Know you've been there; sat at the end of the month crunching the numbers and wondering how on earth you can increase your restaurant sales without spending a fortune to do it.  No matter what type of restaurant you own, boosting sales has got to be at the top of your 'to do' list; you didn't intend this business to be a charity after all!

From the items on your menu to your marketing strategy every step you take is geared towards increasing profits, decreasing costs and pleasing your customers along the way!  Now, there are a number of things that will impact your sales (and therefore your profits) but there is one that stands above all others; how well you've trained your staff.

You might have been expecting me to talk about increasing the sale of low cost items, or up-selling your customers or even implementing a new marketing strategy, but in a way that's exactly what I'm doing; allow me to clarify:

You could have the worlds greatest menu, cleanest toilets (it matters more than you know!) or best value for money, if your staff don't know how best to present these attributes to your customers, they loose all value.

The real problem with staff training is that it takes time, and unless you're still in your pre-opening phase that time is hard to find which is why most restaurants have an 'I'll get to it eventually' approach to staff training, however it's not something you can afford to put on the back burner and here's why:

Well Trained Staff Increase Your Restaurant Sales

Train your staff to do the following, and you'll see an increase in your sales almost immediately:

Speak like an owner - when a customer is faced with someone who lives and breathes the restaurant, knows all there is to know about everything from the concept to the provenance of each ingredient on the menu, it puts them at ease; "This person knows what they're doing so I'll trust them", which leads us to...

Sell with profit in mind - once your staff have the customers trust, they can guide their decisions; on every restaurant menu there are items that cost you far less to produce than the others, and it makes sense for these items to be a priority when it comes to sales.  Untrained staff will always sell the most expensive items on your menu (expensive must be better is the psychological response of 99% of people), the problem is these items are expensive for a reason; they cost you far more to make and your profit margin is therefore lower as a rule.  Educate your staff to know that selling the chicken as opposed to the fillet steak is of benefit to the restaurant (and therefore their livelihood), and you'll see your profits rise.

Bookend the meal - your customers come to your restaurant for the experience as well as the food, and training your staff to always offer pre-dinner drinks and post-dinner coffees, teas and liqueurs has two benefits; it enhances the customers experience and it makes you more money.  Coffee and tea are the cheapest items to produce on any menu and other beverages come a close second, yet wait staff are often so keen to keep tables moving along that they don't take the time to sell them, loosing you money in the process.

Bookend the experience - much as above, this has to do with enhancing the customer’s experience.  The general consensus is that customers will remember two things above all others when they visit a restaurant; the greeting they received when they arrived and the way they were treated as they left.  Now training your staff in this area won't increase your sales on this visit, but if you make your customers feel valued when they arrive and leave, you'll leave them with a (positive) lasting impression which will make them come back, and repeat business is something everybody wants!

So if you're wondering how you could be increasing your restaurant sales this month, put aside the expensive ad campaign you were going to launch and dedicate a little time to coaching your staff;  make them feel a part of the restaurant and it's success and see the impact it has on your sales!

The continuous mission for every restaurant owner, even successful ones, is to increase restaurant sales. With so many dining establishments vying for a customers business, effective marketing measures are key ingredients for attracting customer attention, establishing your restaurants identity and enhancing customer loyalty.

Word of mouth is the most cost efficient way to increase restaurant sales. If you present a wonderful dining experience, patrons will naturally refer your restaurant to others. But word of mouth works both ways. Bad reviews often travel faster than positive ones. Thats why its essential to be consistent in providing excellent customer service, quality food and an inviting atmosphere.

While chain restaurants rely on a corporate formula to increase restaurant sales, independent restaurateurs can be more flexible, giving them a greater advantage. One important strategy is getting to know your customers. Theres a reason why clubs, theater groups, business people, or friends who get together weekly only dine at one particular restaurant. Its because the owner greeets them by name, knows their dining preferences and is aware of things going on in their lives. These restaurants have created a trusting, family environment that builds customer retention.

