Slow Economy? Do Something By: Roy Bergold Warning—nothing in the following article is illegal, immoral, fattening, or shocking. What you will encounter is some good old-fashioned common sense. The economy is not exactly helping your business right now. So, let's do something. Two things: hold prices steady and tighten the budget. Easy, right? Well, this is where the common sense comes in.  Price increases are exactly what the customer expects, and research confirms that he will decrease his visits when it happens. So, you end up losing customers or customer frequency. If you have to do it, do small increases frequently, rather than a one time big one. It's harder to spot. Now to the point of not spending money. There are lots of things you can do if you use the old bean. Let me give you some hints, and then ask your manager and crew for some more ideas. Odds are they have them. Let's look at some major areas of consideration. Brainstorm these with the gang to get you started. (I'll talk about quality and service later. Even though your food and labor costs have gone through the roof, you have to be very careful about cutting into those areas.) Costs: Look at everything, including delivery costs. Can you save on delivery by taking fewer, bigger deliveries? Or fewer disruptions to store routine? Increasing Sales: Remember, we don't want to spend a lot of money. My No. 1 suggestion is suggestive selling. Done correctly, a suggestion of an additional item or a jump up is one of the most effective means of increasing sales, and it doesn't cost anything. Just don't annoy the customer. Go see the service clubs and see if you can supply large orders to them, particularly breakfast. Take full advantage of the businesses in your area for mutual benefit. Increasing Customer Counts: Drive them in by being a part of their lives. Remember POLR (Path of Least Resistance) from a previous article? If your current customer, Bunkie, comes for lunch, give him a coupon for breakfast. Think about bring-back promotions. You know, frequent-eater programs. We had a rodeo parade recently in Payson. I wondered why a local restaurant wasn't handing out coupons good for the weekend to the visitors. Bet business would have been great. How about some good old Boy Scout, school, or service club tours of the restaurant? Expose more people to your restaurant and they will come back. And, get out there and speak at schools and service clubs about the restaurant business. We are inherently interesting and a model of American business. It's good for recruiting, too. And don't forget cooking classes. Everyone wants to know how to cook the perfect hot dog. Maximizing Your Profits: Take a look at your store hours. Are you open too early or too late? How can you sell more of your most profitable items? It might be just suggestive selling or pricing (another argument not to increase... Read More