Do you know I think the hospitality industry could learn a bit about planning from Adam the Gardener and the old Sunday Express picture guide to gardening? In particular, the Banqueting Department of any hotel or restaurant should consider the lessons to be learned from nature.
In my old edition the informative text and pictures go back pre World War 2 but, even with minor changes in Mother Nature and modern gardening techniques it’s still as relevant as it always was. I mean there are only twelve months in the year and so many ways to grow beans! Likewise there are only twelve months on the hospitality calendar with the certainty that only the right product or event sells well at a particular time of the year.

Let’s take a look inside. One of the first pages you come to in the book discusses Colour Harmony in the Garden. Adam writes “Garden beds and borders should be planned, as far as possible with a view to attaining colour harmony and contrast” I am sure that we could apply this to our hospitality business ensuring that our product and offers work well within the constraints placed on us by property, the skills of our teams and the values of our brands. Another point Adam makes is that “flowers of some colour prefer brilliant sunshine while other like shade or semi- shade” You could also say that some of the products we sell need more work than others, but together they make up an ideal arrangement for the year – a good sales mix.

Adam’s Gardening Calendar – ensure success throughout the year

“So that every gardener shall do the right things at the right time Adam sets out as a preface to each month’s work, the various jobs that ensure success throughout the year”

January

The gardener is constantly working ahead preparing for events and seasons, sometimes even years in the future. So, as I mentioned in my last blog, start preparing the Christmas programme in January.

February
Prepare your seed beds.
It’s time for you to get the next two or even three years banqueting diaries off the shelf. Go through them fill in the inevitable events that happen every year. Find out where the empty days and nights are and plan how you are going to fill them.

March
Sow hardy annuals and sweet peas.
If you haven’t already done this then look back over the last five years conference and banqueting bookings. Are you getting repeat events? If not then get on the telephone to the organisers and find out why. Don’t be frightened, become the problem solver.

April
It’s a short growing season, particularly in Scotland. Consider starting off some of your summer vegetables in the greenhouse. Now you should be selling your Springtime and Summer wedding packages for at least two years in advance. Why not? Is it time to review and maybe re plan the “garden”

May
Bark-ring trees of vigorous growth to help develop fruiting spurs.
It’s soon going to be the time of year when commercial clients drift off and summer holidays are more important than making bookings. It’s time to make a quick courtesy call to last years Christmas Office Party bookers. Now I know it may seem like the wrong time of the year but there are in my opinion a few reasons for this course of action – reason one to get yourself on the radar, reason two to sort out any issues they had with their last booking (of course these should have been dealt with at the time but, we know what happens, don’t we?) reason three, well you might even get a provisional booking – if you do it’s a cause for a summer celebration of a bottle Asti and a couple of punnets of strawberries on the Boss !

June
Keep the hoe going during the dry weather. Cut off dead blooms, old stems and seed pods.
As you know enquiries drop off at this time of year so it’s time for a bit of housekeeping. Review next years wedding bookings. If there are any not confirmed with deposits then get on to them – if they pull out you might have chance of selling the date to one of this Summer’s Brides friends or relatives. If you don’t have it sorted out by now then make final arrangements for your Halloween package. The Christmas brochure should be at the printers.

July
Sow stocks for winter flowering. Propagate by pieces of root, anchusa, iris, bouvardia and ttoriental poppy.
In many establishments this is considered time for holidays amongst the banqueting sales staff. Pressure is off and the good placement student can hold the fort. But don’t forget it’s also time to start on Burns Night planning – find out – are the local club coming back again next year? AND yup I think it’s right to start figuring out what to do with Valentine’s Day. When does it fall? What are the package options? Can we sell dinner and accommodation next year or is it just one of those years for dinners? Does anyone every really make money from Valentines packages?

August
Feed Leeks with weak manure. Plant out Kale, Sprouting Broccoli and Winter Cabbage.

Although the banqueting telephone gets a bit busier at this time of the year the work carried out in August is an important month to ensure good results and even extra business at the turn of the year. You should be selling Christmas hard – put up your Christmas tree in the foyer now. Cover it with copies of your Christmas banqueting brochures. Have someone on hand over lunch times to deal with those office party enquiries.

September
Plant daffodils and crocuses for spring flowering. Take cuttings of Roses and Bedding plants. Lift and store carrots, marrows, onions and celeriac

Now by now you should be getting the idea. Its all about planning and preparation to make sure the garden – or your business is busy all year round.

