What Else Can I Do? By: Roy Bergold 10 things you should consider to improve sales. I am bleary eyed from reading everything I can lay my hands on having to do with “What else can I do?” I have read every expert I can find to try to help you guys out of this mess. I threw it all into a big pot and distilled out what seems to be the consensus of the best thinking out there, 10 things you can consider. You’re saying that you need more sales and profit. The consumer needs to be prodded out of his home and into your restaurant. Here’s probably my last word on the topic, my take on what the experts are saying. Experiment and Innovate. Seems to be No. 1 on the hit parade. Now, how can you argue with this? In the early days of McDonald’s, management kept stressing the importance of constantly looking for new ways of doing things, from french fry scoops to commercial production and food photography. At one point, I even had what was called a mistake budget. Try things, make mistakes, just don’t make the same one twice. And, perhaps even more importantly, don’t make mistakes just to look like you’re innovating, like messing with the branding or adding products you have no business selling. That isn’t innovation. It’s just poorly thought-out action. I was telling old war stories with some quick-service buddies yesterday. One guy who worked for a large pizza company told about how one of their delivery guys thought he could save money by not taking his free pizza dinner on the company. Customers were calling and complaining that their pizza was missing a slice. Yep, he was taking a slice and pushing the pie together to look like it was all there. That is not innovation. Innovation is also detail-oriented. The Arizona Republic ran a picture of Jamie McMurray celebrating his victory at the Pepsi 400 clearly drinking a bottle of Coca-Cola. This is also not innovation. Go after Kids. Ray Kroc said that if you had $1 to spend on marketing, spend it on kids. Why? Because they can’t get to your restaurant by themselves and they eat a lot. Mom and/or Dad has to bring them. At least have a kid’s menu with something special, and make it a value meal. Mom will appreciate that. Don’t forget the placemat with the puzzles and the crayons. And, for heaven’s sake, get the kid’s food out right away. A full mouth trumps a full tantrum. Teens and Young Adults. Invite them in. In the early days, we were really scared of teens at McDonald’s. There were horror stories of transmissions being changed in our parking lots and counter people feeding their friends for free. Plus, they had no money. Read More