Coronavirus Marketing For Foodservice: Getting your business back to 100%+

Here are 7 things you must do to get your business back above 100% sales

Coronavirus is here for a while, and if you are in the foodservice business, getting your business back to 100%+ is not an easy task. We get calls all the time from restaurant operators and food manufacturers wondering how to get their sales back above 50%. As a food marketing company, that is simply the wrong question to be asking.

Everyone in the foodservice industry is a part of the food business. And at the moment, we are getting our butts kicked by grocery stores. Let that sink in. Grocery stores are doing great, while most restaurants are struggling to hit 50% of their pre virus sales. The question shouldn’t be how do we get back above 50% of sales. What we need to answer is, what would my restaurant look like if we were at 100% plus in sales?

On a side note, there are a lot of restaurant operators doing that. Most of them have either drive-up or drive through businesses. It’s the full service restaurants that are struggling, especially the independent operators.

Here are 7 things you can do right now to help you get back to 100%+ of your pre virus business.Perfect for Coronavirus Marketing for foodservice, adn getting back to 100%+

1 – Getting your business back to 100%+ will require thinking about your business differently.

If you think of your restaurant as a little factory and local distribution center, you can think of your business differently. Suddenly you are simply taking in raw goods in the back of the house, and selling raw, partially finished and finished products out of the front of the house. Just by changing how you see what you do helps you to realign your offering to maximize throughput.

2 – Keeping your point of difference while expanding your offering.

Even if you are the worst marketing person on the planet, you still have a brand. And that brand is essential to what can go through your little restaurant factory without a hitch. Simply put, if a product doesn’t make sense to your brand, it doesn’t belong in your business. As an example, if you are a coffee house and café, selling bulk coffee, baked goods, sliced meats, salads, etc. would make perfect sense. But selling pizza would be a stretch.

3 – Cooking kits are hot right now.

People are cooking more at home, and cooking kits with recipes, ingredients and cool packaging are selling really well. Look at your business for anything that isn’t bolted down that a consumer might cook at home, and start selling. Make sure you have the recipe written well, so it’s fun, cute and descriptive. Make sure, too, that the ingredients are described in a way that will get people excited about your products.

4 – Keep people entertained.

Part of going out to breakfast, lunch or dinner is being entertained. It’s like a mini vacation for your guests. That’s why you need to be clever with your offering. Make sure people get a little something they didn’t expect. You may be acting a little like a grocery deli, but you are not a grocery deli. You are more than that. That’s why anything you sell must have something special about it.

5 – Bribe children.

We don’t mean that literally. We mean that in a marketing sense. Offer the kids something they might like in exchange for mom and dad’s order. Maybe the kids under a certain age get a free meal with every adult meal purchased. Or maybe the kids get a fun coloring book with a set of crayons free with the purchase of two adult meals. Getting your business back to 100%+ might need a little bribery. If you would like ideas on what to offer, reach out to HotOperator.com here.

6 – Stay top of mind.

People are simply not moving around as much as they did. So you have to stay in front of them. You need to be where they are. And they are on social media. If you don’t have a plan for social engagement, you need one. Better yet, outsource it. HotOpeator offers a number of plans for restaurant operators to outsource their social media. Follow this link and ask for a quote.

7 – Make your menu more manageable.

At HotOperator, we have helped countless restaurant operators trim down their menus. In this way, they are able to offer their guests great foods that travel well. But, do not start trimming your menu without doing a Menu Matrix first. This is incredibly important. A Menu Matrix will tell you what is too important to take off the menu. It will also tell you what might be a good item to add. HotOperator offers a lot of levels of research on menu design-engineering. Contact them here for more information.

About HotOperator

HotOperator is offering a consultation to help you navigate these difficult times. Reach out before it’s too late. A simple email to get things started, and we’ll be there for you. We are committed to the foodservice industry. We love restaurants. We want them to survive. But we can’t do that unless we work together. Let us help you with romancing your restaurant brand.

M+K Laux dba HotOperator is a farm to table marketing consulting firm. Mark and Kelly are a marketing team and managing partners of HotOperator. They have been working in the food business since 1989. Either can be contacted through the HotOperator website, or by calling 800-316-3198. or contact Laux here.