Soul Food Restaurants Diners Vegan and Buffets

6 Steps to Managing Restaurant Customer Relationships

admin — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 16:45:27 +0000

Steps to Managing Restaurant Customer Relationships

Wow! What a challenging business world we now live in. Just for a moment, think about the economy nosedive and dramatic changes in the landscape of the restaurant industry as a result of the economic crisis. No where is this economic turmoil more readily apparent than with the restaurant business and especially the soul food business. These restaurants are really hurting for sales as customers cut back on dining out. Please be mindful that the American people sophistication level toward good and healthy food has not changed; it is just in a pause state. As a restaurant owner, it is your responsibility to undo that pause state and attract more customers to your business.

The American Marketing Association defines marketing as “an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relations in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders.” From experiences, I am convinced that marketing and customer relationships within the restaurant industry are two of the major lifelines to retaining and increasing long-term profitability through customer loyalty, customer purchases, and customer referral of other patrons.

Many large-scale restaurants are increasingly turning to marketing research and information technology to build long-term customer relationships. Customer relationship management (CRM) focuses on using information about customers to create marketing strategies that translates into more sales.

There are many CRM software out there; however, I am not recommending or suggesting that you go out and purchase any. The basic content of most CRM software are Contact Management, Campaigns, Sales Pipeline, Calendar, Project Manager, Documents and ERP modules such as Inventory. The primary objective of a CRM software as it relates to most restaurants is to address the functional areas of sales, marketing, and customer service.

The reality is that one does not have to have large-scale restaurants budget to compete for customers. When times are lean, businesses often cut their marketing and research budgets. When the economy is bad as it is, reducing marketing or research budget and every other services make a lot of business sense.

So the question is, how do you manage your restaurant’s customer relationships without having to purchase an expensive CRM software?

There are Six basic steps restaurants can take toward improving their customer relationships:

Get to know your customer.
1. Yes, get to know them by their name.
2. What kind of business are they in? Can you knowledgeable have a discussion with them about their business or interest?
3. What are your customer birthdays? Can you create a simple database and at least mail out a card once a year?
4. Can you offer a birthday discount? Can you offer a free meal on a customer's birthday or at least offer a half price of.
Identify your customers patterns of buying behavior
Be sensitive to customer’s requirements
Be sensitive to your customer’s desires
Does your restaurant have a Blog? If not get one! There are lots of FREE blogs out there – Install the SMS Text Message plugin. This plugin allow your blog readers to submit their phone number through a sidebar widget. You can periodically send alerts, updates, etc via text messaging (SMS) to your customers that had previously sign up on your website.
Establish communication to build your customer’ trust and loyalty

In a nutshell, in times like this, it is very important to move beyond the “My restaurant sales are down because of the economy” mindset and start thinking about creative ways to solve your restaurant financial problems. Although CRM software deals with the many interactions a restaurant or a company will have with their customers, the central goal here to improve your customer relationship with out using an expensive software. The primary goal here is to improve the relationship that your restaurant has with its customers, and the end result of doing this is to increase profits and become more competitive.

About the Author:

Charles S. Mombo, is an Adjunct Professor teaching college Computer Science and Business classes. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer, a Master of Science degree in Management Information Systems (MSMIS), and a Master degree in Business Administration (MBA. He is also a regular contributor to Worldwide Click and ChocolateCity.cc

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Soul Food Thanksgiving Recipes

admin — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 13:35:58 +0000

Tomorrow, November 26^th is Thanksgiving Day in the United States. Thanksgiving Day is a joyous family and friends festival celebrated with lot of enthusiasm.

Soul Food

Thanksgiving Day Festival commemorates the feast held by the Pilgrim colonists and members of the Wampanoag people at Plymouth in 1621. On this day people express gratitude to God for his blessings and give thanks to dear ones for their love & support. Feasting with family is an integral & most delightful part of Thanksgiving Day celebrations.

In 1939, during the Great Depression, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt famously modified Lincoln's chosen date of the last Thursday of November to the second-to-last Thursday of November in order to extend the post-Thanksgiving, pre-Christmas shopping season. The move was met with confusion and criticism, and in 1942 FDR signed a law making Thanksgiving the fourth Thursday of November, a law which is still in effect today.

Thanksgiving Day is one of the few truly secular, nondenominational holidays in the US calendar besides the Fourth of July. Americans celebrate with a long weekend, a big meal with family and friends. On the menu, foods including soul food that reflect the tastes and colors of the autumn harvest, such as roast turkey, pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce and candied yams, and football.

As you celebrate this Thanksgiving Day, what are you thankful for? How will you celebrating the day? Whats on your Thanksgiving Day menu? What is your favorite soul food recipe?

6 Steps to Managing Restaurant Customer Relationships Steps to Managing Restaurant Customer RelationshipsWow! What a challenging business...
Soul Food – Same Taste With a Dash of Health Consciousness With permission: http://www.chocolatecity.cc If I were asked to define...

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Soul Food – Same Taste With a Dash of Health Consciousness

admin — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 21:45:21 +0000

With permission: http://www.chocolatecity.cc

If I were asked to define the word “soul food,” the definition will definitely have to include phrases such as – the taste, tantalizing and mesmerizing, the presentation, eye moving from item to item,colorful, politics, movers and shakers, and the master of all cuisines.

