Menu
First wind breeze, for several restaurant’s owner it’s time to close the terrace. By closing your terrace, you’re losing capacity. Less capacity means fewer revenues. Restaurants industry is hard and the slightest mistake gets you punished. In 2017, 70% of restaurants bankruptcies in Canada were from the province of Quebec. Clients expect an experience, they don’t come only to eat a plate. The experience began before setting the first foot in the restaurant and it continues after the client has finished his plate. For several years, Le Balconier has been helping residential and business owners to distinguish themselves from their outdoor design. Here’s some advice to make more revenues with your restaurant.
OUR ADVICE
Search intention
Communication
Loyalty is everything
Indoor Design
Outdoor Design
SEARCH INTENTION
“OK Google, find me a restaurant near my home.”
A lot of your potential clients began their research like this. By appearing in the search results, you are sure to be part of the equation when a client has to choose between several restaurants. It’s also important to invest in a good website. You can do it yourself with a Content Management System (CMS) like WordPress. Otherwise, you can call an agency to help you with this hard task.
Once the website is online, the work isn’t done, there’s still a lot of work to do if you want to improve your organic SEO. Optimize your Google My Business page, it’ll be easier to find your enterprise in search engines. Don’t hesitate to upload professional pictures to invite your customers to come to your establishment. If you have the last generation smartphone, you should be able to get a professional-quality photo. Otherwise, you can use the services of a professional photographer.
Keep in mind that Search Engine Optimization provides results in the long run
These tasks may take a lot of your time, especially if you don’t know how to do it. You can check the documentation on the subject or use the service of a professional agency for your SEO.
COMMUNICATION
We hear it a lot, communication is the key to success for couples. This advice is, often, given to couples also applies to the relationship between business and their customers. By being quiet and not communicating your value proposition, nobody will know that your restaurant even exists. It would be a shame to let money on the table because your potential clients don’t know your establishment.
Subscribe to an Online Directory
It’s pretty simple and it will give a boost to your organic reach. Subscribe to an online directory like Yellow Pages or Yelp will only take you a few minutes, but it’ll be useful. When you’re optimizing your presentation page, don’t forget to upload great pictures and write a good description of your restaurant.
Social Media
A real sinew of war nowadays, by being present on social media, you can maintain a real dialogue with your clients. There’s still one question left, should you expand your cover on every social media or put all your effort on a few social media.
It’s better to have quality rather than quantity. Focus on one or two social media, and after you can consider expanding your reach on other platforms.
Counting more than a billion users, Facebook is a good starting point. To have good results, it’s important to stay constant when your publishing posts.
‘‘To have good results, it’s important to stay constant when your publishing posts.’’
How many times should I publish on my Facebook page?
With the numerous changes that Facebook brings to his algorithm, it’s hard to give you the perfect number. To begin, publish at least three to four times a week. Once you’re comfortable and have enough content, you can publish every day. It would be a good idea to appoint someone in your restaurant to do this. Social media management is an important task that will be useful for your growth strategy.
Sometimes, less is more…
Publishing regularly on your social media account is important, but the quality of your posts is more important. Maximize your reach with high-quality photos and videos. You can use your smartphone to create engaging content.
Manage Reviews
In addition to let you share great pictures and videos; Facebook gives the opportunity to your client to let reviews on your establishment according to their experience. Don’t forget to ask your client to let a review on Facebook, Yellow Pages or Yelp.
‘‘Oh no, you just receive a negative review… Don’t panic. Take the time to thank the client who took the time to leave a review and invite him to give more information on the situation by phone or email.’’
It’s important to manage your reputation…
Once you begin to receive reviews, it’s important to answer them, Take the time to thank clients who let a review. It shows them that you’re proactive and listens to them.
Oh no, you just receive a negative review… Don’t panic. Take the time to thank the client who took the time to leave a review and invite him to give more information on the situation by phone or email. You can begin a small investigation to understand what happens and make sure, with your employees, that a situation like that can’t happen again.
OUTDOOR DESIGN
You probably hear it a lot of times, but the first impression is so important. It begins when your clients check at pictures of your restaurant or look it in the street. If your establishment doesn’t appeal to them to come inside, you will let a lot of money on the table.
With terraces’ season, the restaurant owner doesn’t hesitate to invest a lot to appeal to customers. Here is some interesting advice for you.