Without a doubt, rewarding repeat customers can lead to increased profits. If you know a customer has referred others to your restaurant or consistently brings in a group of business associates, consider giving a gift certificate for a complimentary dinner or providing a free appetizer or bottle of wine for the table. This is a great sales tactic to motivate your good customers to bring in business to your restaurant.


Your staff is an integral part of building sales. Besides providing impeccable customer service, your staff can increase restaurant sales by up-selling to increase the table check. Rather than ask if anyone would like a drink, appetizer or dessert, they should note which ones are house specialties or offer their personal recommendations. They should also promote higher priced dishes with reasons showcasing their value.

A comprehensive advertising and marketing plan is essential in growing and maintaining a profitable restaurant business. Your advertising needs to set your restaurant apart from others and pique a persons interest to try it. Your marketing efforts should be both in-house with promotions and in the community. Have a presence at community events within your service area, network with business and trade groups, or get involved with a charity that is of interest to you. The more visibility you can give your restaurant, the greater your market reach.



Using the Internet to increase profitability is a must. Your restaurants website should be as interactive as possible, allowing people to make reservations, see current specials and easily get directions. Have a presence on social media sites, like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Incentives take on many forms, but all have shown to increase restaurant sales. Some examples of common incentives are discounts, coupons, punch cards, customer loyalty programs, business card drawings, promotions and special events. You might want to try a combination of incentives to enhance business.

Jose L Riesco worked in the IT for 18 years and co-owned an Italian restaurant in Bellevue, WA.

By applying his many years of experience working for corporations and his marketing skills to the restaurant business, he has created a unique and groundbreaking marketing system.

Jose has brought top proven marketing practices from other industries to the Restaurant industry, making a unique contribution to this business that he knows and cherishes so much.

Restaurants have traditionally used advertising and coupons as the main marketing vehicle. The Restaurant Marketing Strategies Seminar changes all of that.

By creating a unique Strategy client centric (instead of food or Chef-centric), restaurant owners will be able to dramatically increase their sales while creating happy and recurrent clients.

source article here

Yesterday I was browsing and found an interesting article on how to icrease sales. This article is interesting because it explained from the beginning, from diagnosing the cause of problems in the short term to a range of possible solutions to increase of sales. And here's the article ...

Increasing Sales : Immediate problem or long-term plan?

A business may want to increase sales, either to overcome a problem in the short term or as part of the planned growth of the business in the longer term. This briefing contains tips for increasing sales in both these situations. It covers:

•     Diagnosing the cause of problems in the short term
•     Increasing sales in the medium to long term
•     A range of possible solutions to increase sales

Recognising the need

There are usually two kinds of situation in which you need to increase sales.

In the short term - you are reacting to a problem, such as the loss of one or more customers, decline in a market or the arrival of a new competitor.

In the medium to long term - you are taking a more considered and deliberate approaches as part of planned growth of the business.

The approaches you take will be different in each of these situations. Some approaches will deliver better results over the long term but it takes more resources and time to deliver them. Other approaches are more effective in the short term. It is important to use the appropriate methods for the situation the business is facing.

Diagnosing short-term problems

In the short-term the problem is usually to generate sufficient sales to fill your existing production or operational capacity. You may be reacting to:

• Loss of one or more significant orders
• Loss of one or more customer accounts
• Failure of a new product or service to sell
• New or increased capacity coming on line

It is important to identify and understand the causes of any shortfall in sales. For example, if a major customer has not placed an order or has closed their account, try and find out why. Customers will usually explain why they have taken that decision.

Try to establish any pattern or trend there may be. The short checklist below may help to identify and diagnose causes.

Failure point - if there is a pattern or trend, where is the problem occurring? Are you failing to win, or are you losing, orders from:

• Prospective customers?
• Regular customers?
• Customers who have tried you once but are not coming back?
• Customers with a particular need?

If you can identify where the failure point is, you can start looking at the processes you are using.

Customer perceptions - do your customers perceive lack of commitment from your business to them, to your product or market? Is a poor or negative customer perception of your business spreading by word of mouth? Is one of your competitors undertaking a 'dirty tricks' campaign?

