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by ERIC MELIN on JANUARY 8, 2013 [reposted from Spiral16]

When is the…

There are a lot of things I don't know.  There's one thing I do know.  This is the first time I've used "poop" in a blog headline. 

 I went to the car wash yesterday.  It was around 7:00pm and this time of year it's dusk.  My Father-In-Law was kind enough to lend us his car and I wanted to return it all shiny and clean, hence my last minute trip to the car…

I recently met with a customer (Mr. Peppery, not his real name, read further to see how he got that name) that I have been working with for several weeks and I want to share some of  his feedback from our most recent meeting. Mr. Peppery has been in business for over thirty five years in an iconic downtown location and like many restaurants has been rebounding from a pretty serious drop in business since the start of the economic crisis. Over the last couple of…

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.…

You probably have heard all about the benefits about using social media for your restaurant and all the different types, but do you actually know how to use it effectively? Connection to these sites allows restaurants to have almost 24 hour access to their customers and what's even better is that it's free advertising. When was the last time Facebook asked someone to pay to post how good their Starbucks frappacino was? However, if a restaurant wants to be successful in creating a social…

What message does your restaurant convey to your fans and prospects that are socially engaged?

Restaurants can no longer choose to use "planned or scripted" messages such as "We're the place to be", or "The ONLY place to watch sports".  They also cannot choose to simply ignore social media all…

Whether you are a restaurant, a distributor, or a tabletop manufacturer, have you ever noticed how there’s a lot of attention focused on selling stuff – whether it’s a steak off from a menu or dinnerware from a catalog. All the attention is focused on how to get to a higher level of sales…..and, ideally, profitability. In today’s economic environment, selling stuff is hard….often very hard….to do. Many times, when the sales effort gets as intense as it is now, what gets…

Come. Sit down around the camp fire faithful campers and let me tell you a tale of friendship and growth. It is a tale of a gathering of people from all walks of life, all corners and crevices of the country. It is a story of “tribe”.

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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…

We all know those people. The words come tumbling out of their mouth without much reason or purpose...they just blab on and on, unaware that their audience is quickly shutting down. We have also heard that “an unexamined life is not worth living”. Your restaurant’s tweets shouldn't be any different. Some of you have chosen not to join the Twit-o-sphere while others jumped in tweet first.

If you’ve been tweeting or want to…

So you just started dating someone new. How long until you introduce them to your friends or your family. Do you do it right away or do you wait just because you are not sure? It could be a number of scenarios, you love your friends and family but you are not sure about how they will be received. Or you are not sure whether your new date would be welcome into the inner circle. A referral program is similar to dating someone new. We all know that a solid referral program pays in both…

As I wrote in my post last week, restaurants are the original social networking site. So, why is it that only 25 percent of us are on Facebook,…

As I wrote in my post last week, restaurants are the original social networking site. So, why is it that only 25 percent of us are on Facebook, Twitter or…

Ever wonder why Chik-Fil-A has had something like 56 straight quarters of same store sales growth? What is their secret to success? In my opinion it begins and ends with a company culture that is unique and special. An…