Bad Bar Food Signs

I recently made the drive from Cork to Dublin and decided I would see whether, in light of the current economic downturn, any bars or restaurants were being more creative to entice potential customers through the doors. The results may surprise you:

Part 1

Part 2

 

5 aspects of a successful staff incentive programme

Once an aspect of chain restaurants and bars only, a well thought out, strategic incentive plan for your managers and staff can improve the bottom line, improve job satisfaction among staff and allow for “buy in” from your managers/staff into the overall success of your independent business.

There are many types of incentive plans you can introduce, however most will have the same basic principles. We have described these here to help you create an effective programme:

1. Make the incentive programme simple and easy to understand. Don’t overcomplicate the programme by having it tied into so many areas of the business that its both hard to measure and equally hard to achieve. Determine the key areas you want results on and work these into your plan. For example, increase average customer spend by 10% or Eur 5.00.
2. The incentive program should be designed in a way that allows your staff to work smarter and not necessarily harder. After all, if you implement a programme that requires staff to work longer hours to achieve it, you may end up paying for the extra hours labour as well as any reward earned by the staff so encourage and train staff to work smarter. Increasing the average spend per customer requires smarter thinking so would work well in the programme. Serving more customers in the day wouldn’t as staff might stay later to serve them.

Members, read the rest of the article here:
http://www.barkeeper.ie/3page.asp?menu=143&page=734&Subpage=594

 

Cut your Energy Costs by 10%

The need to monitor and reduce our energy consumption is more prevalent than ever in Irish businesses. The rising costs of fuel, the impacts of climate change and the opening of the electricity and gas markets mean that to be a smart business, the business needs to be energy smart.

Successful businesses look at ways to cut costs, particularly operating costs. A simple, effective but often overlooked way to do this is to reduce your energy consumption. Control the amount of energy you use and your business can significantly reduce its operating costs.

You should already be ensuring that you are buying energy efficient equipment for your business and in this article Barkeeper.ie brings you the top tips that are guaranteed to cut your energy use by ten percent.

In the Kitchen:

·         Maintain refrigerators temperature at 3.2°C (37°F)

·         Ensure that the freezer is set between -18° and -15°C (0° and 5°F)

·         Regularly defrost freezers to stop build up which reduces efficiency

·         Make sure refrigerator doors are kept closed when not being used

·         Only use the dishwasher when it is full

·         Always use a plug in the sink when hand-washing dishes

·         Cover pots and pans to retain heat and decrease cooking times

·         Keep extractor fan filters clean to maximise ventilation efficiency

·         Turn off all equipment including lights when not in use

·         Only pre-heat appliances a maximum 15 minutes before use

·         Set water temperatures and ensure these are maintained

In the Bar:

·         Keep windows closed to keep heat in and open to let cool air in

·         Where possible use natural light instead of artificial

·         Maintain refrigerator temperatures at 3.2°C (37°F)

·         Make sure air conditioning is switched off when the bar is closed

·         Ensure that the keg room door is kept closed at all times

·         Turn off all equipment including lights when not in use

Guest Services:

·         Insulate your building

·         Install motion sensors for you

·         If you have a swimming pool use a pool cover

·         Insulate your boiler

·         Unplug all appliances in guest bedrooms after cleaning

 

Send them home happy…

Speaking to a publican during the week, he mentioned how in his town he was doing his bit to reduce the tension and potential rows that erupt as all pubs empty their customers on to the streets at the same time. His contribution? Simply play happy, feel good music at the end of the night instead of provocative, edgy music that would send customers out onto the streets all fired up.

Town centres have experimented with something similar in the UK by playing Barry Manilow over the outdoor speakers where gangs and groups of youths traditionally hung out! Might be worth a try over here!

 

A set of numbers to scare any hospitality business owner

I came across this interesting story from Stuff4Restaurants which is well worth a read. But beware, you might not like some of the results and they affect YOUR business:

Read the Article Here

 

How profitable is your bar?