Marketing process - if you are not getting enough customers, are enough potential customers aware of your products and services? Is the price set too high for the benefits offered? Is the product specification not suitable for customers' needs?

Selling process - if you are getting good levels of response but not enough orders, is the follow-up poor or slow? Are you putting customers off before closure? Are your negotiators weak? Are you failing to maintain the relationship with customers once you have created it?

Competitive threat - is there a new and strong competitive threat? Has a competitor just launched a new or improved product or service? Is a strong competitor conducting an aggressive promotional campaign or price discounting? Is one of your competitors starting a price war?

Product/service quality - is your quality letting you down: do you have delivery problems; are your products unreliable; are they fit for your customers' purpose; do you have slow or poor after sales service?

Once you understand the causes, you can then do something about it.

Increasing sales in the longer term

In the longer term, you will usually have the luxury of time to be able to plan your business growth and set goals, rather than reacting to an immediate problem.

The key to successful growth is understanding and matching the capabilities of your firm to the opportunities you have identified in the market. Having a clear marketing strategy is important.

What to do to increase sales

Having identified the underlying reasons for needing to increase sales, you can now start looking for appropriate solutions. Below is a range of potential solutions you may wish to consider. The time taken to achieve a result and the risks involved increase as you go down the list so it pays if you can find a solution that works for you from higher up the list.

Improve your marketing and sales processes - selling is often a numbers game: can you improve your conversion ratio (number of orders to the number of initial enquires or contacts) or do you need to increase the number of initial enquiries or contacts? Often, businesses simply do not generate enough leads.

Offer a sales discount - can you offer a short-term discount to encourage existing users to buy more or to attract new customers? Once you have them buying, you can then use different approaches to keep them.

Promote increased usage by existing users - can you encourage existing users or give them incentives to increase their usage by an advertising or promotional campaign?


Increase sales volumes by reducing price - this will work only if customers are price sensitive, otherwise this may not have the desired effect and may send the wrong message. Be sure that your competitors will not respond in kind, so escalating into a price war.

Win competitors' business - can you identify a weakness in competitors that will enable you to use your advantage to win new business? Is there a gap in their product/service portfolio? Can you provide a consistently better service for the same or lower price?

Convert non-users - can you persuade customers for your other products to adopt the product/service where you are experiencing a shortfall? 'Cross-selling' will need sales calls or some promotional activity.

Find new non-users - can you find customers who are not yet using this type of product or service and persuade them to start using it?

Launch improved or new products and services - be sure that it is your product or service that is letting you down before you go down this more expensive and time-consuming route. It needs careful planning.

Enter new markets - this is usually part of a business' planned growth, rather than a short-term reaction, so needs careful planning. For further information on selecting and entering new markets, see the Related Items section below for a link to the Factsheet: Entering new markets.

Launch new products into new markets - this is usually an option of last resort as you are doing two things at once. The risks and potential costs of this solution are likely to be high.

Increasing sales: at a glance

The need to increase sales is either a reaction to a short-term problem or part of the planned growth of the business.If your sales are under pressure, start by looking at the sources and underlying causes of that pressure, for example where things are going wrong.

Once you have identified the causes, you can then take action to increase sales. This will usually involve more or a redirection of existing sales and promotional efforts. There is a range of solutions to help you increase sales, with varying degrees of impact and time taken to deliver a result.

It is important to use a solution that is appropriate to the situation the business faces.

original article here

In addition to market leader and market challenger, there are another market participants that received less attention even though the actual number of those at most.

Market Follower

If market leaders and challengers compete to become the most sought after consumers, the market follower is not the case. He enjoys his current income with no strong desire to be number one in the eyes of consumers. He have principle that most important he get profit and there no need to seriously hit market. If your company is not the company's most sought after but pretty much have consumers and no interest of as well as a winner, you might fall into the category of market follower

Market Nicher

Market nicher can be said as the company reached a certain market share that other companies neglected. There are many companies like this compared to three other companies. They do specialize.


