How To Get More Customers

Customers are the lifeblood of your restaurant. Without customers, nothing else really matters! And yet, many new restaurateurs don't consider a mareketing or promotion strategy while they are busy getting their restaurant open. Getting customers into your restaurant has to be the number one priority of a restaurant owner.

IThat is sometimes easier said than done. Every slick advertising salesperson will try to sell you THEIR way as the BEST way to get more customers to your establishment. How do you know which method is the best? Unfortunately, until very recently, you didn’t.

How To Get More Customers The Old Way

The old, traditional method of attracting new customers was what I like to call the “spaghetti approach.” You simply buy every type of advertising you can find, throw it ALL against the wall, and hope some of it sticks! (just like spaghetti).

In other words, up until a few years ago, you had to spend a LOT of money on advertising to get people into your restaurant. The rich restauranteurs got richer, the little guy just didn’t have the money to burn!

You simply couldn’t tell what advertising was effective, and what advertising was just flushing your money down the toilet. The independent restaurant owner was at a major disadvantage to the deep pocket chain. Sam Walton (the founder of WalMart) once said, "50% of my advertising dollar is a complete waste of money. I just don't know what 50%".

Some things change, some never do. Once you are operating your own restaurant you will be amazed at how many different kinds of advertising channels there are. You will be approached with slick promotions for each and every one of them. Some are reasonably priced. Some are very expensive. Most advertising salespeople want you to sign longterm contracts.

Okay, you’re asking, so which ones work? Who should I trust to tell me how to get more customers into my store?

The answer is simple. Don’t trust anyone!

There are NEW systems that can make advertising methods PROVE to you that they work. Make your advertising PROVE it works! Things like social networks and Facebook are free!

Make sure you see a positive return on investment for every penny or hour you spend working on promoting your restaurant. Anything else would be simply wasting your advertising dollar, or your valuable time. And wasting money, and wasting time is just as bad as not knowing how to get customers in your front door!