Lawn Umbrella: A powerful and underestimated marketing tool. When the sun is at its strongest, a lot of people want to put themselves in the shade while drinking some cocktails. Having lawn umbrellas on your terrace is a real asset. You should consider matching the colour of your umbrellas with your logo for better results.
For a maximum of comfort, you can install light under the parasol. Even when it’s dark outside, your client will be able to continue their discussion while drinking some cocktails and eating bites.
Chairs: Have you thought to match the colours of your chairs with your graphical charter? Rather than sober colours, you can use bright colours that appeal to passersby’s eye. Ciara Chair from Ratana is perfect for the restaurant’s terrace. As they are of commercial quality, they will spend several years on the terrace of your restaurant.
Tables: Good-looking tables will definitely have an effect on hungry passersby. Commercial quality tables are recommended if you want to make your investment profitable for several years. You can take into consideration the space of your terrace before shopping for tables.
Rectangular tables have the advantage to overlap easily in the case there’s some surprise guest that adds up to a big reservation. For the bigger terrace, we recommend Berlin folding tables from Ratana. For smaller spaces, there are also New York folding tables.
INDOOR DESIGN
A little greenery is always good according to the theme of your restaurant. You can put some plants in Capi’s pot. If you want bright colour for your pot, there’s Lechuza pot for you.
Here Are Some Tips to Keep Your Indoor Plants Healthy
Brightness: According to the ambiance you want to offer to your guest, brightness has an important role in the customer’s experience. If you want to put the emphasis on intimacy, perfume candles are perfect for that. In stores, we have lavender-scented candles or beeswax candles.
LOYALTY PROGRAM
After several months of hard work, you’ve put your website online, work on your SEO and put a lot of time in content marketing. Finally, you see your first client in your restaurant. They order their first plate, a drink and a dessert. They pay the bill and give you a generous tip.
Congratulations! You crossed an important milestone. Now that you served your first client, you have to find a way to bring them back. Do you have their email address? Are they subscribed to your Facebook or Instagram?
Newsletter
It only takes a few minutes to install, but there are so many people who forget to do it: Create a newsletter. Collecting the email address of your client through your website is a good way to keep in touch with them.
MailChimp is an excellent mailing service that will allow you to install a pop-up to collect email address and automate promotional mailing quickly. If you have a bigger budget, you should consider services like Active Campaign.
How to invite people to give their email?
Let’s be honest, nobody wants to give their email address for the pleasure of receiving promotional email. Which incentive should you give to your client in order to get their email? Offer them a free drink or a free or a free entree. For better results, you should put a deadline.
For example, Your first entree is free, subscribe to our newsletter. Offer valid until September 3, 2019.
Once I got their email, what do I do?
Make sure to keep your clients informed of your next events. If you host a happy hour on Tuesday afternoon, send an email to your loyal clients. You won’t have to spend a penny since they’re already engaged in your brand.
Loyalty Card
It’s simple to install, low-cost and it can bring a lot of sales. Your employees can offer a loyalty card to your guests once they order their plates to maximize their engagement. By having their loyalty card at their fingertips, your guests will think immediately about your brand when they’re hungry.
It’s important that you and your employees take the time to communicate the benefits of the loyalty card. In case you don’t do that, your client will probably forget about it or just throw it away.
According to your budget, you can use customer data with your loyalty program to learn important insight about them and understand trends.
Finally, we present you several tips that will help to bring your first client to your establishment and to retain them. On the one hand, we put the emphasis on having a good website and invest time on your SEO. On the other hand, we present the advantages of having a good strategy on social media and subscribing to your website on an online directory.
Otherwise, indoor and outdoor design are important points to bring passersby in your restaurant. You should consider lawn umbrellas and greenery; they’ll make your establishment unique. The last point to remember is customer retention. A good newsletter and a loyalty card are good ways to keep your client informed and make sure that they come back for your special events.
If you’re looking to add a splash of color and life to your outdoor space, an outdoor planter can be a great choice. However, there are many things to consider before choosing the right flower pot for your plants. In this article, we’ll look at everything you need to know about outdoor flower pots, including […]
After a hard day’s work, we head to his yard. You sit on your lawn chair. It’s an automatism. It’s what marks the transition between a hard day’s work and well-deserved relaxation. And how to choose this famous outdoor chair? There are many things to consider: the space available, the materials, the level of comfort […]
Don’t miss the announcement of new products on our Instagram page.
Join the thousands of people who trust us to bring their balconies to life.
Join the thousands of people who trust us to bring their balconies to life.
