“The Restaurant Industry suffered Its Worst Quarterly Decline In Customer Traffic In 28 years In the Second Quarter 2009”
I love the retail industry and I consider restaurants part of that overall industry. I recognize restaurants are distinguished in the financial press for reporting purposes. I also recognize that if you are a restaurant then you should be studying how you are doing in comparison to others.
The business of retail is so much fun because there is a tremendous amount of valuable information available and generally with the volume of customer traffic, you can test just about anything and receive feedback quickly as to whether it is working or not. In retail the most energy should be devoted to marketing and in all fairness it usually is. No whether that marketing is effective or not is a topic of debate. My view is that it isn’t and the view of the people dong it is that it is.
That brings us back to the overall results reported for the Second Quarter of 2009. I wrote that the decline is written in a headline like it is a surprise. Many may be thinking my view was based on the state of the economy with unemployment still running high and consumer confidence still running low. But actually my view is based on dismal failure of restaurants to pay close attention to the details of what is important to customers.
To support my view, I look at the exceptions. Here is one reported on by Fare Magazine. That exception is Panera Bread. They have not cut prices, they have not gone promotional and the company continues to grow profitably. Click Here for the complete article.
There is always value in studying what is working for others and, for that matter what isn’t. Look within your industry and outside of your industry. I forget what bank was the first, but I remember the story of a bank president looking at the success of drive thru windows in the fast food industry. He tried in banking and it rapidly became very successful.
In any economy there are always companies that do well and those that fail. The ones that do well are those who consistently pay attention to the details important to their customers. This is the value exchange principle. The more value I give you the more you are willing to pay for it.
Sharing with all my readers the energy of peace, happiness and abundance
Steve Pohlit, Expert Business Consulting
Email Me, Steve Pohlit to schedule A No Obligation Consultation On Building Your Business Profits.Need more customers? Let’s discuss how to use cutting edge Social Media Marketing in the revenue building cycle of your business to drive your profits sky high. If your company is not growing revenue and profits, if your company is not cash flow positive Click Here for more information about Turnaround Consulting Services for Business In Crisis
FREE Report:
How To Increase Business Profits by 30% or More in 90 Days or Less
Connect with me on Facebook Click Here
About: Steve Pohlit is a CPA,MBA and has been the CFO of several major domestic and international companies. Steve is business owner and an expert business consultant, direct response and social media marketing and social networking security expert . Steve is focused on helping companies improve their business performance. All articles published by Steve unless specifically restricted may be freely published with this resource information.