October
Sweep up leaves to rot down. Clear up beds of summer flowers. Fork and manure where necessary. Prepare sites for new fruit trees.

Stand back and take a look where you are. If you have dates for weddings next year then you should be holding an autumn fair this month with a good promotion to get the dates away. Christmas should be full or filling well. Are you going to have to do promotion to fill up the last of the nights you have? Think about releasing extra nights. The most we did at the Lion D’Or was twenty – two nights on the trot a slack Christmas Eve(due to the day of the week – I recall it was a Friday) then straight into a four night package.

November
Prepare and plant herbaceous border. Protect cabbage and support Brussels sprouts.

It’s a bit like October really – just darker………..

December
Prepare new ground. Protect Christmas Roses. Remove suckers of fruit trees. Make a hot bed.

Here we go again. And you know what when you get it right it doesn’t change much any year. Take a good look back. Repeat it, Tweak it, Chuck it out, Innovate. Set the date for that Christmas planning meeting in January.

Adam would be proud!

Whats that you said Al? Christmas. Yes thats right Christmas.

The hidden christmas decoration

Driving around the City at the start of the year I couldn’t help but notice that several establishments( I will not name and shame them here) were still to be found festooned with banners encouraging the masses to ” BOOK NOW FOR XMAS” or “ENJOY OUR HOGMANAY FLING” Seeing Xmas up there on the side of the building reminded me of th time when we used to prowl the “Lion D’Or” with extended garden canes.Those fine pieces of bamboo lashed together with Gaffer tape, topped with blue tack and one of the housekeepers pins prooved to be just the job for pulling down the odd leftover bit of tinsel or bursting the helium filled ballon that got away and jammed itself in the ballroom chandelier. Note to everyone – I bet you can find a Christmas decoration that hasn’t been taken down somewhere in your establishment.

Sorry I drifted of there. Another thing that I was also reminded of was that after a few formative years of scratching about in October trying to lash together some sort of Christmas package we figured out that it was much easier to plan the forthcoming Christmas in January – or at least before the C&B department were rushing around like demented cherubs taking Valentines bookings. Do you remember Cheffy’s horror when he was asked to produce his menu ! Panic all round untl everyone figured out that when we had a successful package it didnt need re inventing every year just simple tweeks here and there based on customer feed back and the odd opertional issue.

Strike While the Pipe is Still Smoking
So get your team together now. Review what worked, what didnt work. What did the customers like, what didn’t they like. Get feed back from everyone and use it. Examine the evidence while it is still fresh in everyone’s mind. Its not difficult to plan ahead. Ask your gardener Al – but thats another story.

So come the end of the summer holidays when the phone starts ringing with the works party organisers asking for Christmas Party details instead of the annoying ” oh if you give us your details we send it out to you when we have the programme finalised” you’ll be ready to sell to then right away.

You see Al , not a three pipe proboem it’s elementary. Cheers.

Reasons for a feasilblity study

Hi Al, Its me again. We have all heard it A few glasses of Burgundy’s best -“I’ve got this great idea for a great restaurant, we’ll make a fortune selling six star cusine” Roughly translated means “Build a better mousetrap and they will come” and how often dear fellow, does that happen?

With competition for the ever decreasing “leisure £” becoming keener and keener if you are investing in opening a new restaurant or even updating that old place you have in Inversnekie you had better be sure that you have taken a good look at the feasibility of your most recent brainfart.

We are not just talking about the site here but getting together all of the information and research you can from demographics to design. What you are trying to do is make a better informed decision about your concept and if it’s the correct one for your potential location. You’ll remember you recently watched that footballer chap Ramsay’s “Kitchen Nightmares USA”, on his efforts to rescue some upmarket Californian restaurant. A fine example of how we should all understand the perils of opening a fine dining operation with a couple of grill chefs at a property location that can only be classed as “on the wrong side of the tracks”. Location Al – number ONE. You’ll recall that man Forte once said Location, Location, Location – and a long time before Phil and that Jolly Hockysticks woman.

Here’s a quick guide to avoiding choking on your first set of figures.

