RESTAURANT STRATEGY

#44 - Insights from my First Visit to Paris!!! At the end of 2018 my wife and I sat down and said that travel was going to be a priority moving forward. We did very little of it growing up, and we wanted it to be a big part of our son's life. So we looked at the calendar, picked some dates, and booked our trip. Obviously food is a big part of my life, and so dining would be a big part of the trip. But still I was blown away by the experience. And so on this week's episode I'm sharing eight Insights from my 8-day vacation in Paris! The merchants in the small specialty shops and the waiters who take care of us in restaurants were eager to engage with each and every customer. Everyone in those shops were so knowledgable and passionate, eager to share that passion with us. A Michelin Star carries much more weight over there than it does here in the United States. Most of the high-end restaurants survive on 1 seating a night, compared to her in America where we need 2 or more. Word of mouth was a key way that we chose restaurants. Very few restaurants had bars. All of the reservation systems were glitchy and confusing The wait staff at each and every restaurant went above and beyond to make our 4-year-old comfortable. ASSIGNMENT:  Part 1 - Dine at a brand new restaurant sometime this week -- even just a sandwich shop -- and take stock of everything. Check the website before you go and see what you learn from it. Call them ahead of time and ask some questions. Scout out the neighborhood, the block, the front door and see if you would go in as a tourist. Grade the meal, and think about whether you would recommend it to a friend or a co-worker. What would you say about it? Then Part 2 - Do this same exercise with your own restaurant and try to be as honest as possible. Our Paris recommendations:  Cafe Constant - 139 Rue Saint-Dominique, 75007 Paris, FR Les Cocottes - 135 Rue Saint-Dominique, 75007 Paris, FR Le Violon d'Ingres - 135 Rue Saint-Dominique, 75007 Paris, FR Le George - Four Seasons George V, 31 Avenue George V, 75008 Paris, FR Restaurant Pirouette - 5 rue Mondétour, 75001 Paris, FR Jacques Genin - 133 Rue de Turenne, 75003 Paris, FR Poilâne Bakery - 38 Rue Debelleyme, 75003 Paris, FR Cave Vino Sapiens - 145 Rue Saint-Dominique, 75007 Paris, FR Lastre Sans Apostrophe - 188 Rue de Grenelle, 75007 Paris, FR Les Petits Domaines - 208, rue de Grenelle, 75007 Paris, FR GET IN TOUCH:  As always, if you have questions or ideas about future episodes, please reach out... chip@chipklose.com  

#43 - The 10 Biggest Dining Trends of the Last Decade The best way to predict where we’re going is to take a look at where we’ve been. So I think it’s worth taking this opportunity to look back at the decade that just passed. This week we're going to talk about the 10 biggest trends in dining from the past decade, and use that to make some predictions about the decade ahead. This one is filled with all kinds of great insights. Do not skip!!! American Catch by Paul Greenberg - CLICK HERE Marketing Rebellion by Mark W. Schaefer - CLICK HERE GET IN TOUCH:  As always, if you have questions or ideas about future episodes, please reach out... chip@chipklose.com  

#42 - Building Your 2020 Marketing Calendar What’s the product? Who’s it for? And how can you reach them?  That’s what all marketing boils down to. The ways in which we reach people will constantly change, but the first two should never change. If you can get clear on those, you’ll have a leg up on your competition. In fact, this is what I spend most of my life doing - helping restaurants and chefs get clear answers to those first two questions. The rest of my time is spent brainstorming ideas, and figuring out the best ways to reach audiences, and the most effective ways to promote our products. The way I do that is by getting organized. Organization requires a long term view… not working a week at a time, not a month, but for the entire year ahead. On this week’s episode I’ll be helping you build your 2020 Marketing Calendar, and sharing a link to download a killer template you can use to do it. CLICK HERE to get your 2020 Marketing Calendar  GET IN TOUCH:  As always, if you have questions or ideas about future episodes, please reach out... chip@chipklose.com  

#41 - Marketing Holidays The holiday season means big business for the restaurant industry. People are going out more and celebrating… friends and families get together, there are office parties, plus people are spending more than they normally would… there’s a festive energy in the air and people are more willing to indulge. And still, restaurants can hardly seem to keep up with the demand. For most restaurants it’s an all-out sprint to the end of the year; we hardly have time to look around. This week is a short little episode with a big lesson wrapped up inside. Happy Holidays, everyone! GET IN TOUCH:  As always, if you have questions or ideas about future episodes, please reach out... chip@chipklose.com  