Market leader, market challeger and market followers typically have a large organizational structure and tend to be rigid. So if there are new opportunities in a region, they need to perform coordination  to their core management in central office. This resulted they moved slowly. Opportunities are then captured by the market nicher because he has a simple management structure so decisions can be made immediately.

The easiest example we observe is an antique car repair shop. Every manufacturer of automotiv must work with a particular repair shop as a service to consumers of their car. They can also make the workshop without the cooperation with other parties. Because of the big name of car manufacturers so very difficult for competitors to grab their market. But there are a niche that they may ignore or they can’t  worked  as antique car repair shop.

Market segmentation, Determine Market Target  and Positioning is one entity. Of course, to increase our sales. This positioning is core of this strategy. According to Michael Porter, strategy is an attempt to produce a unique and valuable position for customers. So it is no exaggeration if we call positioning as the core of our sales strategy.

You already know the sense of positioning? Positioning in classical era is often defined as a strategy to win and control minds of customers through our products or services. But according to Hermawan Kertajaya-business experts from Indonesia, positioning is "the strategy to lead your costumer credible". Your efforts to build and gain customer confidence. Simply language is a promise that you offer to  your customers and you must meet.



In simple, positioning is one, two or maybe three benefits desired by consumers and you can provide a higher level than your competitors. The benefits can be functional, emotional and economical.

There are 4 recipes from Hermawan about how to build proper positioning,

1. Positioning should be perceived positively by customers and a "reason to buy" or reason for them to buy your product or service. This will happen when you describe positioning value you provide to your customers and your value really is an asset for them. Something they really need!
2. Positioning should reflect the strengths and competitive advantages of your business. Don’t you ever formulate positioning, but you were not able to do so. This is very dangerous. Why? Due to over-promise, under-deliver. And if you have this, customers will taste you have lied! If it so, drop your credibility in the eyes of customer.
3. Positioning must be unique so it can easily differentiate yourself from competitors. When your positioning are unique, you are not easily imitated by competitors. As a result, positioning you will survive in a long long time!
4. Positioning should be continuous and always relevant to the various changes in business environment. Whether it's a change in competition, customer behavior, socio-cultural changes, and so on. The point is this. If you postioning is not relevant to business environment, you must quickly change. In other words, you do repositioning!

I hope the above article could give us some idea of positioning. Hopefully we can continue to increase sales. See you ...

Once we define our market segment as it has been written before. Now we begin to define the right target market, or referred to as Targeting. Targeting more specific than segmentation or can be said that targeting is a continuation of segmentation.

We have to understand that basically every product has its own consumers. Create a product for all types of consumers is impossible. Why? Since everyone has different tastes and needs vary.

Simply like this, if our neighbors like motor sport, if we also love motor sport? Not necessarily right? It may be that we prefer a lighter bike such as motor matic. Or worse, we don’t like both. Perhaps we prefer the car.

To successfully determine the right target market, there are two initial steps we have to do, that is;

1. Determine Buyers Groups

First, you specify buyers groups. In determining the purchaser (see previous article about the market segmentation), we do not get caught grouping based solely on demographics alone. We also have to look them in the habit of making a purchase.

For example, we select a buyers group of t-shirt clothing for kids. From here we can still narrow down again, called it a niche market, for example, might be a buyer's market segments football fans shirts for kids?

2. Determining Benefits Key Required By  Buyer We Become Targeted.

After the first point we have set, the next step is to figure out main benefits of the most sought by our earlier target consumers. Still using the example of a buyer's market segment jersey boys are football fans, we have to find out what they most want.

What they most want is a shirt of their favorite football team. So we have to figure out the most favorite football team in the area of our target. Or they want is a shirt of their favorite football team with their child's name on his back. How can the quality and service? In my opinion, a matter of quality and good service is a basic service that should you serve, any existing segment and target shoot.

And remember, both of the above may be obtained if and only if we carry out market research. So we should not speculate without any valid data. The result can be fatal. Please read my article about market research.

See you and always learn to increase sales ...

Market segmentation is a sentence that quite scary and seem complicated for some people who jumped to build a business. In fact, market segmentation is one important element in our efforts to increase sales.