The Five Stages of a Feasibility Study

Gather the Data

1. What’s your market area? Specifically the population / potential customers that the restaurant will serve?
2. What are the “demand generators” – commercial, residential, hotel guests that will potentially supply you with your customers?
3. What are the demographics of these possible customers? Age, sex, dining habits, income, local traffic patterns, footfalls in your area.
4. Are there any plans for changes in the area, big office developments, housing developments or tourism related projects?

Develop a Concept

1. Use the data gathered above to develop an offer that fits the needs and preferences of the potential customers in your area.
2. Make decisions about theme, menu, opening hours, service style, customer experience and atmosphere
3. Define the restaurant concept, describe the restaurant concept and the evaluate the concept referring back to your data

How Good Is Your Site

1. Having carried out a local competitive restaurant survey ask yourself the question does my site have the potential to support my concept – or has the guy down the street “built the mousetrap” and beaten you to the marketplace?

Analyse Your Competitors

There are many areas that you can take a look at here, here are a few examples. Survey all restaurants in your area that have the potential to compete with yours.

1. Document the features that the competition offer
2. How difficult are these restaurants to find?
3. Do they have good signs?
4. What’s their offer?
5. Is their style of service appropriate?
6. Is car parking available?
7. When are they busy?

Put Together Some Numbers

1. What will be your average spend?
2. Estimate your payroll
3. What will your overheads be?
4. Put together a spread sheet showing your monthly cash flow
5. Calculate your annual profit or loss!

Now doesn’t that feel better? Enjoy your dinner.

Regards The Concierge

Any Price at “Whatsit Inn” – You see they just sell the sizzle

Dear Al
I don’t know if you have noticed a recent advertisement on prime time TV. from our friends that have those rather quaint 70’s coloured hotels, you know, the purple ones.
The advertisements feature that nice comedian chap, what’s his name, the one that’s married to that once large comedienne, and some other chap I recognise from a dodgy detective series shown on “the box” back in the 70’s – is there a theme occurring here?
Anyway, one thing that sticks out for me apart from that colour, sorry to linger but I passed my teenage years in a house with a kitchen that was that colour, is the way the agency have cleverly avoided the price of the bedrooms and the extra charge for breakfast. Instead what do we see?
Well first of all our hero reminds us of dreadful nights he has spent in poor hotel with small beds, bad furnishing, sub standard bathrooms – remember Al, we thought these had all disappeared in the 80’s, apparently not.

The big chap is then shown turning up at a shiny new hotel with a cathedral like reception area. Guess what? It’s full of smiley, well groomed, charming people who are apparently there to service your every whim. Cut to bedroom with large comedian spread eagle on big comfy bed, followed by a shot of him relaxing in a bubble bath playing with his duck. This of course shows what comfortable and relaxing rooms the hotel has.
DUCK Al!

Ok we don’t see where his toes are, so they may be pushing the size of these baths a bit.

In the morning we find our two chums enjoying an a la carte breakfast in a restaurant so accommodating that our celebrity guest with his latest best friend, the aforementioned duck. The staff are so accommodating that the plastic duck can just have bread if he wishes – I guess this accommodating gesture is to show how friendly and flexible these people can be. Happy days……… Personally I find forcing a kilo of corn down their gullets makes them far tastier……….
Finally the important part.

We cut to the comedian. He has a smile on his face that could grace the face of a Cheshire cat. Guess what, he has just paid the bill and proudly holds it up for all to see whist saying a line that includes the word “value”

- not price Al, VALUE

The advert then ends and do you know they never mentioned price once in the whole piece.
Correct me if I am wrong, but isn’t this what that nice old chap, you know who I mean, the one who sold banqueting rooms for Maxwell Joseph allegedly with the “lights turned off”, was telling us back in the 90’s?
Pictures with people in them
Pictures of the experience
Reinforce the first class experience
Never sell the price, sell the quality
Of course there’s more, but I think some of these other hotel outfits around at the moment could learn a lesson or two from this advert. Come to think of it as there is one of these hotels on average less than 5 miles from most households in the UK – scary statistic, they’ll probably notice when their occupancy rate hits the floor.

I was talking to a marketing man, some say guru, about this the other day and he explained.
“Listen” he said “They are selling the sizzle not the sausage” – Hey what a good idea for a hotel. “They don’t mention the price as they have dynamic pricing” (supply and demand to you and me)

So what do you reckon these people are getting for bed and breakfast? It wouldn’t surprise me if it was £70+ a room – not cheap or should that be quack.

