Featured Blog Posts – May 2012 Archive (36)

The phone I grew up with was clunky and served just one purpose — talk to someone. My monthly costs were high, and long distance calls were expensive. If something broke… major trouble. Today I have an iPhone. I can do a million tasks on it easily and intuitively; apps make it infinitely customizable; and while I may pay more each month, the expense is pegged to my usage- to my satisfaction.

The POS is a nerve center of a restaurant but no matter how much improvement you drive…

My daughter, who is 3 going on 26, came across an Easter card as we were cleaning our house this weekend and as some children might, exclaimed the obvious, “Oh look Dad, it’s Jesus!” “That’s right honey” I replied, “And do you know who His Daddy is?” “It’s Zeus.”

Clearly, she needs a…

CMO's Guide To The Social Landscape. Developed once again by 97th Floor, an SEO, social media, and viral infographics firm, the latest social media infographic welcomes five new members to the roster. Time will tell whether they give heavyweights such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn a run for brands' advertising dollars, but incumbents including Pinterest and…

This past winter I did a consult with a 40 seat restaurant in a rural New England community who was looking for some additional marketing ideas. They had tapped out on as much online and offline marketing as they could do. They had also gone ahead and been progressive, and had gone to local business around them, met the owners and employees and offered incentives to come in to dine.



While the restaurant was keeping its head well above water, the owner wanted to be busier during…

I have spent a lot of time thinking about a restaurant company’s worst nightmare - The Brand Gap.  Executives work hard to evolve their brands.  Some need a complete make over.  Others continue to tweak and tinker to make sure their brands remain relevant in an ever-changing marketplace.  They spend hours in meetings reviewing research, analyzing data and conducting focus groups trying to ensure their concept has a point of difference that resonates with consumers.…

Foodservice business relationships change over time as the executive chef or buyer gets to know the foodservice distributor and suppliers' sales representatives. This leads to a better understanding of expectations and performance capabilities. 

One difficulty, from an ethical standpoint, is taking favors or gifts, starting with an exchange of pricing information about a…

Reported by foodem.com, the online wholesale food marketplace-



Peter Drucker, the legendary professor credited with inventing the discipline of business management, once said:



“The customer rarely buys what the company thinks it’s…

In May, a weakening in the restaurant space was felt.  Domino's ( DPZ), Ruby Tuesday's ( RT), Red Robin (RRGB), Wendy's (WEN), even McDonald's (MCD) April same store sales numbers disappointed.  Jamba Juice (JMBA) was great (+12.3%, a true “pop”), Tim Horton's (THI (US) and Jack in the Box (JAC)K good, Carrol's (TAST) improving. Discussions of weather, leap year/day/weekend, gasoline prices, competitive intrusions, and changes in TV, couponing timing or focus dominated the…

You have probably seen the Domino’s commercials about them adding mobile ordering apps to their business to help them increase sales.  According to NPN, about 83% of innovators and 72% of early adopters order from restaurant apps weekly.  Big restaurants may make this process seem easy, but for smaller business creating an app for their restaurant it can seem like a daunting task. …

We will be blogging, reviewing and showcasing how restaurant technology is re-shaping our industry - in real time!

Here is an infographic that begins to tell the story. Stay tuned in to FohBoh for more on how transformative this will be.…

I recently visited a restaurant and observed an elderly couple struggling to view a menu.  A few minutes into their struggle, their server graciously presented them with an iPad version of the menu and showed them within a few seconds how to zoom in to read the menu better.  The couple had a wonderful time…

Chart by Hungry Thumb

Are you still recommending Foursquare or any other check in platforms to your restaurant clients? Is the interest waning?

Thanks so much!

Starting a restaurant career can be a bit rough at the beginning. However, with strategic planning and preparation, a job seeker can nail down a job that might just be the launch pad to a truly successful career. There are three things one should pay particular attention to. These three will serve as guidelines for a current job seeker or someone aiming for a restaurant career in the future.

Know that perfect spot.

There are plenty of areas one can…

Hello I’m Ty Sullivan the Director of Truths in Customer Service or as I like to say “DT’s in CustServ”.

You know, we always have customer service “guru’s,  “Jedi’s”, “Lords of Sweetness” telling us how to properly coddle guests when they have had an “incident” or “very disappointing”…

It costs more to attract new customers than it does to keep old ones. Almost every business owner has heard this phrase at some point. But keeping those customers can be challenging and time-consuming. One tool that restaurants can use to their advantage is loyalty programs. These are one of the best ways to make a regular customer keep coming back for more.

Having repeat customers is a very important task for restaurants to achieve. While it is something that can take a lot…

Okay. I can feel it coming already. What I am referring to is my subscribers (and also my "slowly growing on me", group of trolls) desire to automatically comment on this post, simply based on the title. BUT, before you do, I ask you kindly to just read the…