This post is going to sound a little haughty, but it needs to be said. It doesn’t pertain to all of you, maybe not even most of you, but it applies to some of you and you need to hear it.

Insert whatever brand you hold in high regard below…
“I want to be the next Starbucks.”
“Starbucks does this, and Starbucks does that.”

What most people don’t realize is that Starbucks does things many of you abhor. They give away free coffee to alter potential customers’ habits (and yes, most often existing customers benefit with free coffee).

They also are very involved in their communities and in the world. What have you done to benefit a neighbor that, except for the good PR, didn’t benefit you?

Lastly, have you seen the new Starbucks TV commercial? Visit any store, pledge 5 hours of community work, get a free cup of coffee? You want to be “just like Starbucks” but you need to realize that, except for their packaged goods that are distributed through other channels, Starbucks built their brand on word of mouth and real estate. Their advertising, in the past, has been limited primarily to billboards.

How about McDonald’s? You want to be like them? They give scholarships to employees and provide them with training to retain the good ones.

Chick-fil-A. Are you going to be like them one day? Giving away free or discounted food for fundraisers in order to build goodwill and spread positive word of mouth?

The truth is, some of you aren’t prepared for what it takes to be a local icon. You give 10% off coupons and wonder why no one redeems them. You don’t know your other community leaders and you don’t train to retain your good staff members.

In this climate, with ‘change’ all about us, with a renewed sense of community and impersonal restaurants struggling, you might want to reconsider what it takes to be the mayor of your village.

Two old sayings come to mind this time of year, in this type of economy:

1. Volume solves everything.
2. You can’t take percentages to the bank.

My next few posts will give a nod to one or both of those statements. I’d rather have a ton of customers with a low ticket average than the reverse – more mouths to spread the word, more chances to gain wallet share. And if someone comes in twice in a single week, regardless of the reason, I’m happy. Stupid couponing is, well, stupid. Modifying behavior, trading value for value, will win you long term customers.

I’ve mentioned loss leaders, today I list some promotional ideas that both drive traffic and show commitment your community.

Black Friday: 10% of sales, all day, to toward [insert local cause here]. Some finer points here:
- the higher the percentage, the more PR you’ll generate (start now)
- use the distribution list of the cause, get their current supporter to spread the word on your behalf
- make it a news story
- put a banner up out front

December and Beyond:
- drop off place for coats for kids, or toys for tots
- bonus points if you’re part of a franchise / co-op and use your radio ads to promote
- distribute coloring sheets that have a space for a “Santa List” (bonus points if it can be folded in such a way that Santa’s address is already on the sheet)
- place a North Pole Postal Service mailbox in your lobby
- get in the spirit: make sure you and your staff are having some fun; give away candy canes, wear Santa hats, be jolly (dammit!)

Next up: some food promotions that will help to increase frequency and ticket average.

McCain has Joe the Plumber, allow me to have Jeffrey the Marketer.

Jeffrey isn’t a symbol of hope for restaurants, he’s a symptom of futility. He’s looking for the silver bullet that will enable him to buy his own island, keeping his hands clean the whole time. Jeffrey is an ivory-tower marketer, all ‘brand’ and ‘polish’ and culture.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m a brand and polish and culture fan, too, but I don’t look down my nose at shaking hands and kissing babies. A coupon has a purpose and the right offer can modify behavior and begin new habits (habits that benefit you).

Gaining market share can be a dirty business, but Jeffrey thinks it can happen via shiny magazine ads instead of rubbing elbows with the hoi polloi.

Jeffrey thinks all you have to do is extol your virtues and present images of what the consumer wants to be. If you do that, surely the customers will eventually try your food and they’ll love you and you’ll have them forever.

I’m glad there are Jeffreys in this world. Given the choice of competition, especially in this economy, I want a competitor who is all about branding because my brand is me.

In this economy I want someone who relies on awareness-based advertising because I’m going to give customers an offer that puts butts in seats (my seats).

At the end of 2006, there was one restaurant for every 662 people in the US (depending on how you define ‘restaurant’). Thanks to the poor economy, that number has gone up and is likely to go up further. Poor locations are first to go, but the Jeffreys of the world are next.

Go get yourself some market share from the Jeffreys near you.

A couple of examples of how to surely piss your customers off and guarantee that, if you do make it through the financial slump, you won’t have any customers left when you reach the other side.

Wachovia has apparently started taking payments for lines of credit (unsecured lines of credit), and presumably for credit cards, out of savings or checking accounts without customer approval. If the payment is late, they just reach in and help themselves. Hopefully that won’t mess your automatic payments up too badly.

Not sure I would allow those foxes to be in charge of my chickens.

Example number two: blaming the customer, calling them thieves, liars, or idiots, won’t win friends or influence people.

A local franchisee of a regional chain has posted signs that he will not accept BOGO coupons in his unit. Apparently the coups were distributed by another franchisee and a few of them have made their way south. Customers who try to redeem the coupons, which expired earlier this week, are confronted with angry counter staff.

When you turn away a coupon, you’re effectively telling the customer you think they’re either too stupid to read (wrong unit, expired coup) or you think they’re a cheat (‘you’re trying to pull a fast one on me!’).

You want to engender negative word of mouth, the easiest way is to call your customers cheating idiots.

Behold! The power of word of mouth!