Consultative Selling

Customers Are Loyal to a Favorite Restaurant Regardless of Promotions

CHICAGO (May 1, 2013)—More than forty percent of consumers say they are loyal to their favorite restaurants and will go there whether or not the establishment has a promotion, reports The NPD Group, a market research company. Although there are still over one-third of consumers looking for bargains when choosing a restaurant, this large group of “loyal” restaurant consumers defines value as more than price, according to a recently released NPD foodservice report.

Hispanics Are More Likely To Source Protein Based on Meal Traditions

CHICAGO (April 17, 2013)—While U.S. Hispanics and non-Hispanics consume foods high in protein, Hispanics consume chicken, legumes, eggs, and fish/seafood more frequently than non-Hispanics, according to recent research from The NPD Group. From a trend perspective, these foods have maintained a similar level of importance among Hispanics compared to five years ago, except for legumes that have declined somewhat, according to NPD’s NET® (National Eating Trends®) Hispanic research. The research also showed:

Kick the salt, but keep the flavor

Boston Market’s late-August announcement that it would cut sodium levels an average of 20 percent throughout its menu—a decision symbolized by the chain removing all the salt shakers from its tables and replacing them with a placard—has put the spotlight on sodium in restaurant food once again.

Diary of a future customer

What do kids and young adults really think about you? Why do they go out? What do they want when they get there? These are big questions considering that Millennials control about $80 billion in food spending, and the younger set, with their families, spends about 50 percent more at restuarants per year than other consumers, according to NPD. To help illuminate these impressionable minds we asked six kids, teens and 20-somethings to keep food diaries for a week (if you look at our masthead, you’ll get a clue to where we found our subjects).

Online Daily Restaurant Deals Driving Positive Consumer Behavior, Per Technomic

CHICAGO (June 9, 2011 - PRNewswire)—Technomic has found that online daily deals are attracting new and infrequent customers to participating restaurants. The Chicago-based food industry research firm also found that a high percentage of these customers claim they have returned to the restaurant without a daily deal and/or recommended it to family and friends. Furthermore, many write about their specific experience on social media sites such as Yelp and/or Facebook.

Cracking the QR code

The bottom line: Operators can reach new customers and stay on the cutting edge of technology trends by using QR codes—the pixilated black and white boxes you see in ads—in their marketing. QR codes are a type of bar code image. Scan one with your smartphone or iPad and you’re sent to a website. You see these in ads a lot now. It’s a much easier way to send people to a web page than simply listing a URL address.

How to do a TV cooking demo

Bottom line: A very specific need here: a restaurant needs to do a cooking demo on TV and doesn’t know best practices. If they do it right not only will they impress the audience and capture some free marketing—but they’ll get invited back. Whether it’s Good Morning America or the local news show, being invited to do a cooking demo on TV can be a great way for an operator to get free marketing. Help them do it right.

The logistics of serving 500 tasting portions to a crowd

Bottom line: It can be hard for a restaurateur to know—without practice—how to figure out servings for a massive crowd at an event. Some guidance can save time, labor, and food cost.

Health insurance 101

Bottom line: Health insurance is confusing and ready to get even more so. Every restaurant has questions. Be ready to give answers with this tutorial from the Culinary Institute of America.

How to build a franchisee advisory board

Bottom line: If you’ve got a growing franchisor as a client, they need to know the benefits of a franchisee advisory board and how to put one together. It can help them grow smarter and faster, while increasing communication and giving more ownership in the brand to franchisees.