews and keep customers returning for more, you'll need to shake up the customer experience in your joint. Listen up to provide an experience that makes customers remember your restaurant fondly and recommend it to their mates.
First, assess the current state of affairs in your restaurant, then make improvements where needed. Here are some areas to pay attention to:
- Does your staff know their shit and handle customers like pros? If not, provide extensive training.
- How's your table arrangement and management system? Is the ambiance inviting and comfortable? Take a long, hard look at your decor, lighting, and smooth-as-butter service.
Check That Food Cost Percentage
If you want to increase sales, you mustn't ignore food expenses. Ignoring this crucial metric can hurt your profits by forcing you to either charge sky-high prices or offer subpar food. Neither is a winning solution.
By understanding your food cost percentage, you can:
- Identify expensive recipes that need tampering.
- Spot food cost drivers like overstocking, waste (storage issues, preparation mistakes, and spills), and poor portion control.
- Ensure your menu prices keep pace with your food costs and generate healthy profits.
Boost Sales with Local SEO
If you want to boost your profile and draw more customers to your establishment, step up your local SEO game. Use location-specific search queries to grab eyeballs.
Unlock greater visibility on Google Maps and Search by nailing Google My Business optimization. Keep your profile current and bathe it in ROindex-boosting keywords.
Now, be sure to check out our guide on local restaurant marketing for further tips on claiming your slice of the pie.
Get Social, Baby
If you think social media is an aging idiot fad, prepare to have your mind blown. It's a goldmine for attracting new customers and keeping existing ones engaged.
How to Create a Killer Action Plan for Sales Explosions
To kick off your sales-blowing action plan, bear these steps in mind:
- Expectations explained: Share the why, what, and how with your team to get them on board.
- Current status overview: Briefly review the state of your sales, your customers, and how you're doing compared to the competition. Don't forget to give glory to your strengths, confess your failings, and outline opportunities you can seize.
- Your goals, man: Clearly articulate specific, realistic, measurable goals to complete your action plan, and empower your squad to execute.
- Strategies to rule them all: Detail action plans for each objective, assign responsibilities, and establish timelines for completion.
- Required resources: List the budget, personnel, and technology resources you'll need to execute your action plan.
- Measurable success: Define key metrics to track success, like customer satisfaction scores, sales growth, and increased online engagement.
- Adaptability: Encourage your crew to keep an open mind and be ready to adjust strategies based on feedback and results.
- Launch and evaluate: Launch your action plan and measure progress based on the metrics you've established.
To stay on top of the game, be sure to reevaluate and tweak your action plan regularly. Keep your finger on the pulse of your sales, and adjust your strategies as needed to keep your establishment hopping like never before.
Protip: Nail your action plan by using a restaurant action plan template. The structure and pre-established tasks will help you create a winning plan seamlessly.
Don’t just take our word for it. Kickstart your online ordering with Orderable today, and experience firsthand the insane sales jumps that await you. Trust us – it'll only take a few modifications and tweaks to deliver food to hungry customers online.
- In addition to local SEO, consider investing in social media marketing to attract new patrons and engage with existing customers.
- To enhance customer experience, offer fractional ownership in your restaurant through real-estate investment opportunities, appealing to entrepreneurial-minded customers.
- To cater to growing demand for healthy cooking, introduce a selection of nutritious recipes and marketing efforts emphasizing these options.
- To boost sales and cultivate customer loyalty, partner with food-and-drink brands for deals-and-discounts that incentivize repeat visits.
- Educate your employees on mindfulness practices to improve customer interactions and overall dining experience.
- Looking to diversify your offerings? Cross-sell related products such as cooking tools, spices, and cookbooks in your restaurant to increase revenue streams.
- To optimize the checkout process and facilitate customer satisfaction, implement checkout tipping functionality using a commission-free payment platform.
- To drive sales and support personal growth, offer free cooking classes or workshops as a value-added service for customers.
- Infuse recipes with global cuisines to attract a wider audience and bring a unique flavor profile to your restaurant offerings.
- Implement a mobile app to streamline order management, catering to the, on-the-go lifestyles of modern customers.
- Encourage customers to share their dining experiences and recommendations on popular job-search platforms and review sites to attract potential employees.
- Develop a career-development program to empower employees to grow their skills and advance within your small-business.
- Create a comprehensive education-and-self-development section on your website, providing helpful articles, guides, and industry insights for both customers and employees.
- To further enhance your restaurant's appeal, collaborate with established chefs, mixologists, or food personalities to create an unforgettable dining experience.
- Attract tech-savvy customers by integrating modern technology such as virtual menus, self-ordering kiosks, and QR code ordering into your restaurant systems.
- Encourage employee creativity and innovation by organizing regular brainstorming sessions to generate new ideas for improving the restaurant and increasing sales.