How do I excite restaurant owners about effective affordable advertising?

Aloha FohBoh community,

I am new to this community so let me start by introducing myself. My name is Brandon Berman and I am 22 year old student at Hawaii Pacific University who is finishing up a double major in Entrepreneurial Studies and Finance. About 8 months ago I started a company that puts restaurants in front of customers via search engine optimization for a fraction of the current market price ($50-$100/month). Not only that, we give restaurants a competitive advantage by only representing one restaurant per cuisine type per area and we exclude any competitors after a listing is sold! We also help restaurants exploit the advertising space on search engines much more vividly than anyone else and we don't use pay per click advertising or banner ads to cheapen our site. These are all huge competitive advantages that deliver restaurants a better product for a ridiculously cheaper price, but it is hard to talk tech when restaurant owners and managers talk is turning tables.

I have developed a healthy list of clients through cold calling but it is a method that isn't very effective at informing restaurants about our product. I would appreciate any insight into what would help me better convey my message to restaurant owners and managers.

What is the best way to approach a manager/owner?

What is the best time of day to call (if cold calling)?

Is my price too low? (people suspiciously ask me why its so inexpensive)

What gets your attention?

What is a restaurant manager's hot button when it comes to advertising?

What is the best time to call?

Once again, any insight or criticism would be appreciated. If you have any questions please feel free to email me at brandon@promotionsurge.com.

Thank You,
Brandon Berman

Tags: advertising, attention, directory, recession, restaurant, seo, student

0 members like this

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by vincent mcconeghy on December 7, 2009 at 6:56am

Hi Brandon:

Direct answers:
1.Cold calling is one of the most effective ways to generate new busines while starting up.

2. Your price point is one of your best selling propositions. Affordable is the key for stretched restaurant owners.

3. Most restaurant owners won't even understand what you are talking about, so you need to quantify your pitch in terms of how many new customers your service could potentially reach.

4. Best time to call on restaurant owner: in person 10:30 am morning, 4pm in person afternoon, Or, drop your card to a waiter while you are having a meal and ask to see the owner. If you are a customer you have a better chance at seeing an owner than as a salesman at a counter or hostess stand.

There are so many apps and technologies that restaurant owners do not take advantage of because they do not understand them, and no one has created an effective way to demonstrate to them how it will increase their business. The chains are way ahead of the independents on this because they have marketing departments that can study this and apply it. Become a champion for your independents, show them the way, and you should do well.