#40 - All You Need is 1,000 True Fans Kevin Kelly is an author, editor, public speaker, and technologist who, whether you’re aware of it or not, has been quietly changing the world for the past 40 years. Tech geeks will know him as the founding executive editor of WIRED magazine, but he’s also been a pioneer in the world of virtual reality and AI programming. He got his first shot of real fame in 2010 with the release of a book called “What Technology Wants.” And found further notoriety with the follow-up to that — another brilliant book titled “The Inevitable.” This episode, however, is about a little essay he wrote in 2008 called 1,000 True Fans. The link to the essay is below, along with a workbook I've created specifically for this episode. I hope you get as much out of Kevin Kelly's ideas as I have. Read Kevin Kelly's essay:1,000 True Fans DOWNLOAD THE TRUE FANS WORKBOOK HERE ... or simply visit www.ChipKlose.com/truefans GET IN TOUCH:  As always, if you have questions or ideas about future episodes, please reach out... chip@chipklose.com  

#39 - Jon Taffer's Brilliant  Advice for Building Repeat Business There’s a YouTube clip that’s famous at this point in marketing circles. Perhaps you’ve seen it. Gary Vaynerchuk, marketing superstar and head of Vayner Media, hosts a show called Ask Gary Vee. It’s a call-in show, and each episode he has on a different co-host. Back in 2017 on Episode #257, Gary sat with Jon Taffer, the host of a TV show called Bar Rescue on the Paramount Network. Now, a young guy calls in with questions about how to promote his family’s barbecue restaurant, and what followed was four and a half minutes of absolute gold. I’ve linked to it above so if you’ve never watched it, go take the time to watch it now. In this week's episode we’re going to break it down, and talk about what it can mean for your restaurant. Read Kevin Kelly's essay: 1,000 True Fans GET IN TOUCH:  As always, if you have questions or ideas about future episodes, please reach out... chip@chipklose.com  

#38 - INTERVIEW: David Stockwell, Owner of Faun Restaurant I met David Stockwell a few years back when I was working on a documentary web series called SMELL TOUCH TASTE. We profiled 4 restaurants in the summer of 2017 and now just two years later, 3 of them are already closed. The only one that’s survived? Faun Restaurant in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, owned and operated by today’s guest, David Stockwell. The thing is, though, his resume is not something you would’ve bet on. All of the other chefs and owners I interviewed for that web series were career hospitality folks, professionals with impressive credits and beautiful restaurants. David though, changed course mid-career, leaving a steady job as an architect to bring his restaurant dreams to life. There's something I really love about how David approaches his work, and I think there’s a lot to be learned in this interview. He has come at this new career in restaurants as a true outsider and so he’s always questioning his decisions, never afraid to say he doesn’t know the answer. It’s a quality I’m trying to bring to my own work these days, and so I was glad to be able to reconnect with him. Enjoy! Read Kevin Kelly's essay: 1,000 True Fans Get Danny Meyer's bestselling book, Setting the Table GET IN TOUCH:  As always, if you have questions or ideas about future episodes, please reach out... chip@chipklose.com  

#37 - What I Learned Running the NYC Marathon The NYC Marathon happens every year on the first Sunday in November. It is without a doubt, one of the coolest events of the year -- something the entire city comes out for. It has long been a dream of mine to run it, and this past week that dream was realized. After 17 years of wishing, a year of planning, and 6 months of intense training I ran the New York City Marathon. And it may not be immediately obvious, but I think the Marathon has a lot to do with marketing. Or at least there are lessons that can be applied to what we do marketing our restaurants. Don’t believe me? Listen in for my Top Ten Takeaways from this year’s race.  Then CLICK HERE to download the Marathon Workbook!! CONTINUING EDUCATION: What I Talk About When I Talk About Running - (LINK) GET IN TOUCH:  As always, if you have questions or ideas about future episodes, please reach out... chip@chipklose.com  

#36 - 8 Ways to Pack the Place on Monday Night A restaurant can't survive on Friday and Saturday nights. We pay rent all seven days of the week, and so it behooves us to fill up those other five days. And yet so often businesses limp along all week and then try to grind it out all weekend long. That approach may work for a while, but it's not a long-term strategy. In time you and your staff will burn out or things will simply fade away. In this week's episode I'm sharing my approach for how to fill that downtime business - 8 different ideas for boosting business on those off nights. CONTINUING EDUCATION: Entrepreneur Magazine - "Thinking Outside the Box" - (LINK) GET IN TOUCH:  As always, if you have questions or ideas about future episodes, please reach out... chip@chipklose.com  

#35 - Use Content Strategy to Build Trust with your Guests I always like to say that businesses these days need to think of themselves as mini-media companies, putting out consistent, high-quality content on a weekly basis. But what does that mean, content? Stick around because in this week’s episode I’m going to explain what content strategy is… I’m going to show you how it can help your business… and then I’m going to explain the best ways to get started. If you’re struggling to gain traction, or you’ve been wondering what else you can do to move the needle in your business, this is one episode you don’t want to miss. CONTINUING EDUCATION: Content Chemistry GET IN TOUCH:  As always, if you have questions or ideas about future episodes, please reach out... chip@chipklose.com