People are using review sites, such as Yelp or Foursquare, to help them decide where to go for dinner, drinks, entertainment and so much more. These review sites are a great way for the…

As Facebook and Twitter begin to play a bigger part in the customer experience, it’s important to understand how these mediums can affect your business. Gone are the days when customer comments or complaints were limited to product or service reviews on their website. With social media’s reach extending even further…

I’ll be speaking at the Irish Pubs Global Conference in Philadelphia April 18-20th on “How to create a profitable social media strategy for your bar” and if you own, manage or work in an Irish Bar/Pub, then this is a “must attend” Check out the video below to see my 5 reasons why you need to attend. You can get your advance tickets here if you plan…

What a riot!  Other than Southwest Airlines, the safety briefing on an airline is a reasons to tune out before you takeoff (you shouldn't - but hey... after about a hundred of these it's hard to pay attention sometimes).

Air New Zealand came up with this video that combines humor and safety to remind passengers.  Whats the lesson learned? 1) try not to take yourself too seriously and 2) be creative in your engagement to connect to your audience. 

The video has earned more than…

Greetings from the just-concluded Restaurant Leadership Conference, where your humble servant was a panelist.  More about the panel later, but first some overall impressions.

Ron Paul of Technomic reported broad-based signs of strengthening performance for…

What should I post and do I need to join every social media website?

The staple of the superhero mythology is, there’s the superhero and there is the alter ego. Batman in reality is Bruce Wayne, Green Lantern is Hal Jordan, Spider-Man is really Peter Parker. When that character wakes up every morning, he’s Peter Parker. He has to put on a costume to become Spider-Man.

And it is in…

A new car is all crazy-fresh-n’good when it rolls off the lot, but more than anything you hope (darn well expect) that it will go for miles and miles without trouble. Granted, it is going to need some more gas, an oil change and, at some point, new tires. And if you get in an accident, you might need to straighten the frame, or give it a coat of paint. Would you say that your odds are better at having your car last longer/go farther if you stay current with all the maintenance and service…

During the first four weeks of America's Next Great Restaurant, we've seen some of the…

Recently, I had a simple request and you did not disappoint.  I asked you to share your industry wisdom.  Whether you led a giant organization or washed dishes in a single location.  Whether you managed a team or took direction.  Or, whether you ever discovered something as a guest, I asked you to…

What do marriage and customer service have in common?  Let’s start with the obvious.  They are both about relationship.  They both require interaction.  They are about human emotion and feelings.  I’m sure you can add to the list. 

Just for fun, let's begin by examining the 3 phases of marriage. The following account is based on hearsay not…

Regardless of how anyone feels about having a website or being involved in social media; customers are becoming more and more active online. Love it or hate it, you need to have a solid up to date online presence. AIS recently released a study reporting that 89% of consumers research a website…

Starbucks and Meijer is probably enough said but as usual I can’t help myself.  I visited both today and I want to share my observations.  

My Starbucks experience was rather typical.  It was 8:00am and the place was buzzin.  Baristas with smiles on their faces crankin out java at record speed.  I had a meeting with a former colleague and we…

So I just recently returned from a 4 day trip to New York City and one of my addictions of travel is of course eating out. Who doesn’t love the restaurant Mecca that is referred to as Manhattan. I was all over the place grabbing ethnic delicacies from all corners of the globe. I even endured the long lines for a burger at Shake Shack and an equally long line at the Meatball Shop. Some high end spots and the Thompson hotel in SoHo also made my list but I was very surprised by a new hip…

According to a CNNMoney.com article, consumers have had just about enough of the deals emails – even if the deals are great. That's why I've put together an open letter to deals junkies for restaurants to use in their marketing. Enjoy!

Dear Deal Junkies,

The rest of the world is concerned with your health. Here’s why:

• Your friends don’t want to eat with you because you only want…

I'm not sure how many of you out there are affected by menu labeling laws, or follow the news about them.  If you ever read my blog you know that keeping the industry up to date with the latest information in menu labeling is very important to me (sarcastic tone: wow, what a fascinating passion).  

For the past year we have been waiting on the FDA to release the final version of…

Hi all, a busy week at the office, so I took some blog material from the FoodCALC consumer blog Dining by Numbers, I hope you like it:

As someone who works in the restaurant industry, I know that a big complaint among restaurant operators when I ask them about providing calorie information to their customers is simple: cost.  You see, the traditional method that…

Recently, the press has been full of reports of private equity (PE) firms receiving outsized returns on prior restaurant investments. Examples include the reported Sun Capital 13 times return on its 2003 Bruegger’s investment, Olympus’ Partners reported 8 times return on its  K-Mac predominately Taco Bell franchisee group, Falfurrias selling Bojangles (unit counts up 30% since 2007). CKE Restaurant’s is now working a dividend via new debt for its owners, as did Dunkin Brands…

I don't think I have to tell you how important it is to know your cost when preparing a recipe. Here is a tool my team and I developed to help figure out those costs. We want to make this the best FREE recipe costing tool with your help. Try our tool and post your suggestions. We want to hear from you!…