DUCK AL!

Duck Al !

Hope to bump into you at the Whisky Club soon.

Regards
The Concierge

No Porridge – Who will be sleeping in that bed?

You know we have been talking about customer care. Here’s one for you. I was swapping hotel tales with a good friend of mine the other day. Now this guy travels a lot on business. You know the type, slip on shoes, he’ll sell the Rolex off his wrist if he sees a small profit and travels everywhere business class. This chap possesses more airline gold lounge cards than is decent. Never the less he’s an absolute gentleman, the type you would want on your side on a tough piste.
Over the last fourteen years on his trips to London he has been staying at the same hotel – one of those that was “taken over” by that Scottish group. The hotel CRM system is working well as he gets one of two rooms every time he stays at a knockout rate and enough loyalty points over the year to get him a pretty good bunk and a bite to eat at the Monaco Grand Prix. On nodding terms with the GM, the barman knows just how he likes his coffee and I believe often joins him for chat. But I digress.
One of the best things about this chain of hotels has always been the breakfast. A cornucopia of fruits, breads, eggs every which way, assorted pork products, puddings, other heart stopping fried delights and of course, having that Scottish connection, haggis and most importantly porridge.
So you can imagine my friend’s shock last week when there was no haggis and no porridge. Indeed the buffet was a little sad. You know what I mean, flabby tbacon, pale sausages, scrambled eggs not up to scratch – we’ve been there too.

Worse to come!

On closer examination my friend found there was no haggis (I think you’ll agree we could all live with that) but then horror upon horrors, no porridge on offer! He accosted one of the breakfast servers; I refuse to use the term waiter or waitress, and asked why this great national dish was not on offer. Only to be told in a less than courteous tome “No one made porridge this morning” – Sounds to me like they just couldn’t be arsed!
And that Al was that. No apology. No “going the extra mile” here. The Buffalo definitely hadn’t fled in this direction. I mean how easy it would have been to reply “Very sorry sir the porridge isn’t ready yet, can I ask chef to make you a portion right now.” I mean how quick is your twelve year old daughter at preparing a bowl of the “wonder cereal” in your microwave oven? I bet it would have taken less than three minutes.
Ok, my friend has a very attractive rate for his room and breakfast but surely we know by now that this is one meal plan that the bean counters can’t steal from to improve profitability. Or, is this just symptomatic of the service and customer care malaise caused by bad management of poorly paid workers. Forced to the front in the trench warfare of food service on minimum rate do they really give a damn about porridge?
So we all know the story that my friend will be telling his business class colleagues in the Gold Lounge this week. Wonder if he’ll be sleeping in his usual bedroom next time he is passing through the Capital?

Regards
The Concierge

Someone asked me the other day what skills I have and what best descibes what I do these days.

After some thought and with the use of a dictionary I came up with the following “list” I suppose its my keywords:

d / food] noun any nourishing substance that is eaten, drunk, or otherwise taken into the body to sustain life, provide energy, promote growth, etc sell [sel] sold, sell·ing, noun verb (used with object) to transfer (goods) to or render (services) for another in exchange for money; dispose of to a purchaser for a price: He sold the car to me for $1000. to persuade or induce someone to buy (something): The clerk really sold the shoes to me by mar·ket·ing 
[mahr-ki-ting] noun the act of buying or selling in a market. the total of activities involved in the transfer of goods from the producer or seller to the consumer or buyer, including advertising, shipping, storing, and selling. Origin: 1555–65; market + -ing¹

The annual Visit Scotland Expo will be upon us all too quickly. If your business has a stand then you’ve gone to a lot of expense and are taking valuable time out so you had better make sure that when you attend your business gets the best value for money.

Ok so how can you do that? Here are a few hints and tips that I have picked up over time – they are not necessarily in any order.