Despite the outstanding and colorful definition of soul food, soul food restaurants including mom and pop diners, soul cafes, soul food buffets, soul food catered, and soul food diners are becoming a dying breed. Although the economic recession has clearly affected the restaurant industry, however, other factors such as changing tastes, health consciousness, and infamous quick-fix $1.00 menu offered by fast-food chains appeared to be major factors to as to while soul food restaurants are dying. There was a time in predominately African American cities, when one could easily count two to three soul restaurants on any given block. Now you literally have to hire a detective to find them. The names of some of the finest soul food restaurants or diners around the country appear to be fading out of business daily.

For the past 7 semesters, I had performed a a very simple but effective restaurant related marketing research with my business students. As you know, research provides insight into any business, the customers, and subsequently the business' success. Whether you need to understand your customers’ away from home dining habits or want to forecast menu trends, data from research provides the information you need to make an informed decision about your soul food restaurant.

My research consisted of a sheet with two columns. Column1 is titled: “Cuisine” and column2 is titled “Ethnicity”. Column1 consists of a list of cuisines such as soul food, Italian, French, Mexican, Indian, Jamaican, American, Japanese, Chinese and African (this list has increased over the semesters since my students are becoming representative of the United Nations). Each cuisines has a check-box next to it. Column2 consists of a list of ethnicity with a check-box next to each ethnic group. The students are asked to check a box in column2 that correspond to their ethnicity. They are also ask to write the numbers 1, 2, 3 in order of their first choice of food or their favorite cuisine. Invariably, all the students, including the African American students, would choose everything else but the soul food. At an average, the Chinese and Mexican students were always consistent in choosing Chinese and Mexican food respectively.

Occasionally, I would asked an African American student in my class why was an Italian cuisine chosen over the soul food cuisine. I have gotten responses, such as soul food is heavy, fried, salty, fattening, or it contains trans fats or MSG. The issue, in my opinion, is that many African-Americans, long a support base for soul food restaurants are more comfortable eating Mexican, Chinese, Italian, Indian, Jamaican or Thai dishes. The research also showed that African American are favoring Jamaican restaurants over soul food.

In all fairness to soul food, all cuisines are guilty when it comes to serving salty, fattening, fatty ground beef, hydrogenated oil, lard, MSG, peanut oil, pork sausage, or trans fats food. Without a doubt, there is an urgent need to re-visit and re-think the soul food menu; especially as it relates to health issues such as high blood pressure and diabetes in the African American community. We do need to exercise more and eat healthy. Healthy eating doesn't means that you have to forgo soul food – it is here to stay. There are healthy alternatives to cooking with lard, hydrogenated vegetable oils, or lots of salt on vegetables, or cooking beans with fattening pork products.

In most cases, the typical menu of a Soul food restaurants, mom and pop diners, soul cafes, soul food buffets, soul food catered or soul food diners comprises of:

Liver and onions, Chicken and Pork Chops, Beans & Rice, barbecue Chicken,Cabbage, Fried Fish, Plantains, Chicken Stuffing, Fresh Roasted Turkey, Herb Roasted Potatoes, Baked Chicken, Buttered Corn, Honey Glazed Ham, Creamy Mashed Potatoes, Southern Fried Chicken, Fresh Sauteed String Beans, Honey barbecue Chicken Wings, Baked Fish, White Rice, barbecue Spare Ribs, Corn & Okra, Vegetable Fried Rice, Buffalo Wings, Sweet Candied Yams, Baked Macaroni & Cheese, Oxtails, Country Seasoned Pork Chops, Black-eyed peas, Rice, Yams, greens, okra and cornbread. Collard Greens, Pig Feet, Crab Cakes, Curry Chicken or goat, Jerk Chicken or Pork, Smotherd Chicken or pork chops, Smothered Turkey Wings, Chitlins, Baked Lasagna, Beef Short Ribs, Oriental Chicken, Corned Beef, Lima Beans with ham hocks or turkey neck, Shrimp Linguine,home bakery such as Plain Cheese Cake, Strawberry Cheese Cake, Blueberry Cheese Cake, Cherry Cheese Cake, Carrot Cake, Coconut Cake, Pineapple Coconut Cake, Sweet Potato Pie, Fried Pork Chops,Waffle and Wings,Spanish Harlem Omelette, Mushroom Omelette, Salmon, Croquettes, Flapjacks, Peach Cobbler Waffle, Fried Catfish Strips, Southern Grits, Black-Eyed Peas, Collard Greens, Seasonal Fruit, Turkey Sausage, Potato Hash, Smoked Bacon. Sweet Potatoes, Scrambled Eggs, Butter Beans, Country Fried Steak, Hog Maws, Oxtails, Chicken Livers, Ham Hocks, Neck Bones, and Chitterlings.

The key here is to do your homework by researching restaurants Online if you're going out to eat. It's a pain to find any restaurant website and search out the nutritional information or a voluntary nutrition disclosure. I found one website where you can find a lot of the same information in one place. The newly launched website Soul Food Restaurants has created a one-of-a-kind database for searching on soul food restaurants. This site lists the general information about the restaurant such as the types of credit cards that are accepted etc. Additionally, they have a searchable “voluntary nutrition disclosure,” option where restaurants informed their customers if they serve fatty ground beef, hydrogenated oil, lard, MSG, peanut oil, pork sausage, or trans fats. The website also has a “view a map of the area,” that allows you to see the physical structure of restaurant to avoid going where you normally wouldn't go. If your favorite soul food restaurant is not included in this website, suggest that they do so.

Are you aware of a health conscious soul food restaurant? Care to share the name and address, your likes or dislikes with us?

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