Well, I will explain in simple language and easy to understand what it is market segmentation. Some say market segmentation is a method of how to view market creatively. That is still ambiguous for business beginners, so it's simply a process of market segmentation is to determine the primary target of product or service will we sell.

You are still confused with definition of market segmentation above? Well, one of the effects if you don’t know who is right for market segmentation of your product is what you will do and no matter how great marketing costs already incurred will be useless, even if your product have high quality.

The easiest example of market segmentation is that you are selling a luxury car (product) at a price of $ 100,000 (price) and then you sell to a beggar (targeting & segmentation). Although that luxury car you have crazy discounts up to 75% (promotion),  beggar will not buy. Why? Because he was not need. It's different if you are selling to the luxury car lovers market segmentation, the result will different.

It was also same as when you sell chicken meat to the market segment of people who are vegetarian or you are selling shark fin to the traditional markets are not necessarily the people who love to eat seafood and the deep pockets of consumers come to the place.



The result must be zero, even though prices have you down furiously until well below market prices. This is because the behavior of different markets.

Suppose we want to set up a boutique business. The first question is whether we are going to sell the women's or men? For parents, adults, teenagers or children? Once we decide on one of them, such as women's clothing. Congratulations we have made a meaningful segmentation. This is because the level of a certain age and gender differences is the different markets and we have to choose one of the group is to segment the market.

Then how do I find the right market segment? Market Research!  Once you know who your target market, you will be much easier to do deals and make sales. So, look at your market segmentation is always creative. Determine which market group that you select, design and marketing tactics you, then do the sales. That way you are likely to be larger to increase sales, right?

Before we produce and sell products, we have to do market research. This is very important because we can’t guess or estimate desired products by market. So market research is helping us to give an overview of products that consumers want. Don’t let because we're so confident in the greatness of our products, we forget this market research. As a result we like gambling in selling. Chances are we succeed and fail in selling is 50:50.

Businessman soul is amazing, when he finds a brilliant idea. He desire to make it happen soon. Sometimes forget the enthusiasm of market research. When the product is sold, he will be disappointed because consumer was not interested in buying his product. Market research is helping businesses to minimize such failures. So we are always trying to produce the desired by consumer. Of course to succeed in selling.

Actually, the method of market research for products that consumers want to know quite a lot. There are three popular enough that you can use to succeed in selling, ie questionnaires, focus groups and surveys.

1. Questionnaire.

Questionnaire  methods of marketing research can be done with paper surveys (interviews) or online. In general, the questionnaire is more likely to be answered if there are incentives (ie reward). Reward not necessarily a sum of money or expensive items. We can provide as a merchant our business ie t-shirt, mug or ballpoint present our company logo. So might as well do the branding.

If McDonald incentive marketing research methods are, by the time they wanted to launch the "ice cream cone", after being interviewed, the respondents are given in return a sum of money, given a keepsake gift.

2. Focus Group.

Focus group is a method of marketing research by using a small group of consumers is collected under the direction of a moderator, while the researchers videotaped and recorded their observations on the responses, reactions, and customer comments. Participants are usually paid for their time.

Based on the experience of a business expert, ten respondents with one moderator and three researchers quite effective for this market research methods. But be careful when using this method of marketing research, the answers obtained from respondents are often refractive.

3. Survey.

Survey  shorter than questionnaire, so no need to return. Online survey will receive outstanding response if your method of marketing research is presented in a positive way. Through this website, you can put a few questions (which do not interfere, simple, and easily answered) to obtain comments and suggestions from website visitors, especially shoppers.

This survey could also do with the method of email, phone or sms. But this method over the phone should be avoided as it seemed like spamming. Methods of marketing research using telephone surveys is a terror to people who were eating quietly or nap. Most of them are very disturbed and more unpopular.

Before we create and launch our product, use the above methods of market research. So you do not have product fail in market. Once we get the conclusion of our marketing research, test and measurement on a small scale first. The goal is that you really know that your product will be sold on the market. Final goal , we succeed and increase sales.

See you ... and tell me, your experience about market research that you have done in comment form.

