If you want to get your foot in the door as a restaurant it is imperative that you offer discounted prices in some way or another. How else will you convince people to try your spot rather than other locations they already know? There are many different ways of using discounts to your advantage, and many of them have been discussed in previous sections. In this section we will talk about three specific, effective strategies: happy hour, specialty nights, and coupons.
Happy HourAlmost everyone has been to a happy hour event in their life. This strategy of discounting items at a particular time of day is mostly done with alcoholic drinks, but can be applicable to food items as well. The basis of the strategy is this: encourage people to come at times with averagely low customer traffic by providing discounts at those times. If you attract people to your spot from 4-6pm when the regular busy hours are 6-9pm you get more total customers per day and free up space during the busy hours to prevent overcrowding. Happy hour deals only work if people know about them, so make sure to advertise your particular specials.
Specialty NightsIf there is a particular night of the week when you are getting less customer traffic you may want to consider doing specialty pricing or menu items to attract people. Maybe it’s 1/2 price appetizer Mondays, free drink Wednesdays, or bottomless fries Sundays. Having a specific deal on a regular weekly basis will help fill your tables on off days and and thus bring in more business and make more sales. Sure you may lose money on giving away a free drink, but you will still be making money on all the other menu items bought that night by people coming specifically for the drink deal. This is also a great way to attract new customers. Nothing spreads quicker from person to person than great deals at a restaurant.
CouponsThere are a million ways you can give out coupons. It can be through hotels or at events, as discussed in the “Using Nearby Businesses Section.” It can be through newspaper ads or fliers handed out at popular spots in your town. It can be through emails or regular mail or even sites like Groupon. However you want to successfully market with coupons, make sure that people are seeing them. If they truly offer a good deal, people will be more than willing to use them at your restaurant. In order to entice a lot of customers you may have to take a price cut on meals purchased with coupons. This is still worth the effort though, as it will attract people to your restaurant who otherwise may not have ever come. The more people you can get to try your food the better your chance of creating loyal customers and having them bring their friends.
NEXT SECTION: Building a Customer Database
