Did this closing really have to happen? Was the restaurant an inevitable victim of the recession, or could its failure have been avoided?
I think the latter.
Restaurant owners need to use a little ingenuity when it comes to marketing. No longer can one “hang out the shingle” and expect to do well. Many consumers have limited funds for dining out, and when they do, they want a deal. They don’t want to pay full price.
If you offer them a significant special, they will come to eat. Especially if the message is personalized and comes to their email inbox or mailbox.
The first step is to collect email addresses (snail mail addresses and birthdays also, if possible). Give ‘em a freebie to sign up. Build an email list with an autorresponder like Aweber, and then decide what to offer. Maybe you want to fill up your restaurant at a slow time, say from 6 to 9 on Tuesday night. Or you just want to increase your overall numbers.
Several ways you can do this…
1. A monthly newsletter with discounts good through the month
2. Weekly email blasts with “deal of the week”
3. An ongoing deal at a certain day and time…a “permanent special”, if you will
4. If you collect birthdays, a postcard or email with a coupon good for a free birthday meal
5. Kids eat free at certain times
6. Buy one, get one 1/2 price
7. Buy 2 drinks (usually alcoholic), get reduced-rate meals
8. Free desserts or appetizers
…and so on. The imagination is the only limit here.
This process can work for any business, frankly. It just takes a little thought.
Obviously, it will take time to collect the names, so this may not work if the restaurant is teetering on the edge.
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