Secrets the Smartest Restauranteurs Know About Targeting Guests

When you are the best choice for the guest’s occasion, your guest counts increase. But who is your guest? And what is the occasion?

Why You Shouldn’t Panic

When you think about how much competition is out there, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. But don’t panic! You probably don’t have anywhere near as much competition as you think. Though you share market with a lot of other restaurants, your true competition is a much smaller number. A burger place does not compete with every burger place; a fine dining restaurant does not compete with every fine dining restaurant; and a craft beer outlet does not compete with every craft beer outlet. They may share market, but they do not compete in the way you would most expect.

That’s because guests know, very specifically, what they want even before they choose where to go. When they want pizza, they don’t think, “Do I want Domino’s pizza or a chef-made pizza at a high-end Italian restaurant like Dallas’ Nonna ?” They know what they want for each occasion. It is up to you to be their restaurant of choice in your category (within your segment) once the guests make their decision.

Reasons to Go Narrow

Today, in a highly competitive market with myriad choices of where to eat, it is becoming more and more important to understand your unique culture, your differentiators, and how you truly serve your community. Go narrow, not wide. Narrow targets a specific guest; wide risks being completely diluted. The best restaurateurs focus on making sure they are better than their true competitive set. Then, once they become better, they tell the world about it.

My client, Asian Mint, has done an exemplary job of that in the seemingly wide Asian category. They narrow their focus to fresh Asian fusion, new Bangkok-style cuisine in a casual, hip environment backed by consistent values.

4 Steps to Raise Revenue by Increasing Guest Count

1. Within your own segment, identify where you rank and which operators are truly closest to you.
2. Go visit them to discover what they are all about.
3. To increase guest count, don’t think about major changes — think about how to amplify the special aspects of your operation.
4. Target the most likely guest with this message and watch guest count go up.