As I wrote in this post, here are 10 things to consider before choosing a location for your frenchise. One of the most important decisions before starting a franchise business is choosing a strategic location. Why? Because location come into play to determine success level of your business. If not or don’t have an opinion about how strategic location you want to select, you should ask the franchisor to give an opinion of that location. Or, ask for advice to franchisor which should be right location for your business.

Typically, franchisor conduct the study (research) market before giving approval to franchise. This research aim to know  potential demographic for business and information relating the location. There is no harm if you ask for a more detailed overview of planned and potential place. Here are some to consider in choosing a location.

1. The population density

Population density is one indicator of potential market size business that wants you are in, although this has not become final size. You can ask franchisor, how many total number of people or households that are within your trade area? Is the area still has space to grow? Whether the area was very crowded by houses or apartments, and what effect it has on your franchise? How long that population will exists in the area?

2. Income

If population density is not linear with purchasing power of its people, it means that location is not appropriate. Therefore, you need to look at how income residents in your trade area. You need to know, how much  average income family in area? How many residents of targeted income from your efforts? Is neighborhood near like if they offered a product of your franchise business?

3. Number of Businesses

Occasionally, the selected location is in center  of trade. Well,  wether  number of business affected to  location? What type of business in that area using a product or service offered by franchise?

4. Place

There are several types to choose place for your business such as shopping malls, business centers, housing, street and so forth. You need to ask, whether most successful franchisees in the franchise locations such as in malls, in the most crowded, in a separate section of the mall, stand or separate buildings or in industrial centers? Franchisor must be able to provide information about type of this place.

5. Number of Traffic

How many vehicles passing per day at that location? Are people passing by will be able to see the sign business (signpost) you? Is the location easily accessible?

6. Crowded Center

If the location is at mall, the best passing center is in the food outlets. Sometimes, on  other side of street mall is also a place that was full of people passing by and usually rent is also cheaper. It could also be located in a hospital, college or in the centers of People Crowded.

7. Employee Access

If the location very far distance to be counter-productive for your employees. Therefore,  location should be quite close, especially for your key employees.

8. Zone

If location you choose is not trade area or don’t fit with your business, should not be forced. So, you also need to ask, whether the zone is quite reasonable for your business location.

9. Competition

You should consider also competition level on your business. If the location is already saturated with businesses that offer similar products, it may become not a strategic location for you. You also need to know what the competition that is closest to your business?

10. Appearance

You definitely want your business look dignified environment around didn’t interfere with your franchise business. Ask the franchisor, whether the area is? Whether the environment is also good enough?

Furthermore, don’t ever hesitate to ask the franchisor to help you negotiate a strategic location and the rents are cheaper. Because it can be in certain cases, the effort required, for example by the real estate to capture their market.

As a newbies entrepreneur, sometimes I think that consumers will like my product or service. My positive thoughts are of course good, but that was not enough. I am too focused on usability of goods and services that I sell both in terms of usability and price I offer. Because of great usefulness and the price is relatively cheap, I think consumers will like my products and services. And I ignore my target consumers who want to go.

Because if I think like that, its market share is too large. That's a problem. Many companies are too confident in their product that ultimately failed to reach the market. Although it has been doing large-scale promotion, but still failed too. Yup ... this is where we need to know the potential market for the product or service that we wish to sell.

All people who love our product or service is not necessarily buy at our place. Markets different with potential market. Everyone will need a motor vehicle, but they choice must be Honda? Not necessarily. Everyone who takes a motor vehicle is the market. As for they who need a Honda motor vehicle is a potential market. So obviously the difference.



If I'm selling is a website design service. All persons or agencies who need a website is the market. So who is the potential market for me? Of course most of the market is willing to spend money to make a website.


In conclusion, market is consumer who is going to need your products or services that we offer, while potential market are those who need our product and also have enough financial condition to buy it. More clearer our potential market, more better we can setting price and increase sales. Certainly this can not be separated from segmentation, targeting and positioning problem.

Honestly, I find it difficult to make an example that is easy to understand about difference between  market and potential market. Can you give another example, in order to more easily understood?