PREPARE

Dont wear new shoes

Train your trade show team
Set clear goals for taking part in the show. What do you want out of it?
Have plenty of brochures cards and give-aways. Make sure everything has your company logo on it.
Make sure you use display racks for your brochures and keep them tidily.
Have a prize for a draw – collect business cards. Drop them in a fish bowl, top hat or an empty skull.
Have a portfolio showing the work you do and what you can offer.
Do you have a special show offer?
Obtain the list of potential customers attending the show as soon as it’s available. Work out who you want to meet. Write, Fax,text or email them inviting them to visit you at your stand. Put the message out on your website or in your enewsletter.
If there are seminars, work out whom you want to network with and make sure you are at the correct session to catch who you want.
If there is a seminar that could do you or your company some good then book it, arrive early, ask good questions, leave late.
At any show make sure you tour the room regularly looking for prospective customers – don’t always wait for them to come to you.
Don’t be stingy with your business cards. Make sure you all have plenty and give them out. No one ever got any business by not dishing out a card.
Don’t be flash with the expenses or too mean. Aim for a happy medium. By all means entertain customers, but be professional.
Prepare some “engaging “questions before you go to the show. Ask open ended questions – who, what, where, how, when……… Practice the questions to yourself.
Create a good first impression. Build rapport.
Call leads when they are hot, as soon as you get back fromthe show – why not simply send them a text?.
Don’t wait a month after the show to call. Make sure that extra time is allocated to sales staff to make calls after any show.
Make sure you have prepared any follow up materials before the show.
Make your business newsworthy. Event organisers and trade and local press and TV are always looking for stories to plug the show. Give them some news. Prepare a press release with a good story for every day.
When you pack your show items make sure they are accessible. Mark the boxes with the contents. If you are attending shows with partners make sure your boxes are easily identifiable. Spray the corners with paint. Cover them with stickers.
Don’t forget to pack a sewing kit, safety pins plasters and pain killers.
Pack a box with every day stationary items.
Know how to assemble your stand before you go. This way you look professional.
Arrive at the show early – at least 15 minutes. Take the time to prepare yourself for a long day.
Give colleagues on your stand specific targets.
Always lay off the garlic and spicy foods
Dont “over do things” at the drinks reception

NEVER
Never sit, smoke, read, drink, and eat food on the stand.
Never ignore prospective customer by forming a cosy cluster and having a chat
Never use the telephone whilst customers are around ( they’ll just walk on by)
Never be late
Never cross your arms whilst talking – you’ll close the conversation
Never stand with you back to the aisle
Never say – “can I help you “
Never lean on the furniture
Never voice negative opinions on the show to customers
Never badmouth the competition

Oh and don’t wear new shoes or high heels – be friendly to your feet you’ll be on them for at least eight hours!

I spotted a couple of chalkboards on the pavement outside local restaurants over the weekend. The first one read:

“Cut price 3 Course Lunch
Only £4.50
Open 12 – 2.30″

Just along the street the second one proclaimed:

“Hungry? Thirsty, Fed up Shopping ?
You Have Walked Far Enough
Enjoy Freshly Cooked Salmon with an Ice Cold Beer
Open All Day”

The Agents FOR SALE sign was above the doorway of the first restaurant, a ” no booking we are too busy” on the door of the second restaurant.

I think we all know by now that the coming summer – maybe even the coming year is going to be tough for hotels, restaurants and bars. Markets are shifting under all kinds of pressures. Camping and Self Catering is experiencing a boom. Customers are scouring the planet looking for attractive exchange rates for their holiday £ or $ and you can bet more than a few “Friends and Relatives” accommodation offers are getting called in – ” you remember you said we could come and stay when we liked?”

Beware
The immediate reaction to fuel demand is to cut your price, but beware. If you cut into your cleverly calculated selling price just how far can you go before you start to not only reduce your profit margin for re-investment but also have to start making savings on staffing and before long your levels of service. Now some people will figure that they can still make the same margins and continue to employ the same number of colleagues by simply buying cheaper food to sell, scrimping on the house wine, changing the timer on the car park lights, god forbid even supplying cheaper toilet tissue. Dont.
Go on try selling instead – you know it’s the right thing to do. Don’t you ?

Thinking back to previous downturns in business caused by our friends in America sneezing, global events or the economic climate.

Take a hard look at that marketing plan
The best course of action is to stand back and take a good hard look at what you are doing right now. Review your marketing plan, what works, what doesnt, who are your customers,and if you can get your GM out of his office, get the hotel business plan reviewed.

1. Make sure you are converting ALL enquiries ( to hec with rates)
2. Sell more to existing customers – in house promotions
3.Bring back old customers – why did they go elsewhere? Solve their problems and get them back.
4. Last. Find new customers. Lets face it you probably dont have the budget for this so concentrate on the first three.

Not sure how you should be reviewing your market plan. Well we know people who do……….