Managing a successful bar means knowing how profitable your business is. That means you need to know how profitable or unprofitable each item you sell is. From a glass of coca-cola to a five course meal, if it doesn’t make money, it shouldn’t be sold. Use these downloadable tools from Barkeeper.ie to gauge your profitability today:

• Download: Spirit & Liqueur’s Profit Analysis Spreadsheet
• Download: Beverage Monthly Purchase Tracker
• Download: Wine Profit Analysis Spreadsheet
• Download: Bottled Beer Profit Analysis Spreadsheet
• Download: Wine GP% Calculator

 

What do you mean you don’t know what the soup is?

Its 2pm. I’m sitting in a busy restaurant and the waitress doesn’t know what the soup is. How is this possible? How can any member of staff have avoided learning this vital piece of information up to this point. Judging by the food stains on her uniform, she has clearly either worked the lunch shift or else just doesn’t wash her uniform.

Is this the fault of the staff member or the management? I’m inclined to think it’s ALWAYS the fault of management for what goes wrong in a business. Simple checks should be in place to indicate when procedures aren’t being followed.

Do you really want to be responsible for staff not knowing the specials of the day after a busy lunch?

And guess what the soup was? Surprise surprise, it was vegetable (for a change…)

 

Are you alright? I didn’t think I was sick…

When I walk into a restaurant or pub these days, the common question I’m asked is “Are you alright?”. My response? “Perfectly well thank you. And yourself?”. Yet this response positions me as some kind of lunatic wandered in from the street in the eyes of the staff  as oppose to a paying (potentially) customer merely seeking a menu and some hospitality.

Would the more welcoming greeting from service staff not be “Good afternoon, what can I get for you today?” or something along those lines. It doesn’t have to be a well rehearsed line, but it should be polite and not the usual line that makes me feel like there’s either something wrong with me or my custom isn’t welcome. Something to think about….

 

Bar Stools: Don’t make it difficult for customers

How often have you gone into a bar where the staff have arranged all the stools nicely on front of the bar, only to try and pull one out and you find it stuck in the foot railing?

This might not be a big deal for a young customer but older customers could have difficulty in lifting a heavy bar stool over the railing to sit down.

As with everything else in your business, don’t make it difficult for customers to give you their business. Many businesses make the mistake of spending large sums of money to attract custom only to make it difficult for new customers once they visit the premises.

Moral: Keep it simple and easy for customers. They’ll thank you for it.

 

Just because you know, doesn’t mean your customer does….

When you make a decision in your business, do you think it through from a customer’s perspective? The person most familiar with your business is YOU which can often mean that we as business owners are most complacent when it comes to communicating messages to customers. We become so used to doing things a certain way or familar with a policy that we assume our customers will automatically understand what we mean. Not always the case.

Take this example: I was in a large cafe/bar in Dublin last week. It was lunchtime and there were 10/12 staff on duty. The staff  on duty had two different uniforms. Some wore waistcoats and a tie, while others simply had a white shirt and a long black apron. Customers were queuing at the bar for service and trying to get the attention of staff, but to no avail. As I watched with interest, I noticed that the black apron wearing staff appeared to be floor staff and did not take orders behind the bar. The waistcoat wearing staff were dispensing drinks and using the cash register.

Is it the job of the customer to work this out or is it the responsibility of the bar to make it clear how service works? I believe that if floor staff do not serve behind the bar, then a simple acknowledgement of the customer will quell the situation. I counted 6 floor staff pass customers with their heads down, avoiding eye contact.

To me, this is ridiculous. The biggest challenge has been to get customers into your bar instead of the competing bars on the street. The last thing you want to do is then make them regret this decision. A simple policy of acknowledging each customer when approaching the bar and for floor staff to explain how service works will keep the customer informed and conversation with customers commits them to staying at the bar to wait to be served.

So it’s worth standing back from your business occasionally and looking at it from a customer’s point of view. You just might see things differently.